Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Il dolce far niente

If you feel like feeding the pigeons, feed the pigeons. 

Non guilty relaxation


Chapter 7 – The Sweet Life
How to enjoy the sweetness of life.

     Il dolce far niente.
     The sweet life, or delightful idleness, the art of doing nothing, knowing the value of leisure.
     Did you know Italians take siesta?
     Everyday from 1-4 p.m., except perhaps in tourist areas, businesses close, people go home for long lunches, play with the family, take a nap, or do anything they want to do without feeling guilty about it..
4 p.m. Arrives. Back to work. Stores re-open.
     I first encountered siesta while in at our agritorismo.
     I drove into Pienza looking for a grocery store. Found one, a mini super market, but it was closed.
     It was three in the afternoon. A sign on the front door announced the hours.
9 am To 1 pm – and 4 pm. to 8 pm.
1pm. To 4 pm was reserved for siesta.
     Siesta?
      I thought that was a Mexican tradition.
     Even shops in the high tourist areas close, except perhaps restaurants, taverns and tourist traps.
.Il dolce far niente. Make time in your day to enjoy the sweetness of life.
     One could do a doctoral study, perhaps, on when the Italians discovered siesta. Was it during the medieval age? The renaissance, the classical age? Or is it recent. While Michelangelo was carving the David, did he stop three hours for lunch each day to do nothing?
     Yes, we did find many shops closed for siesta that we wanted to visit. No problem. Ah. An open tavern. We'll order a glass of wine, take a table on the piazza, and until 4 o”clock, observe tourists stroll by. If no one strolls by, we'll just sit and watch the facade of the church age.
     We discovered several important things quickly. Since everybody works until 8 pm,that's when dinner begins.
     We were the subject of strange looks on our first night in Tuscany. Arriving late to our farmhouse, we went into Pienza to seek dinner. It was 7 o”clock, and we looked through the windows into this delightful Italian restaurant, which seemed to be open. But there no customers.
     We asked if they were serving, and they gave a reluctant “yes” We remained the only customers until 8 o'clock when the restaurant came to life.
     Now, it was dinnertime.
     When you dine at an Italian restaurant in Italy, the tradition is that the table you have before you, is yours for the evening.
     Il dolce far niente.
     Enjoy your meal, enjoy your friends, drink the wine, eat, eat, eat. The wine is full bodied. The food an art form.
     The next tradition we did not know was the ritual of the check. You will not get your check until you ask for it. I did not know that the table we sat before was ours until the restaurant closed. Or, that if the waitress had brought our check before we asked for it, it would have been the height of rudeness.
     So, tired of waiting, I got up and asked for the check, which was graciously provided.
Enjoy where you are, what you are doing, particularly if it is nothing. No guiltplease..
     Enjoy the present moment. Sit on the steps of the Duomo in Siena, and read a book, if that's what you want to do.
     Learn how to enjoy yourself, something Americans don't know how to do, the Italians will tell you.
     Let yourself go and see the world
     Drink wine with lunch.
     Take a digital vacation.
     Make dinner for someone you love, then leave the dishes.
Measure the day by how many times you have smiled. Let go of the guilt that you always have to be doing something.
     Practice how you would find your il dolce far niente.

     Now for the commercial. We help pay the rent by indulging in a former activity, helping non profit groups make money. Please go to www.JamesEllistonSmith.com and see if we can help. Also, for more ideas, go to www.fundsrus.net
     Next chapter on Friday, August 10. Trying to compile NEW slide shows, but will have to be able to get through computer engineering courses first at MIT and Cal Tech, in order to properly wade through the complications of this blog.