In the last days, energies have streamed into hands, and poured directly into tomatoes, zucchinis, salad and cabbage, parsley, basil, multiple recipes and more…and into a couple road trips, that made such a change of scene possible.
Words feel just a bit too heavy for the kind of life I’ve been enjoying, so I’ll leave most of the job to images today.
I have been at my grandma’s Podere in Tuscany for 10 days, in her personal ocean of olive trees. A place for deep sleep and rest in a house that has listened to many winds and seasons, the enchanted castle of my christmases and summer holidays since forever.
It has been some time since I was here in June last, and I had forgotten the effect of its sparkling energy on the countryside. Butterflies everywhere, flowers from the May’s blooming, fruits coming along and sweet fresh winds bringing smells of warm earth and trees.
Taking care of grandma’s orto is the evening activity.
For the full moon, a walk took place among the olive trees: we found out moonlight matches magically with their silvery leaves.
In front of the house, there’s a swing bench that has hosted many work and nap and reading hours, in countless past summers and the present.
The local birds -jays, doves, sparrows and the occasional buzzards are the main neighbors and a great source of entertainment! Watching lizards doing all kinds of things in and out rock walls is also a very cool business 🙂
This house hosted so many family gatherings over the years, I can’t help feeling her as a definite personality. It has been with us through special and ordinary days alike, leaving that odd feeling of a person who I know was there among us, but whose I can’t remember the name or face…It simply was, and is always there.
I share with my grandma a sense of wonder for nature, and we’ve been enjoying it together in this countryside since I was little.
Already as a kid I felt this connection was very special, a big part of who I was… that’s still true, today.
It is like every of the house’s stones is a memory… and we all keep building by sharing time here, through life changes and growing up, traveling and working abroad… and coming back.
The trees too tell stories; or it is my grandma, when she recalls the times she planted them in the aia, not bigger than saplings sometimes.
In the last days I also had the chance to join my aunt in a trekking exploration outside of Lucca: she is a guide and archaeologist, and she wanted to try out a new path before proposing it to the public.
It was such a good walk and adventure!
If anybody’s curious about my aunt’s guided archeo-trekkings, please let me know and I’ll be happy put you in touch!
It has been a wonderful 10 days. I look forward to coming back to the Podere in august, and share more of the work and pleasures of country life with my grandma and my family.
I came back to Rome on Sunday night and I’m preparing to leave for Ischia tomorrow: cetaceans are waiting!!
The actual research season will start next Monday, but I am going on board of the research vessel “Jean Gab” early, to get some training about the data software. I can’t wait to be out at sea…
I have been giving a hand to Oceanomare Delphis’s Social Media team, correcting Italian translations of their posts, which has been a cool and fun job that I’ll bring on through the next weeks.
I also know that my interview from friend and artist Ingrid Erickson is in the works, and so is the one I’m preparing for Luigi Bundone, on the topic of the sea… it has been some busy days!
… and I expect life will get even busier soon, as the research season begins. But I will keep up with shorter posts -and more marine pictures 🙂
So stay tuned!
