Less Grease HAPPY, or Remember Sunny Days When It Is Grey Inside and Out

It's been one of those days. Day 1 of a 4 day long weekend, and the kids have been arguing all yelling all day. OK, not the entire day, as I'm pretty sure that they were very well behaved while playing at their friends' house. They did start-up again as they were getting out of the car when dropped back at home about an hour ago, couldn't even wait until they were completely out of the vehicle.

Michigan can be very depressing in February. We've been lucky this year in terms of warmer weather (that is a relative term by the way), but when there isn't snow to brighten things up everything seems to be shades of grey and brown. Guess it can make more people in this house cranky than just myself.

I put them in front of the tv~ I know, I know... ~ and started going through those kajillions of photos I have on my computer to attempt to organize or burn to disks or something.  I ran across the 1,204 (not an exaggeration) photos that I took on a European cruise last summer. My husbands parents very generously took all the kids, spouses, and grandkids on the 10 day trip.  Anyway, I slowly went through the ones taken on the best morning of all of last year. I was in Venice, Italy on a perfectly beautiful day in June, ALONE.  I know!! All alone with my camera.

My husband and kids wanted to hang out on the ship, as there were only 4 free hours before the ship left the port, and jet-lag had hit the children big time.  All four of us had spent the previous afternoon and evening exploring Venice together, so believe me, I didn't feel guilty at all.  (Everytime I get irritated at my husband I need to remind myself that it was his idea for me to go alone.)

OK, so I walked from the ship and just started wandering.  I have spent alot of time overseas both as a visitor and a resident, so I am not afraid of exploring.  I was on a quest for some real Italian coffee, so I found a bar/coffee shop and sat outside.  Wish I'd taken a pic of the coffee- it was the best coffee of the entire summer.  The coffee shop was in a piazza and there was lots to look at.  Great people watching, and there was a small fish market.  I am allergic to seafood, but I can still appreciate the smell of fresh fish.

As I was sitting there a group of men came by who looked to be just getting off of work, at 9:45 or so in the morning.  This next picture is my absolute favorite of the entire trip.  I had just gone inside to pay my tab, and one of the men in that group came in.  He was laughing and very outgoing, and he was greeted by name by the bartender and a number of other people inside.  The bartender took out what looked like a large wine glass and started by pouring some champagne. Then he added a splash of at least 2 or 3 colorful liquors, gently swirled it, and handed it to the man.  By this time I was just outside the door and pretending to not be paying attention, as I had decided to sneak some candids of the people inside. This was the first photo that I took and I just love it.

I continued to walk around just taking photos and enjoying the weather and being by myself.  It was such a peaceful feeling, one that I need to try to achieve more often, even when surrounded by bickering children and grey skies.  I feel like I just rush and rush all the time and have a hard time being in the moment, and I know that I am not alone in that.

I did get a little lost when I started back to the ship, but while I started feeling a bit anxious about the ship leaving without me, a part of me started fantasizing about it.

This wrapper was lying in my path as I neared the ship, and I thought that a picture of that would be a great end to the morning.