Our first weekend in January began with the need for a little bit of blue color in it- the calm and relaxing kind of blues. I woke up to a message from my son’s school stating, “following our regional counsel’s decree…” they were closing the schools until the end of January for pre-K and elementary kids. He had been in school for almost four months and there were no Covid cases. I hoped that the ruling would be overturned or changed quickly, but in the meantime, I had to go virtual. Among other feelings, there was a lot of frustration and anxiety. I kept thinking when would it all end? Right then, it simply felt as though the world was moving backwards, despite the advances with the vaccines. So we drove out to the coast in hopes of soaking up the blue and absorbing some calm and relaxing vibes. As I looked at Vesuvius from a distance, it reminded me of something. A question people always ask, including me- why do locals live on the slopes of an active volcano if it could blow at any moment? I think it’s because they live day to day. You can’t worry about the future because it’s not guaranteed. It was then that I decided to start the new year off by just taking it day by day. It’s not an easy task but it’s a start!

We drove through the quaint little city of Vico Equense, stopping for some colorful desserts at Gabriele’s and then for a walk along the coast. We admired their Church of Santissima Annunziata (a 14th century Catholic church with Gothic architecture & bell tower) with its coastline views- Vesuvius lingering in the background- and then grabbed a bite to eat at a salumeria for lunch. We had intended to stay for dinner to eat at a famous pizza restaurant; however, it was still a bit chilly outside and, despite the sun, it was still too cold to hang outside for a few more hours. So, on our way home we chose a random route up Monte Faito and drove as far as the road would take us to try and catch some sunset views.

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