tre italiani

Valentino, Timothy and Fabio at our local pub

On the very day Brian broke my heart, Sarah got a call from these Italian men wanting to WWOOF at Hightor. She asked me if I thought we could handle them, and I said yes without even stopping to think about it. Absolutely no hesitation and no thought or worry about finding room for them in the already full house. And that call from them? Something along the lines of "We are three strong Italian men! Our muscles are the real deal! We are good with power tools!". Quite the introduction, no? After hearing that I was very curious to see who would be coming to stay with us. It's extremely difficult to find the words to describe the 12 days Sarah and the family and I had with these men. They were simply amazing. Think Sarah summed it up best by saying it was almost like being in a cult. We were all swept up in their energy and positivity and revelry and pure joy. It was like living in an alternate universe for a brief period. Non-stop fun, laughing, and lots of hard work and hard partying. Truly enlightening. Didn't get too many pictures, but these ones definitely capture their essence. Hightor seems oddly still and silent without them, but there are still echoes of their jokes and singing and giggling, and I know we will be forever grateful for their influence and presence at this point in our lives. Yet another enormous blessing!

Fabio is a master plumber and spent many hours fixing things around the house. Forever grateful! 

Silliness at the warehouse

With Sarah at a local cafe

Me, Valentino, Timothy and Sarah gleefully watching Fabio do some yard work at a friend's house. Good on ya Fabio! Too right!

Timothy with Alf, a giant artwork who lives in the kitchen and may or may not have come to life one day to whisper at Timothy in the shower

Making a giant batch of gnocchi for their last night. Good food and lots of wine every evening!

Unfortunately blurry but uncannily accurate. Timothy is so full of life and joie de vivre that he really does have trouble staying still! Toasting their experience at Hightor on their last night

Photo shoot at the train station before they took off. Such a happy, goofy, bittersweet moment