Giglio di Firenze

I'm not exactly sure how the topic came up, but somehow Sasha and I began to talk about getting matching tatoos of the Giglio di Firenze, the symbol of Florence.  "Talking about" is probably not the right term for our discussion because really what was happening was that she was talking me into it.  "You only live once," she said, which hardly seems like a sound argument for getting a tatoo.  But whatever.

So, this afternoon, when I should/could have been doing so many other things that would probably be better for my health and mind, I found myself with Sasha waiting for Saundra, the Witch, to show up at the Tatoo Parlor.  She was about four minutes late and I was impatiently counting to five minutes - all the time I would allow her - when here she came down the street on her Harley with multi-colored hair streaming out from under her helmet.  She expertly parked the Harley across the street, unlocked the gazillion locks to get into the place of business and I found myself waiting to have a symbol needled into my ankle among what, to me, is totally alien biker stuff, picture books of tatoos and tatoo designs and jewelry to be worn on various parts of the body.  All were displayed on a shelf and in interesting cases made of old bike pieces and pipe and glass.

Once she started, Saundra concentrated completely on the task at hand, working quickly and competently on what, in the scheme of things, is a small tatoo.  It was neither the most painful nor the most pleasant experience I have ever had, but I certainly did bask in the "cool Grandma" label that everyone who came into the shop applied to me.  And, tonight, it feels just fine.  However, I think I will probably feel differently when the itching starts and I absolutely am not allowed to scratch.  But, "you only live once."

Ciao.