Today was a work day.  It was time to catch up.  I had been touring with clients in Italy for two weeks and I needed to work today, to design programs for spring 2011.  Having my head in the computer for six hours was not unusual for a computer addict like myself. 

Then I heard it. First drums and then you could heard a marching band, more humming, and the marching band.

We live on the fifth floor, Julie and I,  our apartment in Tuscany.  It is really Julie’s apartment.  I am just her occasional roomate.   We are in the small town of San Casciano Val ‘Pesa.  That is  the town is located in the Pesa valley about 20 kilometers outside of Florence.    Today is grandparents day.    As I type , I can hear the sounds of the piazza, ball playing, and lots of chattering. 

The church bells ring every single hour of the day.  I know what time it is even when I am sleeping.   The church is about 30 feet away from our windows.  Somehow in the night you do not notice the bells.

I decided to take a few minutes , get up and stretch.  I looked out the window,  And there it was.  A procession.  Just like you hear about.  First there were two lines of elderly people walking to the beat of the drums,  then you could see the priest, in his gold robes and behind him, there was the saint of the town on the shoulders of the men.   Behind the saint were the boyscouts, the nuns and the band wearing blue with lots of brass, they marched right past our window.  Then they marched around the town and came back again.    The Procession in San Casciano