Cappannelle

About 7 years ago my husband, Luigi, hung a tree swing for me in a cherry tree – right at the edge of our uliveto (olive grove). I love that swing! It’s one of my favorite spots – like a little retreat – where I can swing and swing and swing, and meditate on the green forests and open pastures that share the valley below our house in Umbria.

This year my beloved cherry tree – and 2 others – are spilling over with (you guessed it) cherries! So we’ve started to harvest.

One of the trees is a wild cherry – at least that’s what our friends and neighbors have told us. The cherries are smaller, yellowish pink when ripe, and oh-so-delicious. But we don’t even try to preserve them. They’re very delicate (and nearby impossible to pit) so we’ve found it’s best to just eat them fresh –…

You’ve said it, I’ve said it, we’ve all said it … “I’m sick of waiting.” “I don’t like waiting.” “I’m tired of waiting.”

Actually, tourists here in Italy say things like that a lot. Because when you visit Italy (particularly rural areas) there seem to be a lot of things to wait for … waiting for sheep to cross the road (how big could that flock be?), waiting in line at the post office (what could possibly be taking so long?), waiting for the little scooter to get out of your way (why doesn’t he just pull over?).

Yes, there are definitely plenty of things to wait for here, and what a wonderful gift that is!

The rhythm of life in rural Italy might be different than what you’re used to, but that creates a fabulous opportunity (Opportunity? Yep, opportunity.) to surrender to that particular moment. It’s an opportunity to…