July 20, 2009
This just in…
Two noteworthy things happened today on my way to work this morning. First, as I was crossing the Viale I got stuck in the central section of crosswalk, like I always do (the light is waaaay too short), and when I reached my stopping point I realized that I was in good company. There were two other women standing at the line with me, both super pregnant. This is not terribly surprising since at the corner of the Viale and via degli Artisti is the Villa Donatello, the clinic where I (and apparently other pregnant women) have to go for ultrasounds. Oh, I wondered what it must have looked like to the drivers flying by. When the light changed the pregnant lady brigade marched across the road in perfect, giant-bellied unison, a true force to be reckoned with. It made me laugh.
And it put me in a great mood. What reinforced my great mood was the second noteworthy thing that happened on the way to school today. Today I saw, for the first time in weeks, my old friend, Asian Brad Pitt. Ok. So he’s not actually my friend and I don’t really know why I call him Asian Brad Pitt. He’s an on-again/off-again member of the Borgo Pinti Players (I realize I haven’t introduced you to them yet, but I will). I guess he reminds me of Brad Pitt because he always has that squinty-eyed look on his face that Brad Pitt always has, you know, like he’s holding in a fart or something. Asian Brad Pitt peddles around the city, or more specifically the via degli Artisti/Borgo Pinti circuit, on his bike and it’s his bike riding that brings me such pleasure. You see, he doesn’t have a bell on his bike so he improvises by tooting (no pun intended) “Boooop” softly every time someone is in his way. If they don’t hear him the first time, which they never do because it sounds nothing like a bell, he toots twice “Boooop, Boooop.” This situation almost invariably leads to frantic tooting on his part as the oblivious walkers in front of him wonder where that glorious sound is coming from. It is one of my favorite things to witness in this entire city. Today not only did I get to see him again and remember all the past tootings, but I was also treated to a sweet “Boooop” as two little old ladies blocked the sidewalk.
Ahhhh, Florence. It was a great walk to work.