Nero and Me

Yeah, yeah, it's raining here,
the Tevere is flooding and
here in the Center the bridges
are at flood stages.

But, look, LOOK at my hat!
Isn't it cute!

I feel a bit like Nero. Whilst Rome burns - or in this case drowns - I'm fiddling...
with my hat. I'm sure also that when Vesuvius erupted there was at least one
Pompeian running around moaning, "I'll never get the ash out of this toga!"
Speaking of which, I was at Pompeii once and it was very depressing.

But, getting back to my cute hat, I bought it in the Land of O and brought it here
or, rather, returned it here to Italy where it was made, coincidentally! It's so perfect
for the winter and all the walking around outside that I have to do. You can tell
that The Man really likes it, too. You can see the envy on his face. I think that's envy.
I always get envy and irritation mixed up.

Now to the rain...the rain. The Tevere is a swollen torrent, the likes of which no one
has seen in a hundred years or something like that. Rome is once again under siege!
We've been to the riverside several times and watched as a houseboat, broken loose
from its moorings, rammed into the pillars of the Ponte Sisto. And, there are several
boats piled up and jammed against the arches of the Ponte Sant'Angelo, seen in this
link in better days.

Small islands of detritus floated by, containing trees, refrigerators, wooden pallets,
tires, children's balls and even a naked baby doll which gave me a start when I first
saw it, and an upholstered, upright recliner that needed a passenger, I thought.

Yesterday morning it was sunny and bright and the waters had receded a bit, but
last night it started misting again and today it's very dark and stormy. The rain is
expected to continue for several more days. We'll see what happens.

For me, the worst part of all this is I refuse to go outside when it rains anymore.
The Man says I have a weird fear of umbrellas and I guess it's true because I've
said it before and I'll say it again: The Romans are DEADLY when armed with
an umbrella. I don't know how many times I've nearly had an eye skewered or
a shoulder pierced by the exposed tip of some nimrod's broken umbrella. I've seen
entire lines of people at a tram stop bopped in the head one after the other by an single,
passing, inconsiderate, oblivious numskull. I am absolutely convinced that one brigade
of umbrella-wielding Roman nitwits could end the war on terror. Send them all to
Afghanistan or Pakistan or wherever trouble brews, let them work their magic on
some other enemy, real or imagined, just get them out of here so I can carry on with
my life on rainy days.

I'm not allowed to use the word "hate." Therefore, I hayt dealing with this and I just
wish the rain would stop so I could go to the store and get things done outside all the
while wearing, what many believe to be, the cutest hat in Italy!