Day 2: wifi still pumping away, life goes on

Lizards have no sense of direction. Grazing sheep make a hell of a racket. And, baby honey bees are fascinated by the keyboard of my MacBook (but not as much as a perspiring, chilled bottle of beer). These are the little things I observed today, working from the Amandola bureau. Yes, the wifi is still pumping away, I type from my patio.

Yesterday evening, Michael and I went back to Fidoka and purchased a 20m cable so we could put the router into his front bedroom window and so I could work from my house. The router's blinking blue light now greets everybody as they come up the road. The 4-legged creatures seem to pay it no mind, but the 2-legged locals seem entranced by the colors. They must think Michael has gone evangelical on them. (There's an enormous blue neon cross on the road to Monte San Martino that can be seen clearly from our little frazione each night. When I first inquired about it, I was told by one of the locals that the man who put it up had "found Jesus". From his expression you could tell this was not a positive development, as if the man in question had found a rival Jesus, one who commanded followers to erect Vegas-style tributes at the highest point on their property. I wanted to point out that most of the old-timers round here still dabble in the black magic, but thought better of it. Now I just draw the shades at night. Not that I'm against electric blue crosses.)

Ok, the wifi... it works. Pretty well. If only I could get the local flora and fauna to be so cooperative. I was interrupted mid-sentence earlier by a heck of a racket. It was coming from a blue water jug. A lizard had climbed in and was now speeding around the tiny circumference trying to find a way out. I am always finding lizards trapped in confined spaces: the gas meter cabinet, between the shutters and my windows. When I come by and lead them to freedom I always wonder how long they'd been stuck there and how they and their friends manage to continually make the same mistake. Today, after a good 10 mins of me tapping the side of the water jug, the little critter scampered to freedom. I'm sure he'll be back.