These sunflowers in the distance are for Ben Carter of Benito’s Wine Reviews. I heard very sad news about Ben today and am just thinking about him and how lovely he was. He also loved Italy as I do and spoke Italian. I met him about six years ago at the Snooth Bloggers Conference. We kept in touch via email and Facebook and I would read his columns on his blog or his musings about his beloved dog Bella. Social Media and the internet make such friendships possible even though he lived in Memphis. I will miss his gentle soul and creative writing and those bizarre recipes he liked to make.