Bahrman Bulletin

Once again this year, our dear family braved the cold and snowy roads to go over the river and through the woods (and mountains) to Bend for Thanksgiving. And a thankful occasion it was, indeed! Chiara loved every minute with her cousins, asking Aunt Megan if she could go home with them at the end of the four days!

The weekend was filled with good food, lots of Nancy P’s pastries, I Like Pie run Thanksgiving morning, yoga on Friday, cyclocross on Saturday (unfortunately, Curtis didn’t have his fan club who opted to play in the snow), shopping downtown and at the Old Mill, snow ball fights and snowman building, and a couple of games of Ticket to Ride. Most significantly, though, it was four beautiful days shared with our dear family, including Aunt Suzanne who traveled all the way from Pittsburgh, via Portland. We are so thankful to have the time to celebrate together with them. Thank you for making the trip over!

It’s only been two weeks that we’ve been home without leaving town, but it feels like we’ve been home for a while now. I was just thinking how much I enjoyed being home–meeting friends to run (see photo of Chiara in the leaves at Drake Park after a run), getting together with Chiara’s friends and their moms, visiting the High Desert Museum (see photo of Chiara and friend Asia on the Elk at the museum. Yes, Curtis we were thinking of you!), attending the library story time, and getting to the gym and yoga. Yet, being home doesn’t provide much of a story to tell…or does it? Having a two-and-a-half year old should provide plenty of fodder.

So what has Chiara been up to? She is busy as ever. Every morning I ask her what we should do that day, and she consistently replies, “Play!” Play we do! She is ever-curious. The other day she asked the inevitable question, “Mommy, how do you make people?” A day later, I actually appreciated this question because at least I knew a little bit of the answer. That day she asked, “Mommy, how do you make cars?” Good question, Chiara! I don’t know. Not a very satisfactory answer because she then asked, “Well, don’t you need wheels?”

Today was a milestone of sorts, too. Chiara got her first hair cut. She was very patient and still, sitting atop a dinosaur to get her locks trimmed. The lady who cut it did a wonderful job. Chiara was so impressed with her new do that every time we went outside today, she covered her head with her hands to prevent the wind from messing up her hair!

And music class is paying off.  The other day I was listening to Vivaldi and she commented that she liked that music. Twice now she has heard a song come on randomly and mentioned where she had heard it before. Tonight, she decided she wanted to do more than listen to music–she decided to start her own one-person band: piano and harmonica. Look forward to her first song on iTunes soon!

It seems like Italy was a lifetime ago. We’ve gotten home, caught up on laundry, and gotten back into our routine (in addition to making a couple of trips to Portland). Although I know I am still carrying around a few plates of pasta and scoops of gelato (need to run more!), most of Italy is fading. Every once in a while, I catch myself reminiscing about how relaxing and wonderful it was.

While we were in Italy, we had many opportunities to reminisce as well. We re-visited some of our favorite towns from six years ago, laughing at the fond memories and creating new ones as we went. We found the restaurant in Cinque Terre where we raised glasses of sciacchetra in toast to Marie’s birthday. In San Gimignano, we explored the town and discovered the same restaurant where we ate six years ago–only completely remodeled. (They even had “before” and “after” pictures in the menu.) We went back to Deruta in search of ceramics, wandering through the same stores where we purchased some crafts last time. In Montepulciano, we tracked down the Redi Catina to purchase some of the delightful vin santo, a wine we drank as we toasted our new engagement six years ago. And in Assissi, we toured Santa Chiara’s cathedral again, only with an even greater appreciation, thinking of our dear Chiara.

On our anniversary, we found the little restaurant we enjoyed six years ago near the house we rented then. One of our best meals of the trip was at that restaurant. It is a little unexpected because the town itself is little more than the restaurant. One could easily drive by and miss it, yet that would be tragic because tucked behind the little door is one of the most delicious places on earth.

It starts with being greeted by Chiara, the woman who runs the whole show. She was our server six years ago, and once again, she took care of us. She greets customers in Italian and English, settling them at tables as she makes jokes and small talk. Then she’s off to the kitchen to check on the food preparations, and back with a bottle of wine to open. She buzzes around the restaurant, delivering food, smiles, and laughs. It is amazing to watch her.

And then the food comes…fresh truffles gently sliced over perfectly cooked noodles covered in butter. Is there a more perfect food in this world? If so, I haven’t found it yet.

Chiara was excited to be an elephant this year. Although painfully shy, she did go trick-or-treating at the Old Mill. It was fun to run into friends and see all the kids in costumes. It reminded us of Ireland last year where all the families gathered at the park and then formed a parade through town, trick-or-treating as they went. Chiara hid her face (the large ears made for easy hiding!) each time we approached someone with candy, imploring Mom to say “trick-or-treat!” Yet, at the end of the day when we asked her what she like best about Halloween, she replied, “Trick-or-treating!”

Last week, while Becca, Grandma and Grandpa were here, we packed up and headed to the pumpkin patch. Everyone had a great time hunting for the perfect squash, enjoying beautiful sunny skies and mid-70s temperatures.

Fast-forward a couple of days and what greets us? We awoke Tuesday morning to a blanket of white outside. Chiara couldn’t wait to get out and build her first snowperson of the season–all of this and the calendar said it was only October 26.

At this rate, I suppose snow isn’t out of the range of possibilities for trick or treat night.