Italians have a concept for piddling around known as “La Dolce Far Niente,” which means the sweetness of doing nothing. What a nice concept!
Growing up, my mother, father and I often went for Sunday rides. We’d first go to church, then out to lunch, and then on random drives around Norfolk. Sometimes we might have a destination, but most often we didn’t; my mother and I would look out the car windows and talk as Dad drove wherever the roads took us. We always ended the drive with a visit to High’s Ice Cream.
Today our morning started with Tim hiking 5.5 miles in “God’s Cathedral in the Woods” while I enjoyed the coziness of the “Church of the Inner Spring” – aka our mattress. Late morning, we decided to do something different for the afternoon and drive to the new Costco. A new store opened a few days ago in Charlottesville, which is just over an hour from us. At the nice, new store we picked up a few things, resisted many more, and then I thought it would be nice to continue our drive. My uncle and aunt live about 30 miles from Charlottesville, and I decided to find their house. With directions from our smartphones and a little intuitiveness, we enjoyed the country roads until we found their home. They weren’t there, but it was nice to see their 1825 farmhouse that I had not visited in many, many years.


Driving back home, I got off the interstate to go somewhere I’ve wanted to go for a long time – the Swannanoa Palace on Afton mountain. We’ve passed this exit so many times, but have never taken the time to get off the highway and take a peek at the run-down Italian Renaissance Revival mansion that has stories to tell, I’m sure. It is open from time to time for tours, but not today.

We passed Papa Jim’s Ice Cream, and I think I heard him calling our names, but we didn’t stop. Trying to be healthy.

All in all, we didn’t get much accomplished today, but there’s a lot of value in La Dolce Far Niente.
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