Following several threads of other Slow Travelers and prompted by an Indian summer day today with more than a touch of fall in the air, I went through my archive to post some photos of fall beauty from the past few years. Fall signals to us to slow down with its shorter, darker days, with its lower sun and prominent shadows, with the turning and falling of leaves which award nature its well-deserved rest during which it conserves boundless energy for the following spring.
view from my study
Often the most familiar view takes on an entirely different aspect: fogs shroud and hide the hills, fallen red and yellow leaves carpet the ground with screeching bright color, succulent red and purple berries abound, parched fields lose their browns and golds after the first rains, persimmons hang like Christmas ornaments or Halloween lanterns on barren branches, vineyards have proudly produced their glorious elisir and now dress in riotous colors before succumbing to winter... and olive branches laden with swollen fruit remind us that they have been working all year to share their treasure of "liquid gold" with us.
Creeks gurgle and babble, laughing happily again, swelling their beds, an enormously rich array of fall products is ready for consumption: tables are set with multitudes of berries, chestnuts, walnuts, almonds, persimmons, mushrooms, truffles, olives dressed in orange rind and garlic, pears and apples. Collards, celery, turnips, beets, cabbage, fennel and radicchio di Treviso are abundant.
Loads of dry wood are brought inside as we eagerly await the first cool-enough day to light a crackling fire, to renew our fall ritual of hearth cooking either on the grill, on the spit or in the ashes, to cuddle up cozily next to the dancing flames with our favorite book wrapped in a super soft sweater which takes the first fall chill out of our bones.
Large pots of thick zuppe of beans, spelt and barley boil quietly for hours on our kitchen stoves as we eagerly anticipate a steaming bowl for dinner on a slice or two of crusty, toasted, Italian wood-burning-oven baked bread.
Fall, magical fall, keeps us in tune with nature and the seasons, reminding us that each "season" of our own lives has its intrinsic, unique bounty and beauty as well.
the view from our Genius Loci Country Inn
We also bring fall's beauty inside, arranging floral and greenery compositions to grace our rooms.
