Featured Novice: Piper Bentley

I was going through my folders of photos and remembered how much I liked the ones taken by my daughter Piper (then barely 10) while we were in Italy in 2007. So I thought I'd share them.

Hillclimb

We spent many hours and calories trudging up and down ancient staircases throughout Tuscany and Umbria. I'm not sure where this one is.

L'ucello

Here too I'm unsure of the location, but I love Piper's eye for shape and composition. Although swallows were ubiquitous, I like to think she intentionally captured this one.

Perugia (before)

We walked along an elevated sidewalk in this town, which let us spy on a few apartments. I love the lonely washcloth on the clothesline and its shadow. These pigeons were suspiciously hanging around this window.

Perugia (after)

Soon we understood what they were waiting for.

Randy, at the Molino

The neighbor kitten was a constant companion in our villa and was inclined to try to mate with our feet whenever possible, hence his name). Here his wanton disregard for a house of cards is captured.

Arezzo flea market

A huge and fabulous market for anything old you can imagine.

Cortona

I'm pretty sure this is Cortona, but every town we visited had wonderful doors.

San Gimignano

Piper took my advice to sometimes look up from the pavement.

La strada

This is on the road somewhere. I love the serendipity of the "curve" sign's appearance.

Lucca

Piper won a school award for this one, which she took of an urban stream.

Ostia

One of the few signs of life in this town, which was essentially closed for the winter.

Ostia

Literally, the graffiti means "I and you three meters above the sky." (That is, in "seventh heaven.") It's also a book and movie title.