La Serenissima

I had the great fortune to live in the Veneto Region of Italy for a few years. Venice calls itself La Serenissima - the "most serene" - but I beg to differ. In the early morning hours of the last days of summer, the most serene place on earth is the small lake upon which my parents live. As the mist rises over the glassy waters, the silence is broken only by the dipping of my paddle and the splashing of the pike as they jump out of the depths to have some breakfast.