Near the top of Mount Terminillo there is a mountain refuge which is presided over by Maurizio S. Maurizio came out smiling and gave us two coffees. We told him we were making a community down in Posta and then we had a discussion about art. Maurizio told us he wants to start growing vegetables and we said we have some land to do so. He said he has no time to come down from the mountain (a very long trip), but he was very interested in creating a currency free trade zone. We told him we could grow the veggies and exchange them for the rare mountain herbs that he has access to.

Yesterday Enzo told me he was going to give me some very valuable cooking ingredients. He too is not interested in receiving money for this service. I find these all to be good indications that maybe, with a bit of energy and effort, we could form a finance free network around this area.

Later we went to lunch in Villa Camponeschi where we met the former director of the largest bank in the region. He said that this area was one of the poorest both financially and culturally because of its geographical position. Being surrounded by mountains and cut off from all communication for centuries, these little towns have become quite insular and, he claimed, self interested. He said there is nothing uniting the inhabitants except greed. He then took my number saying that he could find a way to help us by providing extra accommodation should our group require it… for a low price.

I have found in life that usually when people claim a society or a group of people are a certain way they are often speaking for themselves… without knowing it.