but it does make our job more challenging and there are always surprises.
Tonight, much to my surprise, as if it were going out of it's way to mess with me, the wind managed to whip around a corner and steal my hat.
Not just any hat, of course - this is one of my prized gondolier hats from Giuliana Longo.
I like my hats so much that on each of them I have a cord-like chin strap which is similar to the ones found on lifeguard hats.
Even when worn loosely, the strap works almost without fail.
then back behind me, and depositing the hat in the water.
All this happened before I'd even left the lagoon.
Enter Simon - young energetic gondolier who happened to be on the dock about to depart on a cruise of his own.
I shouted out to him, asking if he could fetch my capello.
He did so, and then came rowing out to catch me and my passengers.
Enter Simon again...this time with my hat.
(ok, sure, insert your favorite "Men Without Hats" joke here if you must).
"Oh, it's your birthday? Happy birthday! It's my wife's birthday too!"
"Well happy birthday back atcha' then!"
Everyone was happily toasting everyone else, and I was happy to get the sun off my forehead.
Next, another gondola, from our friends at Gondola Company of Newport cruised by, and all four of our passengers waved and toasted the folks on the other boat.
Everyone practices their very best "buona sera".
Later on, after my passengers finished their dinner, a mysterious message-in-a-bottle somehow appeared in the water and my passengers enjoyed fishing it out and reading it.
California sunset, photographed using all-natural, full-size "tree filter"
that can be seen at the end of a coastal sunset.
Life is good on the water, really good.
"Tabloid Tactics Trick Trusting Tribe." oh Greg Greg Greg. Headline should read, "Wind Blows Hat Off!" Sub heading "Documentation of event inadvertently reversals stark contrast in the professionalism of vying Newport gondola concerns."