Fall 2016

RCI-online.education ECCOLO! - HERE IT IS

Romulus and Remus No article about Italian

legends would be complete without mentioning the founding of Rome. Romulus and Remus were twin brothers who were either fathered by the Roman God Mars (who basically is the Greek God of war) or Hercules (who is well known as a Greek hero). Their mother, Rhea, had beforehand been condemned to become a vestal virgin by her father's brother. Scandal centered around the twins. A bad guy named Amulius took the twins to a river and they were abandoned. Fortunately, as the legend goes, a female wolf nursed them, and a woodpecker brought them food. Later on, they were taken care of by a farmer and his wife. Once they had grown up, they learned about their true heritage and decided to get revenge. They managed to kill Amulius, and their mother's father was allowed to return to the throne. Statues of a she-wolf nursing two twins can still be found in various museums in Rome today. When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to found a city where the wolf had found them. The brothers fought over where the site should be and Romulus killed Remus. This left Romulus the sole founder of the new city and he gave his name to it – Rome. The date given for the founding of Rome is 753 BC.

FALL FEATURE Florence's premier gallery built between 1560 and 1580. Galleria degli Uffizi is home to the world's greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art. The Medici left the collection to the city in 1743. The gift came with the stipulation that it will never leave Florence. The collection contains some of Italy's best-known paintings including Piero della Francesco's profile portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino and a room full of masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli. The world-famous collection, displayed in chronological order, spans the range of art history from ancient Greek sculpture to 18th-century Venetian paintings. Its core is the Renaissance collection. Plan to visit the collection more than once. There is too much to see all at once. You can also enjoy the rooftop café, known as the terraced hanging garden, where the Medici family listened to musical performances on the square below. The views from the garden are beautiful. Room 15 displays three early Florentine works by Leonardo da Vinci: the incomplete Adorazione dei Magi (Adoration of the Magi; 1481–82 his Annunciazione (c 1475–80); and The Baptism of Christ (1470-75). Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo is unusual. It depicts Joseph holding an exuberant Jesus on his muscled mother's shoulder as she twists round to gaze at him, the colors are vibrant and exciting. This piece was created from 1506–08. It was painted for a wealthy Florentine merchant, Agnolo Doni (who hung it above his bed). Eventually, the painting was purchased by the Medici family for their palace, Pitti in 1594. Rooms 46 to 55, in the museum, display the Uffizi's collection of 16th-to 18th-century works by foreign artists, including Rembrandt (room 49); Rubens and Van Dyck share room 55. The next 10 rooms feature antique sculpture. Räphael (Room 66) whose Madonna del cardellino (Madonna of the Goldfinch; 1505–06) is a must see. Räphael painted it during his four-year visit in Florence. Rooms 90 to 94 feature works by Caravaggio.The Head of Medusa (1598–99), commissioned for a ceremonial shield, is supposedly a self-portrait of the young artist

who died at the age of 39.The biblical drama of an angel steadying the hand of Abraham as he holds a knife to his son Isaac's throat in Caraveggio's Sacrifice of Isaac (1601–02) is known for its intensity. Madonna of the Goldfinch…

ITALY

Stewardship Concept Making Your Action Plan

Consider:

Ø We have all been given what we have. All that we have is to be used and cared for so that it serves others as well as serving ourselves.

Ø Each day is an opportunity to serve and manage. We are given a limited amount of time, be wise about how you spend each day, once it is over it is gone forever.

Ø You are an investment that has been given time, opportunities, and material advantages: As an investment, make the effort to perpetuate future benefits that are realized within a time frame or lifetime.

Action:

Ø Think of yourself as a manager not as an owner Ø Discuss your feelings and expectations

regarding stewardship with people close to you Ø Seek joy in what you give not in what you get

Self-Examination:

Ø What are the financial priorities in your life? Ø What is most important in your life?

Truths:

Ø True abundance is found in stewardship not ownership.

Ø Administration NOT acquisition is the essence of stewardship.

There’s nothing like the crisp, cool air and luscious foliage to get you excited for the changing seasons. Your pet, too, is probably

welcoming a break from summer's hot, sticky weather. But fall is also a time of danger for our furry friends. From household poisons to cold weather hazards, there are important safety issues to consider. Below are some tips to keep your pet happy and healthy during the autumn months. The use of rat and mouse poisons increase in the fall as rodents seek shelter from the cooler temperatures. Rodenticides are highly toxic to pets and, if ingested, the results can be fatal. If you must use these products, please do so with extreme caution

and put them in places inaccessible to your pets. Many people choose fall as the time to change their car's engine coolant. Ethylene glycol-based coolants are

highly toxic, so spills should be cleaned up immediately. Consider switching to propylene glycol-based coolants—though they aren't completely nontoxic, they are much less toxic than other engine coolants. Keep School Supplies Out of Paws’ Reach Fall is back-to-school time, and those of you with young children know that means stocking up on items like glue sticks, pencils and magic markers. Although these items are considered low toxicity to pets, gastrointestinal upset and blockages can occur if ingested. Be sure your children keep their school supplies out of your pet’s reach. It is always best to prevent pets from ingesting plants and mushrooms that are growing in your garden. Please visit our Poisonous Plants page for more information. Contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 immediately if you witness your pet eating a wild mushroom. Watch Out for Wildlife. Autumn is the season when snakes are preparing for hibernation, increasing the possibility of bites to those unlucky pets that find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pet parents should know what kinds of venomous snakes may be lurking in your yard and what to do if your pet is bitten. Reference: www.aspca.org.

Reminder: Always keep medicines of all kinds where animals can not get to them.

ANIMAL WELFARE STEWARDSHIP

“Mind is a flexible mirror, adjust it, to see a better world.” ― Amit Ray www.Self-Care.Online

Mindfulness

Food Insecurity Many seniors live alone and must rely on others to help with grocery shopping and cooking. Most grocery stores deliver, most stores have

prepared food that is quite good. Orders can be placed on line or called in. Lists can be prepared and delivered or faxed to a store and store staff members can fill the orders for pickup or delivery. Seniors may resist the idea because they feel a loss of independence. In reality, the delivery system is empowering. The seniors can make their own food choices, pay with cash or credit, and open their door to a brief period of socialization with the delivery person. As caregivers need to assist with more and more needs it is good to know about and use food delivery resources as energy and time saving strategies.

Mobile Food Pantry Program

A Mobile Pantry Program directly serves clients in areas of high need and in an effort to supplement other hunger-relief agencies. Through a Mobile Pantry, a truckload of food is distributed to clients in pre-packed boxes or through a farmer’s market-style distribution where clients choose to take what they need. A mobile pantry program enables people who can not get to a food bank. Mobile resources remove some barriers that prevent access to food. Mobile food pantries can offer fast delivery of rescued food and grocery products including meat, produce and baked goods.

Recipes Mixed Roasted Vegetables Orzo Shrimp Salad White Bean Dip Rack of Lamb

www.RCI-online.education

La Cucina Contadina

Michelle’s Kitchen Cards

Gli amici si riconoscono nel bisogno. It is in the need that one recognizes one’s friends.

Fall Garden Trim Perennials: Once your garden has gone to seed and perennial plants have run through their life cycle, it’s time to trim them back. Not only will it clean up an overgrown garden, pruning will give the plants more energy next year and limit potential garden problems like powdery mildew or insect infestations.

Plant Bulbs For Spring Flowers: Fall is the perfect time to plant bulbs like tulips, irises and crocuses, which need a winter freeze to start their growing process. By getting them in the ground now, you will ensure a colorful garden by early spring. For best results, plant bulbs once temperatures are in forties and fifties, but several weeks before the ground completely freezes.

Repot Overgrown Plants If a summer’s worth of growth has caused your plants to outgrow their homes, take some time this fall to replant them in larger containers. Dense or compacted soil, poor drainage, or roots creeping out of the bottom of a pot are sure signs that plants are root bound and struggling for more space. Fall-Loving Plants: Depending on what region you live in, fall doesn’t have to be a dead season for your garden. Some hearty plants like kale, lettuce, broccoli and chard thrive in colder temperatures and can even tolerate the occasional frost. As long as snow stays off the ground and the temperatures don’t dip below freezing for too long, these plants will continue to grow, allowing you to garden into the colder months.

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Imagine 2016 posting Happiness Journey – 2016

Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations www.pcfraz.org

Phoenix Area Consulate: www.italianazhc.org Calendar: www.facebook.com/Italian-Calendar-Arizona Travel: www.villavita.net Language: www.valentilingua.com Conversation: www.rci-online.education

Phoenix Sister Cities -- Catania, Italy www.phoenixsistercities.org

www.RCI-online.education free. Please send this publication to all of your friends and family and ask them to send me an

e.mail so I can add them to the e.mail list. Thank you. Michelle m.nardi@mac.com

National Italian American Foundation www.NIAF.ORG

Please contact me If you would like to contribute a posting.

Reduce to 80% or use legal size paper to print this newsletter.

www.RCI-online.education m.nardi@mac.com

Resources

Simple Peace Retreats in Assisi, Italy

www.assisiretreats.org

Random Acts Of Kindness Weekly calendar of activities at Carefree Connection www.Self-Care.online

Fall Reading

Falling in Love: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery 2015 by Donna Leon

Corrupted: A Rosato & DiNunzio Novel, 2015 by Lisa Scottoline

The Italians, 2015 By John Hooper

Italian Lessons, 2009 by Joan Arndt

Italian Lessons is the true story of Joan and Roger’s move to Italy. Selling everything and leaving behind the familiar, the former public relations executive (Joan) and retired airline captain (Roger) purchased and renovated Le Vigne, a centuries-old farmhouse in the heart of Italy.

Mindfulness Online Training Stewardship Workshop

Self-Care Basics at

A sophisticated portrait of the Italians at their best and their worst: charming, imaginative, generous, full of life but also unreliable, more or less corrupt and often downright infuriating.

Donna Leon’s Death at La Fenice, the first novel in her beloved Commissario Guido Brunetti series, introduced readers to the glamorous and cutthroat world of opera and one

of Italy’s finest living sopranos, Flavia Petrelli—then a suspect in the poisoning of a renowned German conductor. Years after Brunetti cleared her name and saved the life of her female American lover in Acqua Alta, Flavia has returned to Venice and La Fenice to sing the lead in Tosca, and Brunetti has tickets to an early performance.

Bennie Rosato the founder of the Rosato & DiNunzio law firm hides her big heart beneath her tough-as-nails exterior and she doesn't like to fail. Now, a case from her past shows her how differently things might have turned out.

www.Self-Care.online All new and for you…