Che Cazzo State?

We were going to try and sleep in a bit this morning...Sebastiano had an early appointment to get surgery on his carpal tunnel and wouldn't be back until noon. Instead...we were startled into sunshine by the techno shepherd.

When you imagine a shepherd, you probably picture a man with tough skin, one whos face you can barely make out because his hood comes over it...it is a wooly, pilled gray cloak and, along with his woven mocassins, it is coverd in dry dirt and grass stains. His shepherd hook is stood planted by his side pointing straight to the sky.

The shepherd at Policastro is a bit different. He is Giovanni, Sevvario's son and he shows up at 9am every morning in his tiny red fiat. You can hear the bass from his Italian techno music bumping from about 2 miles away and as he gets closer...we are usually standing at the door getting ready to walk to the farm and as he races by you can catch a glimpse of his angry, early morning, teenage face. My guess, he didn't want to leave the club to shovel shit and round up sheep. Rather than the traditional goat garb...Giovanni sports the latest deisel shoes (which makes it difficult for him to jump like a fairy between shit piles as to save them from getting messy), tight (nut-hugging), dark Italian denim and, I'm taking a wild guess at the brand here, but a torn up, vintage Deisel top. To top it all off...his silver mirrored sunglasses. He exits the car in slow motion, as if he is ready to take the runway in a walk off, but when the scene finally speeds up, he heads directly into the shit covered stalls where his sheep await. Techno Shepherd.

The girls show up a little while after...they are the farmers daughters Laura and Luanna along with there mother Maria and grandmother Angela. They holler across the field to us ''Che Cazzo State?'' How the Fuck Are You? (Literally, How the penis are you?) We all reply in unison ''Cazzo bene'' Fuckin' good. And they always laugh so loudly it echoes off the farmhouse and we all stop our work and smile and wave to them. They head to the house and start feeding the animals and preparing our lunch.