The sound of a Vespa....

One recent weekend morning Al and I sat outside enjoying pleasant weather and the rare leisure to enjoy our coffees while we read the papers. We sat in companionable silence against the background of bird songs, music playing on the cafe sound system, and occasional traffic noise in the distance.

Suddenly we heard the abrasive grinding start up sound of what we thought was a leaf blower, unfortunately a familiar sound in our city. The sound jarred us out of our reverie.

As Al and I began to discuss the negative aspects of leaf blowers, we suddenly saw a Vespa pull from the parking spaces on the opposite side of the cafe. Instantly we reinterrupted the noise (same startup gunning, same machine sounds) as benevolent, as we association them with something Italian.

We now visualized the motor as a replacement for a big car engine, an environmentally better option. We fanticized about our part of the city becoming like Italy, with Vespas lined up outside of restaurants and cafes, young men and women locking their vehicles and swinging their helmets as they strolled toward a restaurant. We relaxed back into our morning peace, romantically perhaps, associating the abrasive sound with our Italian experiences.