I overheard some one commenting at lunch yesterday that the weather on the waterside back of his house was winter and in front summer.

And he was right!

I know I keep talking about the weather. However it is a major topic of conversation at this time in Key West. We are into March and it is still cold!

The water side of my home is 15 degrees colder than the front. The front is warmer because the house blocks the cold wind coming in from the ocean. I need long pants and a sweatshirt in back. And can lay out sunbathing in a tee shirt and shorts in front!

Played bocci last night. Cold cold!

I wore long pants, a shirt, a sweat shirt and a jacket. And I was still cold!

Some people were huddled under blankets in between shots.

The bocci courts are on the Atlantic and so the cold was blowing in!

We did not do well in bocci last night. Lost 2. Only won 1.

The first 2 games were close. We lost both. 16-15 and 16-13. We won the last game decisively.

It was a money match last night. The defeat hurt.

But, we had fun! We have a great team. In victory or defeat, we seem to be happy! We party!

Maybe that is our problem.

Afterwards it was to Don’s Place for a couple of drinks and serious analysis of our bocci game. An important part of our lives here!

I have a friend up north. Pete Aceto.

Pete is a landscaper. Has taken care of my properties for years. Still does.

Pete is talented. Down here in Key West he would be described as a landscape architect.

He e mailed me a story. It is entitlerd Gennaro’s Leather Shoes.

Gennaro is in this country for only 6 months. He walks to work 20 blocks every day. His walk takes him past a shoe store. Each day he stops and looks in the window. To admire the Boccelli leather shoes. He wants those shoes so much. It is all he can think about. After about 2 months he saves the price of the shoes, $300, and purchases them.

Every Friday night the Italian community holds a dance in the Church basement. Gennaro seizes this opportunity to wear his new Boccelli leather shoes for the first time.

He asks Sophia to dance and as they dance he asks her, “Sophia, do you wear red panties tonight?” Startled, Sophia replies, “Yes, Gennaro, I do wear red panties tonight. But how do you know?” Gennaro answers, “I see the reflection in my new $300 Boccelli leather shoes. How do you like them?”

Next he asks Rosa to dance. And after a few minutes he asks, “Rosa, do you wear white panties tonight?” Rosa answers, “Yes, Gennaro, I do. But how do you know that?” He replies, “I see the reflection in my new $300 Boccelli leather shoes. How do you like them?”

As the last song is being played, Gennaro asks Carmela to dance. Midway through the dance his face turns red. He states, “Carmella, be still my heart. Please, please tell me you wear no panties tonight. Please, please tell me if this is true!”

Carmella smiles coyly and answers, “Yes, Gennaro, I wear no panties tonight.” Gennaro gasps. “Thank God…..I thought I had a crack in my $300 Boccelli leather shoes!”

I am sure you are wondering why I repeated this Gennaro tale to you. This is a family blog!

I am a product of a Catholic education. Grammar school, high school and college. I did high school and college in the 1950s.

Nuns taught me in high school and nuns were part of my college experience at dances at all girl colleges.

At each dance in high school and college, the nuns monitored/chaperoned.

Patent leather shoes were big time! The girls all wore them.

We were admonished by the nuns as we danced not to look down at the girls’ shoes. The reflection off the shiny black gave the same view Gennaro experienced.

Look not! Sin not!

Even worse, if you danced too close, a nun came out, tapped you on the shoulder and said, “Leave room for the Holy Ghost!”

That’s how it was!

Me thinks we have come a long way since the 1950s! Whether good or bad is another story!

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