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March 4 Saturday Bicycle touring Italy Sardinia some bushes on the high plane past Laconi Sardegna Blazing blizzards Batman! Mama mia. It's snowing outside. The wind is whipping out tent with a madman's fury, having penetrated our impregnable barricade of bush. The rain sporadically soaked our fly throughout the night. The morning brought a pattering that became a stiletto of ice crystals, sleet, pea-sized hail and then a raging blinding whiteout snowstorm. It's not all for naught however -- we were out of water, so Sharon collected a pot full of snow that we will use to cook pasta tonight. It doesn't appear as though we'll be venturing far today. Not good weather for bicycle touring. I spent the day reading Dorthy Dunnett Scales of Gold and listening to the radio. Sharon and I share an earphone -- which doesn't do much for stereophonic, but does keep a low profile from locals investigating singing bushes. Sharon went out to stake the tent better and came back in and put in her earphone. I still had mine in, but I was searching for a new station, so there was no sound. I started to bop to a non-existent rhythm which caused Sharon to exclaim, "What's wrong with this thing!?" while trying to adjust it in her ear. Funny. Ho ho. I laughed hard. I have cabin fever. Stir crazy. Confined all day to a tiny cycle touring tent does strange things. Guess I could go out and build a snowman. We have some carrots, Sharon tells me. The other day at lunch with Raff's parents, Sharon was telling them Sardegna people have big hearts. When she couldn't remember the word for 'heart,' she pounded on her breast, then expanded her hand outwards. Bruno, came to her rescue, and translated her comment into Italian. Raff's dad gave a relieved look and said, "I thought she was saying 'Sardinian people have big tits.'" So much for the universality of sign language. Later, Raff's brother was being teased about having a girlfriend. I was trying to help out and say that she was just a friend, right? But I said 'amico,' which means boyfriend. Oops. After an appalled look from everyone, I was informed it was, ahem, 'amica.' So sorry. I can see how these things could cause fights. Or wars. Slight misunderstanding from a beginner Italian speaker. |
