Our new house will be nestled in the hills and named "Charis" which means Grace - but why? Perhaps a parable might help...
A young man who was living in a remote village decided that the politics, dissension and pettiness of his fellow villagers was just too much to bear.
He packed up a small swag, and set off with the rather grand notion of travelling all of the world's roads.
Many years later he came across some information that enabled him to make powerful explosives and project his voice - although he never had cause to use this power.
He continued his travels mostly in peace, until one day he was walking along a lonely country road when he saw quite a dilapidated old cottage close to the road with a bent old lady tending a modest garden out the front.
The old lady beckoned him in for a meal, and he gladly accepted her hospitality. He asked her why she was living all alone so far from any village. She told him that in her village she had been cast out by evil persons who wished harm to her and her family. As an outcast she was now bound to spend the remainder of her days in lonely solitude.
The travelling man was incensed that the villagers had been so cruel to such a welcoming person, and with this knowledge he resolved to wreak vengeance on the village. After obtaining directions from the old lady he set out immediately.
When he came across the village as directed he set about berating the villagers with his powerful booming voice and casting about with explosions to rent asunder their limbs from their bodies. When he was finished there was little of the village that remained, and he became shocked at his violence and quickly continued his journey in search of any wisdom that might help him unravel the conundrum of his life.
Decades later as an old man he was walking along a familiar road and he happened upon a decrepit cottage with a young woman tending a small garden at the front. She called him in for a meal, and he accepted her hospitality. He asked her why she was living all alone in the wilderness.
She told a story of her life in a nearby village as a very young girl. The village was not a happy place, but recently they had cast out the cause of all of their troubles, a wicked old lady who had set friend against friend and family against family with her gossip and disgraceful behaviour.
Then one day the young girl was tending the well when a big booming voice struck the village and explosions rocked her off her feet and into the well. She survived the terrible carnage and managed to escape days later. She buried the dead, set right the stones that defined the village outskirts, then lived for a number of years in a cave close by the village, hoping for her family and friends to return.
Years later she set out to find anyone who might know of their whereabouts. She happened upon the small empty cottage and took it over as her own home. She invited the man to live in the cottage with her for as long as he wished.
The old man was deeply touched by her story and her offer. He enquired about her name. She told him that her name was Grace, and she offered him a warm drink and a seat on the verandah of his new home.
And now for a quick video of our crazy driveway - fun in a 4WD car, a nightmare for an Italian Princess.
