I have much to write about my recent adventures to Siena and Lucca. But nothing about that seems quite as interesting as the strange, beautiful, and unexpected developments of today.
This morning seemed exceedingly average. We started work late, as usual, and spent a few easy hours in the cellars pressing grapes and doing some clean up work. I suppose the only thing special about this morning was that it was so slow that we ran out of work by eleven, giving us a three hour lunch break.
Around two o'clock, we were cleaning up from lunch and getting ready to head back out to work when two strange characters walked into our kitchen. At first glance, they were a pair of vagabond backpacking hippies ( note: this assumption turned out to be mostly true ). Instinctively, I exclaimed, “Ciao!” as has become my habit when speaking to strangers ( largely because it's the only thing in Italian which I can't mispronounce ). The male of the pair replied with a quizzical look,“Uh hey, we're looking for Cosimo”. They explained to us that they were WWOOFers who had been in touch with Cosimo about coming to the farm( figures why no one knew they were coming ). Cosimo had told them that someone would pick them up at the station at ten, no one did, they waited an hour, still no one. Finally, they decided to just take the five mile walk to the farm, and here they were!
I was prepared to spend the rest of my two weeks at the winery as a solitary worker, but within three days four new WWOOFers have come waltzing in. M and K are a lovely couple, and I'm excited to welcome them to the crew ( even though I'll be leaving soon ). After leaving a more mundane life in Minnesota, the recently married pair headed out on an adventure. First, they camped for four months in Norway, now they're staying in Italy for a few weeks of WWOOFing, next they head to Africa until January, then to India for a few months, and finally they land in New Zealand. K explained that they are “ Just looking for a lifestyle that better suits them, and some place that feels more like home”. That philosophy really resonated with me. It feels like with each new personality that is added to the group, I am learning more and more about myself. With the contrast ( and congruence ) between their stories and mine, I am gaining a clearer perspective of what it is I want.
Again with the arrival of new WWOOFers I got to assume the role of knowledgeable leader, and show them everything around the farm. This role feels really good. That is, until someone expects that I am
actually a knowledgeable leader. E keeps turning to me as the “head of the WWOOFers”; rattling off orders to me in Italian and assuming that I'll translate them for everyone else. Fat chance. He even instructed the other four WWOOFers to mop the floor, as he asked me to come help him in the cellar.
I was helping him transfer the Daphne wine from the tank to smaller barrels when I got another unexpected experience. I actually got to go inside the Villa! Well sort of, I more like walked through the courtyard and the hallway on the way to the lower cellar. But still, it felt like I had transgressed some sort of magical barrier. Previously, the Villa had been some sort of forbidden fantasy world in my eyes, a Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory of sorts. Some mysterious place which no one ever talked about. People went in, but not out.
OK, that's an exaggeration. But without ever seeing the inside of the Villa, or talking with anyone who lives there, I could only assume that the outside was in fact a cardboard cutout simply painted to fool everyone into thinking they were in the presence of a traditional Tuscan mansion.
But upon crossing the mystical threshold into the Villa, I found something even more extraordinary.
On the inside.... it's just a house.
A nice house, yes, but it's just a house. There are toy cars and tricycles laying around for the grandchildren, and some laundry drying from a window. Turns out the Ferrari driving, private chef owning, presumably designer pajama wearing, Villa dwellers are human too. I'll let you chew on that little humbling nugget.
And I'll leave you with the final peculiar and beautiful moment of the day: I was sitting in the kitchen chatting with K before bed, when I heard an unfamiliar meowing coming from the hallway. We only have one cat, an orange tabby named Arturo, and that surely was not him. I peeked my head out to see a big fluffy white cat meowing loudly at the doorway at the end of the hall. Abruptly, the door opened a crack and the cat ran inside. “ Odd...” I thought, and sat back down. But only to be pulled out of my chair again ten seconds later by another unusual meowing. This time a black cat mewed incessantly at the doorway. Obligingly, the door opened a crack, and the cat walked in."What's next?" I thought.
Perhaps, a purple cat who can also magically open doors? More impromptu WWOOFers? Dare I say, more venturing into the Villa?
I can't wait to find out.
