"Even the toothpaste is warm!"

Summer in Sicily has been HOT!!! The title confirmed my  thoughts  when my dentist friend stated it aloud. I sensed exactly that as I brushed my teeth a few mornings ago standing on the tiles that usually cool one's feet...even they felt warm!

With the heat and the drought, fires occur.

Walking home from the vegetable stand, I surveyed
the results of a neighborhood fire where the fire department was called.

The fire wound its way to a higher point.

A few days ago, I heard a crackling noise while in the kitchen, looked out,
saw the fire. I thought it must be across the street from 'our' field. Flint went out to
check, and then he came back by the house with a bucket. All the men and boys who
checked on it walked about the length of a football field to a hydrant to fill their buckets then
walk back to put out the fire. They succeeded.

The area that the bucket brigade doused. 

Our first visit to the new mall, Centro Sicilia
We passed quite a few burnt areas as we took the back roads...
possible cause: cigarettes thrown
from car windows?

 While at Centro Sicilia, we thought of how our dear William and Iain would have
enjoyed this dining experience at 'sushi&wine.'  Food items move along
on a conveyor belt. The color of the band on the plate coincides with
the price list on the menu (below). If the boys had been with us, we definitely would have sat at the bar rather than at a table.