Yesterday, late morning, I decided to go into one of the gardens below our house to chill and hopefully get creative. Minutes later, I arrived at a somewhat hidden garden wall that I once had a romantic moment on with @clareartista .
I clearly remember us eating mint-chocolate ice cream, hugging and kissing and enjoying the view and each other on a late and very hot Summer day. This was back in our early days ( September last year) and after thinking back to this memorable moment, I noticed that the plastic container that I had brought along to carry a snack in was that exact same container of the mint-chocolate ice cream we enjoyed back in September.
Cut back to yesterday...
where I made myself comfortable on that wall, finding a space in the shade of an olive tree.
Just before my arrival here, I had heard a neighbor scream at his cats. At least I think it was his cats he was addressing and not his partner. Who knows? A lot of Italians tend to scream, even when they 'talk' but this was some serious screaming.
A little later, when I slung my legs over the wall, to face the mountain view, I smelled trouble…
Cat poo.
I sighed and realized that my recently bought Converse sneakers hadn’t been initiated into this nasty ritual yet.
That is, up till that moment.
I had clearly stepped into cat shit before arriving my destination and only smelled it when I moved my feet around.
Luckily, there was only a small amount stuck in the profile of my left shoe and none on my legs or pants ( the latter has happened before and was a little less fun ). I managed to wipe the majority of it off in the grass ( which inspired the drawing that I included here ) and by using a bit of drinking water from the flask I had brought along with me, I then cleaned my shoe almost entirely.
Also, you might not be aware of this, here in Italy it is said that stepping into cat poo brings good luck.
In fact, when it happens just before a journey it means safe passage. When it happens in the morning, it is a sure sign of a blessed day. If a person steps into cat poo shortly before their marriage, they will live happily ever after and last but certainly not least, if you manage to step into cat poo with your bare feet, that’s just nasty.
Go wash yourself immediately and make sure to wear shoes next time you go out into a cat toilet zone or be stupid brave and deal with the consequences.
P.S. One Summer, years ago, I was walking bare foot through a garden. I then happened to step into dog poo with my bare feet and cringed when I felt the liquid stuff spreading between my toes.
When I looked down, I noticed, to my relief, that it had been an overripe fig I was standing on.
It still felt pretty nasty though.