It seemed the morning storm passed, and I’m off to the gym. Jason, JR and Griffin are up and about as I leave. I see some clouds roll in as I set up. Turn off the air in my part of the gym, open the windows. I have a wall of windows, and enjoy the fresh air, and the stunning views. Those views now include some serious clouds. The sky’s a big, fresh bruise, and it seems to drop lower, lower, lower. As I start my routine I watch the clouds smother the high peaks. Thunder’s back.

I like the drama from my perch. Smoking clouds, swirling ones, all gray and purple, with a couple of lighter spots peaking out as if from a torn curtain.

Wind’s up.

Clouds spread, and now the mountains are behind that gray curtain. Quick flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. Nothing but the fog now as it closes in tight around my little world. For a second I think of the Stephen King story about what’s in the fog. Quickly put that away.

And here comes the rain in a gush. But, wait, what the hell is that?

Hail? Yes, it is, and good-sized hail, about the size of marbles. Close those windows because it’s bouncing in! Now it strikes the wall of windows like grapeshot.

This is different.

I’m well into my cardio, so just keep going and enjoy the show.

I see Marlo—I assume as he’s blocked by an umbrella—hustling down the path to the villa. Also assume he’s going to make sure all’s secure. It goes on quite awhile. Rumble, grumble, ice balls battering the windows, rain pouring, and nothing to see but fog.

I don’t worry as I usually spend about an hour and a half in here, and storms like this don’t last long.

Finally, the battering slows, and I can see more tears in the curtain. Sand occasionally ping of hail, pattering rain.

And it’s over. Open a window to be sure. Clouds are broken and streaming away. I see some long, thin trails of them clinging to parts of the mountains, and above the sky’s pale blue. The sun strikes one of the far peaks turning it Irish green.

The air coming in the windows is fresh as a daisy.

By the time I head out and down, it’s pleasantly warm and summer bright.

BW tells me he went to check the bedroom, and the doors had flown open. Hail everywhere! He and Jason secured all doors, mopped it up.

And Kat reports there was a pretty rainbow to the south.

Kat and I Zentangle indoors as everything’s wet out there. It won’t be for long. The sun will take care of it, and Marlo’s already out there drying off tables. We go with After The Storm.

Up to clean up, get dressed. Come out to find Kat, Kayla and Lauren about to head out. JR and Colt are joining them. A trip into Como—nails for Lauren, and some wandering around and lunch for the rest. I’ll do the stay at home and write awhile thing.

It didn’t feel like I was in the nook for long, but it turned into three hours, and everyone’s back after a fine day in town. Griffin’s playing games on the Switch with Daddy; BW’s having a snack. It’s basking time for me. More sailboats on the lake this afternoon. Motors still outnumber, but there are four white sails across the lake.

Get my book, read awhile. Logan’s torn through yet another book in his series. Dinner’s at six-thirty down at Bar Italiano, so there’s time just to be, and just be with a Bellini.

When I come in, I’m invited to make a bracelet. Lauren’s brought her beads. Kat’s made one for herself, and pretty. Sure, why not? The selecting and stringing beads takes me back to my hippie days. And now I have a pretty little bracelet that’ll remind me of Lake Como and girl time.

Time to assemble like The Avengers.

Down, down we go and into the village where we see a car parked. This is baffling, and the first we’ve seen here. How did it get here? The streets coming in are very narrow, and the intersections narrower yet. It’s impossible to drive a car through them. As we speculate, a little red car drives in, goes on. Where did it come from and where is it going? There’s no exit but a long flight of steep steps that way. Kat must know, so walks after the car.

Which indeed drove right up the long, steep steps.

On that fascinating bit of business, it’s time to eat.

Tonight, the server brings out platters of bruschetta she tells us comes with the drinks we’ve ordered. There’s one with chopped tomatoes, one with olive paste, one with prosciutto and tuna pate. I go for the plain and delicious Italian bread in the basket.

Since she sacrificed lunch for nails, Lauren’s starving and samples all. Deems them good. The group makes good use of the bruschetta before the main courses come out. Pizza, pasta. Griffin has his fourth or fifth hot dog of the day. If it’s not Nana’s pasta, he sees no point.

We skip dessert as we’re celebrating multiple birthdays with the adorable little cakes Kat got from the local bakery. We won’t all be together for the three oncoming birthdays, so we’ll celebrate now. Kayla’s July 30, Colt’s August 6, and BW’s August 7.

Cakes are displayed, candles lit, the birthday trio takes their seats. And we sing the song.

As Colt’s not fond of cake, Kat also bought profiteroles, which she’d described to me as swimming in chocolate. She does not lie. I’ve never seen them made like this before where the little cream puffs are buried in a kind of chocolate pudding. And oh, boy, really exceptionally good.

It’s a gorgeous evening, and there’s a half moon in the sky. It’s so precisely half, as if someone marked it with a ruler then sliced it with a scalpel. Just beautiful.

Seven of us are up for cards, while Griffin’s ready for bed. Jason’s family retires, and the rest of us shuffle and deal. Kayla nearly runs them. Not her initial plan, I think, but when you take the Queen on the second trick, you give it a shot. A tough start for our girl. Most of us get stung at some point, but that tough start puts Kayla over fifty first. She decides to retire, while the rest of us opt to play on awhile.

Logan nearly runs them, and definitely a plan. But I thwart him on the last trick with the Ace up my sleeve. But I still go down in defeat.

Colt has played a quiet game. While the rest of us hovered toward that fifty mark we set, he leaves the game with, I think, five points.

A good day had by all, and time for bed.

Cool and breezy this morning, with blue skies and green mountains. Not a single cloud in the sky. A boat out early, and some fish skimming the surface. They better watch out for the gulls. No plans I know of for today, so we’ll play it as it comes.

There’s the clock tower chiming. Time to work out.

Nora

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