March 2009

Spending the days...

cutting the trees to have wood for next year, stocking up for another winter and hoping it is not as long as this one has been. We begin pruning the olive and fruit trees.

watching the landscape surrounding us change before our eyes. Almond trees bloom first, then the ornamental plum, and small lavender flowers on climbing vines. March winds bring us clear, vibrant blue skies.

eating frittelle, fried rice with lemon peel, on March 19, San Giuseppe day. The day for fathers...the day the pigeons migrate over the mountains on the way back to Russia. Feeling like you are on the top of the world, valley on one side, castles on the other with the fire in between.

watching dogs frolic in the wildflowers and margherite that scatter the lawn, a shame to cut them, but thankfully they grow back the next day.

thinking the weather is always unpredictable as snow arrives in the front yard on the first day of spring. March winds so strong they whip through the cracks in the windows…we thought winter was over, a good excuse to make warming tortellini in brodo.

yearning for the sun again, but getting a thunderstorm.

working on new projects, giving me the excuse to study the beautiful paintings and frescoes of local hero Piero della Francesca. Full of Tuscan color and vibrancy, they still should not take away from the fact that I need to study for the written driving exam…in Italian!