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My friends from Sigonella Naval Air Station, Rob and Jacque, who live in Nicolosi, invited me to come over for the weekend of July 27th. It was perfect timing. It was my birthday, and I had been a little afraid of spending my birthday all alone for the first time since Fran died. What perfect timing. I am embarrassed to say that I did take any new pictures of the two of them, but to the right you will see a picture I took of them in Erice when they visited me.

As you can see from the picture at the top, they live on the slopes of Mt. Etna. This is a view from their back yard. Nicolosi is the last town on the southern slopes of Etna, and most of the buildings are fairly new, as most of the older buildings are not there anymore, thanks to the mountain. The views were breath taking, and the air was much cooler than in the valley, although it was certainly hot enough.

We met on the base, where they took me in to go swimming with them in the pool. It was a cooling relief after driving over for three hours with the sun beating down on my little convertible in temperatures close to 100° F. And yes, I am still a pacifist, and yes, I am still pretty much anti-military; but I have to tell you, all the folks that I have met, whether they be educators at DOD schools, contract supervisors like Rob, or actual Navy personnel, like their friend Mike, are wonderful people, who think about what they are doing, and do the best they can.

Jacquew had asked me what I wanted for an 'American' dinner, and I was really not sure. I did ask if there was any way to get an American style cake, as I said I was tired of the torte Italiano. She told me that Rob was the baker in the family, and he would see what he could do. We got to the house they rent in Nicolosi, a beautiful home with a wonderful view of the mountain, and they started to work on dinner. Not only were the three of us going to be there, but also Mike and his wife Ann, who visited me in Sciacca, Matt and Christine, a wonderful young couple I had met the last time I visited Maryellen, and Rosa, a Sicilian American who has returned to her roots, and who teaches in the local schools.

I told folks that I was touched that they were all there, and told them it was my birthday, and how I had felt I might have to spend a lonely birthday. They were all pleased to be a part of it. We had a real American feast, except for the fact that all of the wine was Sicilian. But it was good Sicilian wine!! We had steak, barbecued chicken, barbecued pork, Hawaiin Rice, Philipino Pasta (Ann is from the Philipine Islands), salad, veggies, cheese, sausage, grilled veggies, grilled mushrooms, and on and on. Then it was cake time. Jacque had said that Rob was the baker. She did not say he was the MASTER baker. I have never, NEVER had a cake that good. I ended up so full that I could not even get up to take a picture. We finished the evening with a game of full contact Scrabble, which is always fun.

As you can see from this picture, we also had a full American breakfast the next morning. That is a slightly better picture of Jacque standing up, with Christine and Matt sitting next to her, and Rosa with her back to the camera, and finally Ann and Mike. But look at the middle of the picture. French toast, pancakes, three kinds of sausage, bacon from Smithfield Virginia, eggs, blueberry muffins, coffee cake, orange juice, maple syrup, coffee, and I still feel like I am leaving something out. What a wonderful gathering.

After taking a little while to digest breakfast, Jacque, Rob and I piled into the Punto convertible, and drove up Mount Etna with Mike and Anne in their car, right behind us. We got up to the refugio, the last semi-permanent buildings on the mountain, where there is a hotel, and a ski lift that takes people even closer to the top, where they can get a specialized bus to take them to the rim on days when the volcano is not active.


It was absolutely amazing, as all there was above us were the lava fields from the last eruption. Mike told us that when he went further up the last time, they were on three year old lava fields that had still not cooled, although in the winter there was enough snow to keep a snow cover over the hot lava. We were at 2500 meters, and Etna is a total of 3,000 meters high. On the ride down, we stopped and took some shots of a house that had been almost completely covered by lava from an eruption, and I picked up a large chunk of lava to put in Fran's garden. When I picked up the lava, I faced the mountain, and suddenly felt moved to address the Gods of the Volcano, telling them that I was not trying to steal a part of the volcano, or to diminish it in any way, but that I was going to put it in a garden far away, so that in the future volcanologists and geologists could wonder at the power of such a wonderful volcano, that could deposit large chunks of lava so far away. When we got back to Nicolosi, I found out that there is a legend that people who disrespect the mountain and take lava are followed by bad luck. In fact, the post office in Nicolosi often gets packages containing lava from people who took it and have been followed by bad luck. I hope that the Gods of Etna understand that I did not mean any disrespect, but if I am now followed by bad luck, perhaps I will have to return it to the mountain from which it came.

At another lay by, I saw some tired laying on top of the lava flow. I hope that they were not thrown there out of disrespect, and I wonder what future archaeologists will say when they find the car to which they were attached. I think there might be a lesson there for tourists who want to drive up when there is an eruption on the mountain.

That night we went to Trecastagni, a small town on the eastern slopes of Etna, to have dinner at a wonderful little restaurant that Rosa knew about. Trecastagni has a beautiful church, with three patron Saints, and was also having a Fiera Meditteraneo, with almost the same booths as Sciacca.

Sunday morning was a wonderful, laid back morning, and we ended up going back to the Base for another dip in the pool. Mike is getting out of the Navy soon, and hopes to find a place to live in the Philippines or some other part of Micronesia or Asia. I wish he and Ann good luck, God speed, and a wonderful life.

And most of all, I thank Jacque and Rob for a wonderful birthday celebration.