Ciao ragatti! My apologies for the long silence. I am not sure if you have seen the news about the weather here in Italy, but it has been very, very hot. I have never felt heat like this in the house before... and outside, it is even worse.
For the past couple of weeks, the temperatures have climbed and stayed in the high thirties, and some days it has even climbed past 40!
It is so hot that the pads of my paws burn when I walk on any of the stone cobbles that have been long in the sun, so I don't go out exploring much in the day. Luckily, Via Latini, the street where we live here in Casperia, is narrow and has high stone houses on both sides of the street so for most of the day the street is in the shade. I worry though for the cats in the colonies in the cities like Rome where it is even hotter.
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| Me checking to make sure that my cat grass isn't getting burned in the heat |
According to my friend Maria, most people in town shut and shutter their doors and windows during the day to keep the hot air out of the house and the cooler air in. This works well for Maria who has two layers of apartments above her, but this does not work well in our apartment which is on the top of the building. The beautiful tiled ceilings of our apartment transmit the heat of the day directly into our house, and if we don't keep some of the windows open the apartment becomes a forno... that's Italian for furnace!
So for most of the day I am sleeping or at least snoozing in a cool place, either downstairs in the kitchen, or on the floor of the bedroom or the library. The bed in the bedroom is often too hot to sleep on. It's a wonder my human gets any sleep.
Did I mention that one of my humans has gone back to Vancouver? He's been there for almost a month now and is supposed to come back in a couple of weeks. Every so often I hear the two of them talking, using the computer. I used to worry seeing one of them locked in the computer screen, but I know all about Skype now. It is comforting to hear their voices together. I miss my human who has gone, but I know he will be back soon.
So, yes, I rest or sleep most of the day. In the late evening though, when the sun begins to set, there is a noticeable drop in the temperature. That is when I wake up and want something to eat. During the day I don't eat much but I drink a lot. I have a martini glass of water beside my bowl in the kitchen, and another up in the bathroom. My favourite water to drink though now is the delicious cool acqua which my human leaves in a cool watering can beside the door to the street. My human is always watering the flowers, herbs, and tomatoes outside, so the water is always cool and fresh how I like it.
As soon as the temperature drops, my human goes out for a couple of hours to spend time with his friends down on the piazza beside the bar. Apparently a refreshing breeze begins to blow there as soon as the sun begins to set, and the people of the town and visiting tourists alike gather there to chat and enjoy drinks and something to eat while watching the sun set.
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| My friends Helen, and Ritchie, and Giampiero enjoying a drink on the piazza outside Vigna |
I hear from my human that my friends Helen and Ritchie sometimes go there. They too seem to be hiding as best as they can from the heat these days. I haven't seen them as much as usual, but I understand. The human friend I see most these days is Giampiero. He visits every now and then with my human to do a language exchange on the steps outside the house. I have learned a lot of Italian overhearing the two of them reading together. I don't know if they realise, but I watch and listen to them from the window above, making sure no pigeons bother them.
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| Me trying to talk to Sconsi. She just kept on eating my kibble! |
I tried to do a language exchange with a little female cat that comes to visit us every now and then to check and see what is in my food bowl, but she didn't seem to want to talk to me. I did my best to talk to her as she munched on a handful of my kibble on the stone steps outside my house but she never responded.
At first I thought it was my bad Italian. Then I thought she was just interested in me for my food. Later I found out that her name is Sconsi, short for Sconsolata, and that Sconsi can't talk. I cat that cannot miao! Pensate!
Yesterday there was a thunder and lightening storm here in Casperia. Bright forks of lightening lit up the sky. The storm began with a lightening strike very near our house. The loud crash of thunder woke me and my human from our afternoon nap and knocked out our electricity for a while. A strong cooling wind blew all during the storm and by the time evening rolled around, the temperature, according to my human, had dropped 13 degrees from 39 to 26. The house was comfortable for the first time in months. Maybe this means the worst of the weather is over. I sure hope so, because I sure don't feel like writing in this heat.
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| Me, resting in the cool evening breeze coming in through the library window |
I have asked my friends Helen and Ritchie to see if Dennis, their cat would like to do a guest post on my blog. I would like to hear more about how life is for cats here in Italy... especially from the viewpoint of a native. Apparently, Dennis is interested, but he too is a bit under the weather, so to speak. I hope it cools down soon so we can all get back to writing. So stay tuned, there will be more posts coming in the next month or so. So, ragatti, Miao for now! A presto! Stay cool!
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| Dennis, resting on the cool floor of his, and Helen and Ritchie's house on Via Massari |
