2019-08-11 - Encroaching Storm and Potential Travel

There's a thunderstorm brewing on the horizon, and the wind has picked up as they sat out on the patio, watching as the sky darkens in the distance. It was mid-afternoon, but it was starting to take on a darker cast of evening. It's impressive to watch the storm begin rolling in over the water. "Well, at least the earlier half of the day was claer," Justin chuckles.

"I like storms. Watching them, not being caught in them." Stefano adds. "If there's no lightning, want to go swimming? It's kind of nice to just be out in the storm and counting it as part of the experience." After a moment of looking at the horizon, he says "Though I think it's likely to lightning from the look of it."

"Oh, I don't mind getting caught in storms either," Justin admits, "Well, as long as there's no lightning that's going to fry me, that is." He watches the dark clouds as they continue to roll in. "We can go swimming and if it starts up, can always go in." He glances toward the water, and then back.

"Once it begins raining. I like swimming in the rain." Turning his gaze away from the approaching storm, Stefano looks over to Justin. "I don't remember, did you once say you liked camping and hiking? My family were big on camping so that's where I picked that up, I guess. You could either hide in your tent or just enjoy the rain."

Justin nods and says, "Yeah, I like to go hiking whenever I can. We should go sometime. There's some trails in Firefly Woods that are good for it. I've been camping a few times, too. I've always liked it, though I haven't been in a while." He grins then and says, "I've always liked storms and walking in the rain. I don't mind getting soaked."

"If it's my choice." Stefano agrees. "I don't like it when it's unexpected. I tend to be carrying things that don't like being wet. But sure, let's do that. Let's just go far enough outside of town though that we're not likely to get sucked over to the other side."

"Is there a way that you can be sure that won't happen?" Justin asks, because he really isn't sure how all of that works. "I don't usually carry around a lot of stuff that isn't at least water resistant when I'm hiking, so it's not usually a big deal. But I could see how it might be, otherwise."

"I mean around town. If I've going camping, I take waterproof." Stefano clarifies. He needs to think about that question before shrugging. "I don't know. I'm no expert so if it's possible, I don't know about it."

"I guess we'll find out, then," Justin says with a faint smile, still getting used to even thinking about these sorts of things. A couple of drops begin to fall, just one here, one there, tapping against the umbrella over the table, causing little ripples on the surface of the pool. "Ah, yeah, I thought that you meant hiking." He then asks, "Where's your favorite place to go camping?"

Stefano thinks a moment. "Once, we went to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's nice down there and I enjoyed it a lot. Maybe because it was new and not the Adirondacks or Catskills which we went to all the time. Sometimes it was just me and my grandfather going. He'd use the time to teach me things."

"Do you see him often?" Justin asks regarding Stefano's grandfather. He looks out over the water and says, "That's what I liked about coming up here with my folks. It was someplace away from SoCal, away from the city, even if we did come here every year. Was nice to just be away. Though I also really like Colorado, too. Haven't been out that way in a while."

"He died several years ago." Stefano says matter of factly. "I told him to stop smoking but..." He shrugs. "Never been to Colorado. We didn't have a lot of money so usually stayed in the area. Virginia was a treat. "

"Sorry to hear that," Justin says, and then he nods. "Is this the only place you've been on the west coast, then? You stayed mostly around the northeast?" The rain starts to pick up a little then, the droplets beginning to fall a little bit faster. Justin turns his hand over to catch a couple in his palm.

"I went to San Francisco a few years ago. There was a symposium on massage and healing methods so I turned it into a vacation while being able to write most of it off as a tax deduction." Stefano answers. As the rain picks up, he glances at his beer. "Want another?"

"I like San Francisco," Justin says, "But I haven't been there in a while either. I like to do that when I can, turn business trips into mini-vacations, see the sights wherever I am, or at least try to do something fun when I can." He nods when Stefano asks if he wants another beer, offering up the empty bottle. "Sure, thanks."

Stefano takes the bottle and heads back inside to swap them out for full ones. It doesn't take long and he returns, sitting back down and passing one of the bottles over. "It makes them easier to afford since I can write off the plane tickets and at least part of the hotel bill."

Justin stretches out a bit while Stefano heads back inside to bring out two more bottles. He accepts it when it is handed over, and takes a swig from it. "Makes sense," Justin says. "Any place you've never been that you've always wanted to go, but didn't have any kind of business reason to go there?" He tilts his head, studying Stefano for a moment or two.

"Palermo." Stefano answers instantly. "I'd like to see where my family came from. There's still some there too who decided not to leave because of the war. We're not in touch though. I mostly just want to see the city and the tombs. It would be interesting to see what they feel like."

Justin smiles at that instantaneous answer and nods as he listens, considering for a moment before asking, "Would you like to go sometime? I'd take you. We could go see where your family is from, see the city, see the tombs." He studies Stefano's features as he turns the beer bottle slowly on the table with his fingertips in slow circles.

Stefano pauses with his beer bottle raised to look over at Justin. After a moment, he takes a drink as he considers the offer. Eventually, he says "I'd like that a lot. We'll have a great time. There's a lot of things in Sicily to see and it's not a big island. You'll love the food. I also speak Italian like a native so we won't have any trouble with that."

Justin's smile grows a little bit at the acceptance, and he nods. "I've never been there, so it will be an adventure for me, too." He then grins when Stefano says that he speaks Italian like a native, "Well that's fortunate, because I don't speak a lick of Italian, so you can do all the talking and I'll stand around and look pretty and try not to seem too much like an idiot American."

"You could pass for Mediterranean." Stefano tells him. "Northern Italian maybe or Greek. If we're together, they won't immediately assume you're American. Which will probably make things easier. I don't know what the attitude is over there but Sicilians are noted for being insular even toward other Italians."

"Until I open my mouth," Justin chuckles. "But yeah, until then I suppose I could pass for not American." He leans back in his chair comfortably. "But perhaps they'll give me a bit of a pass as long as I'm with you. If you can tolerate me, I can't be that bad, right?" He grins sidelong, clearly joking.

"Well, unless they make the obvious assumption that we're together." Stefano points out. "I don't know much about Sicily but old world towns can be very backwards. Not that I give a damn. When would you want to go?"

"Well, I mean, I don't really give a damn either, to be honest," Justin admits with a smile as he takes a sip from his beer. He pulls out his phone and taps through his calendar, pulling it up and going through it. "Whenever you have some time," he says, "Other than the end of July. I have a board meeting then, and they'll be kind of irritated if I don't show up. But if you want to go before then, that would probably work."

"Late spring and early fall are the best times to go." Stefano says. "I looked once. It's also the height of tourist season and the most expensive. The summer is hot but that doesn't bother me. I don't know if you'd want to go then. I'm just starting to build a clientele so probably shouldn't disappear right at the moment. So maybe next May or June?"

Justin nods and then sets his phone aside, "Spring is good. It will be better weather-wise and you'll have your client base established by then. That'd be the more practical option." He smiles, "I'm not sure what will be going on in the spring yet, but when it gets closer, we can figure out the dates."

"Of course, this assumes we'll still be seeing each other in nine months." Stefano points out with a smile. "Which might be optimistic considering we've know each other less than two months."

"True," Justin says, as he looks out over the back yard toward the water, clearly thinking about something, but eventually shakes his head and smiles again. "You're right." Then he tips back the bottle for another swallow. "I have a couple of scripts that I'm looking at as well. Depending on if I decide to cave in and do a film, I'm not sure when filming would start, either. But we'll see. That's all up in the air, so anything could be happening when the spring comes." He asks then, "So how is that going, building up the clientele? Any of those contacts pan out?"

Stefano nods as Justin agrees. But after a moment says, "But I see no reason we wouldn't be. It'll be a really fun trip." Taking a swig from his beer, he sets the bottle down then stands up and strips out of his shorts. "C'mon. Lets swim before it starts lightning."

"I suppose we'll see," Justin says with a bit of a smile. "You could be sick of me in a couple more months." He gets up, then and stretches a bit. Then he tugs his shirt off and shucks out of his shorts as he moves toward the pool. The rain has started to come down steadily at this point, and while there are a couple of rumbles in the distance, so far no lightning. He dives smoothly into the pool, coming up and pushing water out of his face.