I mean really. What could possibly go wrong ?

Allora …. So …there we were …

We’re talking about another spectacular day in Sicilia.  Agrigento …ancient ruins… hiking…. photo-ops of epic proportions … crowds (for the first time) … huge, almost gargantuan temples, middle school adolescents, vivid imaginations, cameras on cell phones …..and…. “prone” modern sculptures (anatomically correct…. prone modern sculptures) woven into the fabric, the landscape of antiquity:  each,  in their own “special” way …. complimentary …like … a PetsMart chameleon is … to a 4 meter Nile Crocodile …. or like that initial sensation of complete and utter thirst-quenching when that first sip of ice cold fresh lemonade envelops each taste bud …. is …. to knocking back a warm can of Draino.  Are you working on that visual … yet.  And … get this …. the small little speed bump I’m not so delicately dancing around has absolutely nothing to do with “What could possibly go wrong?”

Reenactment of group discussions about the "Temple of Apollo" Agrigento
Reenactment of group discussions about the “Temple of Apollo” Agrigento

Look at what was happening … although this is a completely posed picture …not a single aspect being candid (other than the 2,500 year old column thingies in the background) … about 5 minutes before this pic was organized and taken… teams Alpha, Beta, and Gamma were stage left in the shade of a smyrlacius oblongata (bogus Romulan name for “tree” of any type) reviewing the timeline, the key players, and the pivotal moments in history that took place right beneath each Bulldog’s feet.  It was one of those hard to articulate moments when you are overtaken, perhaps overwhelmed, by the feeling …the sensation…. that God really wanted you to find your calling, your passion …and teach.  Look!  … I’ve never been known as Mr. Feelgood … these love-fest events are not my thing … but …having said that … it is truly a thing of “rare” and delicate beauty to watch the Mom & Pop team of Luchia and Dr. Donato ply her/his trade on your daughter/son.  Ok ! … I’ve had enough of this… let’s snap out of this funk … FOR THE RECORD! …  “I’ve carried both of them …on my back…for most of this so called Odyssey thing.”  Ok … now that the truth is out … I am set free from the bonds of guilt and I am finally able to move on to the focal point of this post (the statue/sculpture is just a warm-up … it is not really where this is going … but … ).  It Was just a tad humorous.

Only middle-school students would find an "appropriate" way to pose for a picture in front of "Fred" as I like to call him.
Only middle-school students would find an “appropriate” way to pose for a picture in front of “Fred” as I like to call him.

My immediate question is … why is the line of students not uniform.  “Gap !  Why?”   “Hat!  Why?”      “Picture!  Why?” (I did my best to initiate a conversation about the Rodin museum in Philly but mentioning Philadelphia only served to derail the moment further as the conversation quickly turned to Cheesesteaks and soft pretzels.)  BUT … let’s move on to the actual focal point of this post.  I like to call this next (above the fold) section … the Headmaster Hop (student derived name) …and the quaint “Year of _______” phrase they created as a companion.  I belive they settled on “The Year of Liability.”   I didn’t quite “get it.”  Until … I had about a nano second to observe the “lay of the land” and then it hit me like a jolt of 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power on the Back to the future” set.   The rest of the story will unfold in photo-essay format:

Dogs observing, discussing, cogitating (as well as thinking too, also)
Roberto & Dante’ observing, discussing, cogitating (as well as thinking too, …. also)
Caterina mimics position of sculpture column that would appear to provide support to hold up a temple.
Caterina mimics position of sculpture-column that would appear to provide support to a temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allessandra & Regina getting some hands on sense of how this horseshoe cut almost "revolutionized" the engineering of temple construction.
Allessandra & Regina getting some hands on sense of how this horseshoe cut nearly “revolutionized” the engineering of temple construction.
I'm flyyyyyyyying! So what appeared to be a "normal" path ...was not what it iwas used for.
I’m flyyyyyyyying! So what appeared to be a “normal” path …was not what it iwas used for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KEEP SCROLLING PLEASE … 🙂

And then
And then…out of nowhere … this geometrically perfect “field” of vertically oriented rectangular solids appears.  Studenti LOVE IT.
It all was looking really good .... UNTIL ....
It all was looking really good …. UNTIL …. Rocket J. Squirrel  here decided to leap from one stone to another.   Oh Happy Day !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The all new game of "Headmaster Hop" was conceived, designed, developed, AND field tested ...all in a matter of moments.
The all new game of “Headmaster Hop” was conceived, designed, developed, AND field tested …all in a matter of moments.

 

 

Despite several emergency phone calls to 1 Lime St. in London ...I was categorically denied insurance of any type by the quintessential high-risk insurer .... Lloyd's. They offered to underwrite my chuteless terminal velocity record attempt day after tomorrow ...BUT would have nothing to with this simple little children's game.
Despite several emergency phone calls to 1 Lime St. in London …I was categorically denied insurance of any type by the quintessential high-risk insurer …. Lloyd’s. They offered to underwrite my chuteless terminal velocity record attempt day after tomorrow …BUT would have nothing to with this simple little children’s game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lloyd's .... the building is stunning ... but the underwriting flexibility seems a bit dodgy ...if you ask me.
Lloyd’s …. the building is stunning … but the underwriting flexibility seems a bit dodgy …if you ask me.

So … the classic Clint Eastwood question remains … “Do you feel lucky?”  … Did any of this actually happen ?  Or was it simply an attempt to garner a bit of attention (ya! …that’s jusssssst what I need.  I’ll close with that same Eastwood classic.  “Do you feel lucky!!  Do ya!

Ciao …. !   Alfredo