Home

Well ragazzi, it's finally that time.

After nearly two and a half months in Bologna, Italy, I am now back in California, and I can unequivocally say, it's GREAT to be home!!

There is a certain feeling of being back home that is undescribable, but, I will do my best.

Certain things like a hot shower with great water pressure, excellent customer service, a turkey burger and bottomless iced tea....18 holes of golf....these things are part of "home" for me.

But, what's really great about being home? Family and friends. Without a doubt.

I guess you could say it's like the hamster you don't really miss until it's gone, then you go to Italy for two months and come back and that hamster is there welcoming you back.......okay, this isn't really working and I never had a hamster growing up (we had pet rats, Snowball and Midnight).

I guess the thing is, there is no good analogy that comes to mind right now to describe how good it feels to be back on American soil, welcomed by family and friends.

In only a few short months, the financial world has been turned upside down, and chaos continues to ensue on a daily basis. Even so, the sun is still shining, birds are chirping and there is so much natural beauty surrounding us. Just driving across the Golden Gate bridge and staring out at the ocean (while keeping one eye on the road and staying out of the middle lane), or winding through the vineyards on the way back from Napa as the sun sets....man, these things truly make my home a special place.

Spending a few days with my parents, catching up and learning what's new, sharing my experiences from Italy.....talking on the phone with friends and hearing about what has been going on in their lives.

Yes, two and a half months is a short period of time, but also enough to step away and come back and realize how grateful I truly am to live in a beautiful part of the world with wonderful people in my life.

Perhaps I could have gained this perspective in another way, but, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take some time off and travel to another beautiful part of the world, meet some great people and do some exploring. But, this relatively short trip, and my subsequent return has reinforced the notion of what "home" means to me.

A few days ago, when I spoke to my brother, he had asked me if I was going to do a post that summed up my travels in Italy. I said that for sure I was, though at the time, I wasn't really sure how I could summarize those two and a half months. What did I learn? What could I take away from the experience? Then, as I began to write, words started flowing, and it dawned on me that the most important thing that I learned was how lucky I am and how much I truly love "home." To all of you reading this blog, and not just those living in California, e.g., Ted in Moscow, Sarah in NY and others out of state and out of country, you are part of "home," and I genuinely thank you for your friendship and your love and want you to know that each of you means a great deal to me and I am so happy to have you in my life.

And so, on that note, I will say "ciao," but as in posts of past, "ciao for now," because within a few days, I will be reporting live, from South America, with more pictures of food, more obnoxious observations and more........pictures of food.

Okay, ragazzi, this is not the end....but I feel myself growing sentimental as we move on from this portion of the blog, so, as they told me in Italy before I left, not "addio" (i.e., goodbye), rather "arrivederci," (i.e., "see you"), and in this case, "arrivederci presto!," (see you soon!).