Virginia Got Baptized

These are from Virginia's weekend in Tricarico, the hometown of Brunella's mom Lilli. If you look at a map, it's not far from the sea in the arch of the boot. It's a beautiful hilltop town that has preserved its sense of community. The smell of burning wood pervaded the air for all of the rainy, fall weekend. We stayed in Lilli's childhood home, which Valentina lovingly remodeled for her mom. I took the baby for long walks in the rain. She would sleep as I wandered. I discovered a poet, Rocco Scotellaro, who is from Tricarico. His verse is full of nature and love for the simple act of living. The purpose of the weekend was to get the Virginia baptized. She was one of four children baptized in the town's medieval Cathedral. She was of course the prettiest and the best behaved. She hardly cried at all during the 1 1/2-hour ceremony. Now she's symbolically married to the Church (with a capital C).