ON CONTENTMENT Spring is finally here in Ascoli Piceno.  This area in Central Italy represents a complex, transitional weather zone involving the Apennine Mountain chain to the west and the nearby Adriatic Sea to the east. Against that setting, a continuous interplay between weather systems flowing north out of Africa, moderated by the Mediterranean Sea, interacts over this area with weather systems coming from the north from over the Alps. All that complexity adds a little uncertainty to weather forecasting. But we supplement forecasts by looking out the window before going out anyway. Spring anywhere can have its temperature oscillations between a refreshing sunny warmth one day and a damp, windy, chilly day the next.  Central Italy is no exception to that pattern but it does seem the oscillations here have finally given way to very welcome milder days. However, the long-range forecasts are promising a very warm summer. In response to the promise of a warmer summer we are exercising our developing Italianism. We have just decided to rent a spot with two chairs, a table and an umbrella for the summer on an Adriatic beach probably ten meters from the water’s edge. Better yet, the spot is next to our wonderful friend ‘Jo’. For Arlene, summers spent on a beach on the Atlantic are ingrained in her idea of what the season is about. Having traded the Atlantic for the Adriatic, life now seems in better balance. Some friends recently commented they hadn’t seen much in the way of Posts to this Blog since the first of the year. And I’m afraid that’s true.  But that doesn’t mean the writing compulsion has abated. My writing urge has been exercising itself in some other directions. But our underlying goal for this Blog remains to comment on our fascination with the process of acclimating ourselves into a new life in a very old place that is quite different than our prior experiences in the land of our birth. And so, that is the theme we will try and stick to. However, the absence of Blog commentary doesn’t mean there hasn’t been activity in Ascoli Piceno. The Lunar cycle timing for religious events such as Passover and Easter, changes when...