Errant

The word can either mean 'to go off course' or 'to travel.' Both would be pertinent.

Because I can add nothing of value to the conversation that dominates everyone's internet access and involvement right now.  I can offer no new perspective.
I most certainly care, though.

Because maybe looking at interesting, errant pictures with captions could be the best thing I can offer.

Because these things defy any kind of categorization other than, simply, 'Rome.'

This is Rome, because...

...it's kind of trite in its standard components - the checked tablecloth, the glass of house wine, dining al fresco...but this IS Rome.  Almost every place that offers outdoor seating (and almost all of them do) now has elaborate heaters situated amongst the tables and chairs for the colder months.  In a sense, the city is the dining room.

...Rome is about seeing and being seen.

...this is a city of fountains - over 2000 of them, in fact. Rome is a watershed.  This fountain is made of book forms, probably in honor of the university that used to be near this spot. And unless there is a sign indicating that the water is 'non-potabile,' you can get a free drink or fill your bottle. 

...Bernini's Triton fountain is another one of the 2000.

...there is no shortage of clergy and cloistered folk here.

....virtually every intersection has a Madonna, and every one is different.

Nasoni (big noses) comprise about 1500 of the fountains.  They are exclusively for drinking water.  Most run perennially.

Roman women are not retiring.  They WILL stop a delivery man and give him explicit instructions on where to park instead of where he's currently parked. 

And she has a lot to say - with her hands.

She was ADAMANT.

It is finally raining more frequently here. I don't see many trees on a daily basis, but I know that the wealth of produce and the lush gardens here and there, and the orange trees that grow on a street beside the embassy...they deserve the rain. 

...gelaterias are always serving it up.  Even when the weather is cold.

...when it isn't cold, you can sometimes see the air, it's so humid.

...frutta and verdere markets - also outdoors - are a way of life.

To utilize the week's various leftover sauces and stews, and to stock up before you might fast on a Friday, Thursdays are traditionally gnocchi days.  Potato dumplings are good with anything, including fresh pesto.

Another Madonna/shrine, yes, but the structure naturally leads up to the remnants of 'the donut' or the rest of a cylindrical tower that is a leftover fragment of the Baths of Agrippa - that now have apartments built around and on top of it.
Rome is about recycling.

Fashion.  Shot in the middle of a street.

And the cars will simply go around you.

I was informed by a colleague that 1 in 3 Italian men have at least one pair of red pants. Once you learn a little fact like that, you see red pants - all the time.
The Spouse's response to this?  Good for them (but not for me). 

And this dapper man on my bus.
Note his crooked finger.  It remained that way for the whole ride, regardless of how much the bus jostled the rest of us.

Spiffy uniforms.  These are the most formal of uniforms for the carabinieri.

You must be up very, very early to get a shot like this.
But it is the view that the photographer in that previous fashion shoot was after as a background.

Happy discovery:  the bar atop the Hotel Minerva, in the warmer months, serves up pricey Aperol Spritzes with a view of the top of the Pantheon.

Note the reflection of people just...watching this man stuff cannoli.  They were transfixed.  And drooling.

Try to have a good rest of the week, friends.