Morruzze: a little Italian village in which nothing happens

all photos by JS

Last night was a beautiful night. We spent it sitting on the stone porch looking out at the sky, its half-moon and stars steadily brightening as the hour approached 10 pm. It was cool at this hour, but the stones still held warmth from the full day’s sunshine. 

The geckos had retired. We’d just finished some deliciously cool and sweet watermelon, its taste mixing with the pleasures of the darkening night with its brightening, star-lit sky. A distant owl was hooting, and the lovely daily birdsong had long been put to rest.  

one of our gecko families on the porch

And then, like sprinkles on ice-cream, fireflies (lucciole) came out, flickering illuminated bits of sparkle upon the night. 

It was peaceful, fragrant, and lovely.  Time out and being in. How few are such moments in most of our life-management styles of living. 

Today’s Thought

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro' the mellow shade
Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid.
-- Alfred Lord Tennyson

My fancies are fireflies
Specks of living light twinkling in the dark.
-- Rabindranath Tagore

The stone country house, to which we returned after an absence of six years, has been our home for the past several months in Italy. You've seen pictures of it in my previous posts. It's like so many in this region, which mandates that homes be kept to a certain,very agreeable, style. It's really beautiful to see the different harmonies of simple shapes and colors in the stonework. 

Soon we’ll be leaving this house we've just lived in once again, returning to Canada after a remarkable nine months in Europe. 

Morruzze in early April

Why live in this tiny village commune of Morruzze in Umbria? 

I’ve written and shown pictures of this place in previous posts. So I’ll now show you one of the first things I found on the internet when searching   “Morruzze” (from MBendi information services)

 

Isn’t it impressive? In each category, it lists absolutely Nothing! Actually, as you know if you’ve been looking in this blog, there’s much here. Lots of life, including the human social variety. Local notices are always changing on the large notice board behind the well  in the Piazza Cesare Paparini. And, there’s even a fine little guest house to rent adjoining the Palazzo Paparini (click to see). You can see website photos of this charming place, but below I want to show a rather bare but, I think, striking photo of an unrenovated part of the palace we routinely walk by.

We arrived here in Morruzze when everything was some shade of green. The different wild and cultivated flowers added their particular shapes and colors throughout the spring. 


As the summer approached, we saw the green casting more yellow and tan as fields were mowed and hay was baled.

 

And now, full summer, the girasole/sunflowers are out in full regalia performing sun salutions. It remains a simple joy to me to see whole fields of girasole turn their faces to the sun, wherever it may be, bowing slightly at the end of day. Despite my factually-competent brain, it’s easy when observing girasole to imagine a plant-consciousness that adores the sun.

Of course, I will have to paint some variation of this!

What continues to impress me most here is the quality of the region, itself. The clean air, the sounds, the fragrance, the colors, the living and growing things all around, the pace, the openness, the welcomeness, the variety of small and great things to walk amongst. Not much, ... but nearly everything.

I want to tell you more, about nearby Todi and Orvieto, about many the other local sights we’ve seen, and to share with you more wonders. But we leave soon for Verona, city of Romeo and Juliet. We have tickets for an open-air  performance of Aida at their beautifully intact Coliseum. From there, we drive to Paris, and from there…. ah, we take the metal bird home.

There is so much more. But can I catch up with myself? Will these postings feel different when I write them from afar, instead of amidst these sights? Will I write at all of here once no longer here?

For now, perhaps goodbye, perhaps arrivederci. 

Thank you.