Then, usually in the evening, we cook something wonderful or have people over. The days are very, very long. I don't usually get up that early here. I think one of the things that makes the day seem so much like a week is siesta, where everything shuts down. I think that's another thing that contributes to happiness there.
People have the middle of the day to do what they want to do.
Instead of getting home in the evening when you're tired. Both in Mayes' conversation and in her book, it seems like purest pleasure. Each knows an astonishing amount about wells, septic systems, gutters, pruning - minute technical knowledge acquired by years under the roofs of quirky old farmhouses. . . . I said to Ed, the other day, I'd like to write a book on the letters I've gotten from people, and people I've met at readings who've told me their experiences in Italy. One woman said she'd made the decision to go back and restore her grandmother's house in a small village.