As mentioned in last month’s note, this time of year for us is one of transition from guest work to the olive harvest and to quieter months. Adaptation is a word for the moment. Our schedules become more regular and we can look around and attend to things neglected for months, for example, in maintenance or in the office.
The biggest adaptation of the moment is flowing with the weather as we try to get on with the olive harvest. One can see all kinds this time of year: short sleeve sunny, damp but warm, fog, rain, wind, penetrating cold, even snow. The challenge again this autumn has been excessive precipitation. We find ourselves behind with the harvest as we lose days to the rain. This is unfortunate because we have an exceptional harvest awaiting us and because in the first weeks we had a good number of short term volunteers from 12 countries eager to use their helping hands. But so it is this time of year. The dates of the most recent devastating flood of Florence were November 4-6, 1966!
The high quality extra virgin oil that our guests appreciate is one of the few resources we have, along with garden produce and some firewood, to compensate for the expenses involved in the care of our land. A significant part of our time and energy goes to the maintenance of the farm, which is both a pleasure and a reminder of the plight of small farmers.
We keep the harvest in perspective. We know ahead of time that it is a long job, perhaps 5-6 weeks with weather interruptions. And while the income from our oil is important, a poor harvest for us is nothing compared to the suffering of persons around Italy as a consequence of the exceptional rains. There are flooding and land slides from the North to the South. The opinion that much of the damage is not due to the rain itself but to human error, for example, in territorial development and management, is thought provoking.
Transition and adaptation seem also in the air on a national political level. Will this be again evidence of the famous quote, “Everything is changed, but nothing has changed”? From a purely observational perspective, these are fascinating times. Politicians and other forces in society are jockeying for position; Italy, like other nations, struggles with the realities of globalisation and immigration; a sense of uncertainty permeates thinking about the future. Of course we understand that we are not simply observers but in various ways participants.
The biggest adaptation of the moment is flowing with the weather as we try to get on with the olive harvest. One can see all kinds this time of year: short sleeve sunny, damp but warm, fog, rain, wind, penetrating cold, even snow. The challenge again this autumn has been excessive precipitation. We find ourselves behind with the harvest as we lose days to the rain. This is unfortunate because we have an exceptional harvest awaiting us and because in the first weeks we had a good number of short term volunteers from 12 countries eager to use their helping hands. But so it is this time of year. The dates of the most recent devastating flood of Florence were November 4-6, 1966!
The high quality extra virgin oil that our guests appreciate is one of the few resources we have, along with garden produce and some firewood, to compensate for the expenses involved in the care of our land. A significant part of our time and energy goes to the maintenance of the farm, which is both a pleasure and a reminder of the plight of small farmers.
We keep the harvest in perspective. We know ahead of time that it is a long job, perhaps 5-6 weeks with weather interruptions. And while the income from our oil is important, a poor harvest for us is nothing compared to the suffering of persons around Italy as a consequence of the exceptional rains. There are flooding and land slides from the North to the South. The opinion that much of the damage is not due to the rain itself but to human error, for example, in territorial development and management, is thought provoking.
Transition and adaptation seem also in the air on a national political level. Will this be again evidence of the famous quote, “Everything is changed, but nothing has changed”? From a purely observational perspective, these are fascinating times. Politicians and other forces in society are jockeying for position; Italy, like other nations, struggles with the realities of globalisation and immigration; a sense of uncertainty permeates thinking about the future. Of course we understand that we are not simply observers but in various ways participants.
Comments