Reflections on My 39 Years in Umbria

Inspired by the beautiful weather and the spectacularly colorful countryside this early November, we had a very early Sunday lunch and then set off to photograph the hills around our Genius Loci Country Inn. I am amazed anew by the magnificence of my "backyard": we had to stop and start the car a hundred times, always finding another irresistibly picturesque spot beyond each bend of the country road for other photos.

We tried to document the contrast and diversity, the poetry of the old farmhouses, the myriad hues of yellow and red, the melancholy olive branches, the dominant linearity of the vineyards, the winding roads...all within the

wild and wide rage of colors of the vineyards, lacey branches, solitary "cipressi" in the midst of rare clay-like barren hills.... along with the grey-brown of recently tilled soil, readied for the imminent seeding of sunflowers.

We marvelled at the harmony of the patchwork hills, the small plots of land, the spontaneous farmhouse architecture, the variety of geometicrical forms and shapes within a gently rolling landscape.

Every turn of the road brought a renewed "vision" due to the changing position of the source of sunlight, or to certain shadows cast by majestic oaks, or to a slightly later time of day. The entire scene had a kaleidoscopic effect and a hint of the countryside so loved by the Impressionists.