admin December 22nd, 2006
I know that after reading the title many people might feel skeptical. And I was as well until a few months ago. Ever since we started living near the woods we adopted the healthy habit of taking short afternoon walks. Well, apart from our usual faithful friends (I’m talking about our dogs) we were somewhat dumbfounded to see that even our cats followed us!
Yes, just as I said, as soon as we leave the house and get onto the uphill path towards the woods, the cats suddenly appear, some follow us directly from the house: while we see others turn up along the way (were they wandering around the area and heard us pass by?).
So, contrary to popular belief, even our cats can follow us on our short walks. Some are “frequent visitors” (like the kitten in the photo, Nina), others participate more sporadically, but much more often that what you’d think!
admin December 20th, 2006
The Cappelletta pass, on the border between the Emilian and Ligurian regions, isn’t a famous place or even well known, I don’t think, but I like it a lot and thinking about it always makes me happy. It is found on a crest between two valleys and you can gaze at an endless horizon between the outlines of the mountains.
From there a path begins that passes through pastures, live oak forests and firs that leads to the Mouth of three borders: the meeting point between Liguria; Emilia and Tuscany. Continuing on you can reach the top of mount Gottero that exceeds 1,600 meters in height. You can go on treks but also just stroll and pick beautiful red berries and flowers to dry. The wind is a constant presence in the place and in fact, at the summit of the pass electrical wiring has been set up to exploit the wind power.
And at the feet of those strange windmills it’s common to see small groups of cows in the fields nibbling at the fresh grass.
admin December 18th, 2006
During the cold autumn mornings that precede the arrival of winter, I like to stroll through the woods. To admire this unusually quiet atmosphere. A light fog often wraps itself around things, and I adore immersing myself in this cocoon that protects me from the outside world. Then I stop to dwell upon the specific things: a leaf moved by the wind, a branch still loaded with dew, a well that reflects the clouds in the sky. You can capture the world’s magic even in these small things, in the never-ending cycle that repeats itself.