Feeling run down and aware of the head cold being passed around. Lynnette had shown up to Carlotta and JonCarlo’s the night before with a Costco-sized portion of little Italian Kleenex packages. She was passing them out like candy for anyone interested. The evidence of her own head cold was all over her face. Poor thing. I wanted to hug her but not expose myself anymore to what was going around. That is especially why I wanted a good night’s sleep.
So it never fails, when you really need it most – that is when sleep can tend to allude you. I tossed and turned for hours. I was probably freaking myself out thinking about compromising my immune system by not sleeping well this night and I new the truffle hunt was looming in the morning. It was an earlier start time than normal, so that combination of an early wake-up on the horizon and tossing and turning had me finally falling asleep at about 3am after I took a natural sleep-aid. At best that would give me 4-5 hours. Not nearly enough. Before I fall asleep my last thoughts are, ‘How can I back out of truffle hunting and get Heidi and Jeff a ride?’
Like a sweet little Thanksgiving miracle we all get a text around 8am from Fernanda, ‘The truffle hunt has been cancelled due to rain and high winds at the site.’ I think to myself, sweet sweet Lord, thank you for this gift so I can sleep longer and just rest. I text Heidi and Jeff, ‘Hey, I didn’t sleep great so would love more time this morning. I still feel groggy with a slight headache. Need more rest.’ Heidi lets me know they slept great and her cold is finally going away. They are resting in front of the fire and that I shouldn’t worry about rushing to get up. She says, ‘Get more rest and text when you are up.’
I was relieved for that pass and told her that after I got more rest we would figure out an adventure for the day. I told them to think about whether they wanted to see Siena (about an hour a way) or Montepulciano (about 20 minutes away). I swallowed once to see if I was getting sick yet. Nope, not yet. No sore throat another morning (usually my first sign of a head cold). I had dodged the bullet another day, even with a less than ideal night of sleep.
I was relieved when they picked Montepulciano as it was so much closer and it would give them an opportunity to see something new and at the same time we wouldn’t be in the car for a few hours today driving around. After we arrived and parked and stepped out of the car, the wind was whipping around and it felt like a biting cold. I was thankful that it wasn’t raining anymore. The cloud formations from the top were beautiful.
Jeff was having a grand old time taking photos, changing lenses, etc. It looked like so much work to me. I was reflecting on my previous trips bringing my big camera and what a relief it has been to just use an iPhone the last few years. It is more than enough for any non-professional photographer. He found a spot on a hill where he really wanted to park and take advantage of all the views. I suggest to Heidi – why don’t we meet up in about an hour so that he can feel freedom to take his time with the photos he wants to take. She said, ‘Sounds great! But I’m coming with you.’ So with that we had a plan and we said we’d text in about an hour.
I was hoping some shops would be open as I still hadn’t done any shopping on this trip. It seemed whenever were where somewhere with shops, they were closed. As was the case in this moment. I wasn’t particularly hungry as I’d eggs and toast right before we left, but Heidi wanted a little bite and thought we could duck into a warm place and grab a glass of wine and chat while we waited for Jeff.
We found a spot that served food, not a full-fledged restaurant – but one with sandwich and soup offerings and coffee and wine. There was a table available and we sat down. We ordered two glasses of Rosso. Heidi ordered a sandwich and I thought a Tuscan soup sounded good. Something light, I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for the big finale Thanksgiving dinner tonight. So our food came, we enjoyed the meal, Jeff even found us and sat down and enjoyed a glass of wine with us.
Once we wrapped up we were ready to head back. As we walked back to car, I could feel the soup expanding in my stomach. Suddenly I felt so full, fuller than I had been the whole trip. Also, I was thirsty. My mouth was immediately so dry – I couldn’t drink enough water to quench my thirst. What is going on with me? I’m still feeling a bit off, groggy and tired from the night before. I’m thinking, gosh, I can’t wait to just get us back to the farm so I can rest before dinner. We get in the car and Heidi asks, ‘What’s your favorite type of music?’ This question feels so overwhelming to me – because it’s not a simple answer – and I’m too caught up with what’s going on with my body and sudden full stomach and parched mouth.
I respond, ‘Um, can I answer that later? I’m not feeling great right now.’ Heidi says, ‘Sure, no problem.’ It must have seemed so odd to her and like a simple question, but when you aren’t feeling well, even the most simple questions seem overwhelming. So I try to offer something, ‘I will say for now, not country music.’ With that, I drove us home and enjoyed just the space to be with my thoughts and try to figure out what was going on with my body. Jeff asked at one point, ‘Where do people go grocery shopping around here?’ I could see Heidi tense up next to me as in oh gosh, she doesn’t want questions right now. But really, his question seemed so easy I answered. ‘At a place called the Co-op. Remember I showed you one in Pienza yesterday?’ He says, ‘Oh yes.’ and we keep driving.
Heidi pipes up, ‘Honey, we aren’t supposed to ask her questions right now.’ I kind of giggled to myself. I say, ‘That’s fine – his question seemed easy for me.’ She laughs, ‘And music is hard for you?’ I say, ‘Yah, right now, because it is complex and I like so many different types of music.’ Jeff says ‘You see Heidi, your questions can be complicated sometimes.’ We all just kind of giggle as we pull back into the long gravel driveway of Cretaiole.
I was so happy to just get back to the farm and have about 2 hours before dinner to try to lay down and rest. I still can’t shake this full feeling or feeling of thirst. I try to lay down and sleep and of course, can’t sleep and as the time to get ready for dinner approaches I need to decide what to do. At this point, I really just want to stay in (it’s raining and cold) and light a fire and watch a movie. That sounds like a perfect evening for me. I can’t imagine putting any food in my mouth. I just don’t feel up to tonight. In some ways it felt like I was needing to go to a business dinner, smile, and make polite conversation and I just wanted to rest. It didn’t really feel like Thanksgiving to me.
I decide to call Carla and explain the situation. She picks the phone right up and helps coach me through it. She totally gets it and says, ‘Look you are worn out from the week. I think you should just do whatever sounds good for you, they will understand. You can find a ride for Heidi and Jeff.’ I am giddy over this thought to get pass for the night and happy to hear the confirmation. I knew I would need to call Teresa (my co-planner) to let her know.
I call Teresa and explain – ‘Hey look, I’m just not feeling up for tonight. I feel like I am fighting something. I would love to just stay back and rest. I really have no appetite. Something I ate at lunch is just sitting like a rock in my stomach.’ Teresa responds with, ‘Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that. But, Lisa, you must go – you have be there. We would be so sad if you weren’t there; you have been the center of this whole week. A photographer is going to be there to get a group shot. Can you just show up for a little bit and then head back?’ Yes. Yes. I guess I could. With that short conversation, I knew I needed to go – even for a little bit. I had 20 minutes to get ready and not a minute to spare.