10 Agosto, The Feast of San Lorenzo, or Night of the Shooting Stars

Ok, so I didn't have a shooting star picture from Friday night when the tradition is to make a wish on a shooting star, as this is a big night for shooting stars. I did have this picture lurking in my picture folders just waiting to be trotted out. What do you know, I always thought it kind of looked like a shooting star. This is the view from my balcony and hence the name Bella Baita View, for those of you new to finding my view of Italy(Baita is a small mountain rustico or house, cabin, etc. Fabrizio's family restaurant for 30 years was called "La Baita"). As you can see I have a beautiful View of the alps and French border as well as being a perfect place for wishing upon a star Friday night. Looking up a bit of history on this annual tradition, I found that it seems to be yet another earthly tradition mixed up and around a religious holiday. The Feast of San Lorenzo, is celebrated on the 1o of August on the anniversary of the death of St Lawrence when in 258 AD, Emperor Valerian had all bishops, deacons and priests put to death. So how this turned into wishing upon a shooting star tradition isn't too far of a stretch to understand, even if this tradition came too late to do "Lorenzo of Rome" any good.
I was reading an article on an online Italy magazine about how Italians have gone into a bit of a wish crisis and thought I might give the tradition a bit of a go myself, and then promptly I forgot and went to bed. Middle of the night I awoke and wandered into the bathroom with the window open and the warmth of the night took me by surprise. Wednesday and Thursday had been so unseasonably cold with a bit of fresh snow dusting the top of a couple of peaks Thursday morning harbingering the next season to come not so far around the corner. Living in Colorado at 9,600 feet for many years, I never got to enjoy such warm nights as I have here and I love them. I found myself luxuriating in the warmth and silence of this dark night in this most fleeting and cherished summer season of the mountains. Then I notice out of the corner of my eye, a shooting star, and not long after another and a bit later a couple more. What a treat, and so naturally I took that opportunity to make a wish or two on those shooting stars. I wonder if you get one for everyone you see, well I did. The news this morning was saying that the shooting stars are suppose to be quite visible tonight as well, so get your wishes lined up and get a seat under the stars tonight.