We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Why does this hilltop village have so many towers? No earthquakes. Lots of towns, like Siena, knocked their towers down for safety.
I had some speck (cinghiale speck, in fact) for lunch with a beer. Italian speck is not German speck. It is some sort of norceria. It came with those cheese-stuffed crackers which were amazing but I have no idea what they were.
A good supper in a cool cafe (Etruria) in Volterra. As usual, we showed up as the first customers at 7 but the place filled up at 8. It was chilly so we sat inside. No big COVID deal in Italy.
Our Primo: Gnocchi with a pumpkin and sausage sauce. Far tastier than the photo looks. I had a glass or two of Brunello:
Secondo: Roast Cinghiale with a dolceforte sauce (vinegar + chocolate) on a bed of fried polenta, with a cotorno of canellini beans in some tasty broth because they had no spinach that night. Spinach sauteed in oil and garlic is one of my favorites with a secondi, but the beans were just fine.
Go for a nighttime stroll after and get lost as usual. But this can be found. Go for the pistachio:
10:11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.
10:12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God,"
10:13 and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet."
10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
10:15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,"
10:17 he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."
10:18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
10:19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,
10:20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),
10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
10:22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
10:23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
10:24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,
10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
As I mentioned before, Orbetello is an old walled city on a peninsula sticking out from the Maremma in southern Tuscany. Americans do not go there. Some Brits do. Exception - I know one person who has been to Hotel Il Pellicano on the mountain above Porto Ercole. It is a steep cliffside drive.
I learned the word sprezzatura from there.
You can drive out the causeway to the mountainous island Monte Argentario and visit the cool seaside villages of Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole. They are about diving, sailing, and professional fishing. Also, duck and woodcock hunting, judging from some bumper stickers.
Excellent cafe on the waterfront in San Stefano. Good beer. Euroland does not pasteurize beer.
Individualism is a philosophy and group of ideas, expressed in symbols, practices, and stories that supports a belief that self-sufficient individuals are rational beings that freely make consumer-like choices, independent of political influences, living conditions or historical context. Among these ideas is the concept of meritocracy, a social system in which advancement in society is based on an individual’s capabilities and merits rather than on the basis of family, wealth or social background. Individualism is problematic in obscuring the dynamics of group domination, especially socioeconomic privilege and racism. In health care, this narrative appears as an over-emphasis on changing individuals and individual behavior instead of the institutional and structural causes of disease.
For dinners, Mrs. BD and I typically order one antipasto, one primo, and one secondo, and share them. That way, many tastes but no gluttony. Sometimes we skip one of the courses. The primi are usually small and tasty (one or two pasta dishes are usually among the primi, never a Secondi - meaning meat course).
Typically a nice dinner for both of us will run around 50-55 Euros, not including a glass or two of wine. Tip? In Euroland, 10% is more than enough.
I plan to do an Italian food post one of these days, but for starters here's a pic of a restaurant's offerings in Volterra. If your Italian is terrible, Pasta al Nero is squid with a squid ink sauce. We will try a pasta as a primo on rare occasions, and only if it seems unique:
17:8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
17:9 "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
17:10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink."
17:11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
17:12 But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
17:13 Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son.
17:14 For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth."
17:15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days.
17:16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elija
On their excellent highways. Autogrills have excellent coffee bars, clean bathrooms, and food. And other stuff, like Euroland phone and electric plugs. Gas and diesel, of course.
Commentary: 
I was working on some food posts about our Italian dinners when I found this image.
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The Newest Insanity Out Of Yale Law School - 