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This blog is on hiatus, and I'm now posting weekly at Italicus: a writer's life in Italy. Visit me there or, better yet, subscribe for...
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cherylaossola
- Jan 31
- 1 min
There's a new book site in town
Who doesn't love a good book recommendation? Word of mouth is a great way to discover books, and lots of people enjoy wandering around on...
cherylaossola
- Sep 21, 2021
- 6 min
Absolutely nowhere near the Tuscan sun
A Comedy of Errors, Perugia Style, or, Have a Laugh at My Expense It's Fine No Really This overly long story begins, as so many do, in...
cherylaossola
- Sep 18, 2021
- 3 min
Finding family in Lombardia and Liguria
After two weeks bouncing around Lombardia and Liguria doing genealogical research, I'm home in Perugia, my head spinning with names and...
cherylaossola
- Sep 8, 2020
- 2 min
Down the Research Rabbit Hole
The genealogy research rabbit hole, to be precise. I have four lines of Italian ancestors to continue discovering, and the one that has...
cherylaossola
- Aug 25, 2020
- 2 min
Martino, cat about town
Meet Martino, a strawberry blond beauty who's been roaming the borgo (neighborhood) for seven years. He's my neighbor, and he's...
cherylaossola
- Jun 29, 2020
- 2 min
A Tale of Two (or More) Frescoes
I bought a house recently. It's the parish house in a 15th-century church complex in Perugia, and its history is one reason I couldn't...
cherylaossola
- Mar 15, 2020
- 4 min
#iorestoacasa day 5: seeing what I say
Most writers know the oft-cited nugget attributed to E.M. Forster, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” I totally agree,...
cherylaossola
- Mar 13, 2020
- 3 min
Social distancing and mind games
In locked-down Italy, one activity that’s permitted is dog walking, so every morning I venture out as usual to give Aria time to play...
cherylaossola
- Mar 13, 2020
- 1 min
Life during a pandemic
#iorestoacasa in Umbria day 2: take dog on walk, during which she covers herself in shit (likely not canine); wash down dog with fountain...
cherylaossola
- Jan 23, 2020
- 1 min
Good neighbors
Happiness is making ribollita (a Tuscan soup) and finding out, when you go to open a big can of tomatoes, that you don't own a can opener...
cherylaossola
- Jan 10, 2020
- 1 min
Updates from a lame PR person (me)
I am the worse at self-promotion, so I'm late to my own PR party in posting these links. Recently I had the good fortune to be...
cherylaossola
- Aug 1, 2019
- 1 min
Morning at the piazza
Nice to be back in the ‘hood after a week away in hospital. A cool breeze announces a shift in the weather—today will bring welcome rain....
cherylaossola
- May 1, 2019
- 1 min
Ghost orchard
Before the 1920s, the town of Manzanar—which means "apple orchard" in Spanish— was a place of abundance. Founded in 1910 in the high...
cherylaossola
- Apr 18, 2019
- 2 min
Hiding places
When I was a kid, we'd visit my grandparents most summers. Their house, a white Victorian in the Italian section of Syracuse, New York,...
cherylaossola
- Apr 18, 2019
- 4 min
The unexpected part of living in Italy
I’ve been living in Italy for just under a year, and it’s been a time of huge transitions, some expected, some not. I’ve found certain...
cherylaossola
- Apr 17, 2019
- 1 min
Chapter 1, live!
The Other Stories is a fun trove of readings and interviews from the not-super-well-known author pool—and yeah, that includes me. Kudos...
cherylaossola
- Apr 12, 2019
- 1 min
House of buried memories
In THE WILD IMPOSSIBILITY, Kira turns to her family's past as she tries to understand the bizarre dreams and visions she's having. The...
cherylaossola
- Apr 4, 2019
- 1 min
Secrets
Secrets. We all have them, if not entire truths then fragments or details. Adults sometimes regard secrets as shameful or embarrassing,...
cherylaossola
- Mar 28, 2019
- 1 min
A snapshot of Italy
A few images of Perugia, Lago Trasimeno, and Assisi