Yellow And Green All Over

  No matter how often we walk around the walls of Panicale, or take the short drive to Castiglione del Lago, I am just stunned at the colors in the fields. I know it's going to change.... jeez, it's changed a lot since we arrived in March. I just can't get over the intensity of the greens and the yellows. Throw in some blue or grey skies, and it's mind blowing. At least for my little mind.

  I've been snap, snap, snapping pictures the whole time we've been here, and it's always fun to comb through what I've shot to get inspired. Pretty easy with this lot... color and texture are my thing, and if I could put down a soundtrack it would be Sigur Ros. The feeling for me is both transcendent and nostalgic....

A dreamy landscape near Villastrada in Umbria.

  Most of the yellow comes from massive fields of wild mustard. Or at least that's what it looks like to me. There are all these fantastic graphic lines created by these plantings, making the landscape look just like an abstract painting from up along the walls of Panicale. It's pretty fantastic to see over and over everyday, changing all day long with the light.

I just took this today, April 28th. The greens are really changing... but the lines are still so cool.

  

    We drive by this casa vecchio, or "old house", several times a week, going here or there, and it is just as enchanting each time we go past it. It isn't really a ruin, but man it could be great if someone would take the money and time to fix it up... The yellow field in front is just a little icing on this old cake....

All I need is a few more euros....

  We drove up to Siena, in Tuscany a couple of weeks ago, and I enjoyed the change in landscape...still all the yellow and greens, but just a little different in some way. The area south of Siena is referred to as "The Crete Senesi", which is a reference to the clay like soil found there. They grow a lot of wheat here, so the hills are just green waves, with yellow wildflowers thrown in here and there for eye candy fun.

The classic Tuscan landscape.

Wow, did I take this shot...? Why, yes, yes I did. Good one, kiddo.
Another Tuscan scene.

  The land just in our immediate vicinity is this lovely mix of the greens, yellows and also the celadon green or heather blue of Lago Trasimeno. The lake changes color with the sky, of course, so it has been  different each day, it seems. Now, as we are getting to the end of April, more and more of the fields are being turned over from their cover crops of just a few weeks ago. It's a real treat to be here long enough to watch these changes.

The field in front was fave just a week or two ago.  I'm loving the splash of yellow with the color
of the lake....

Panicale seen through a field of yellow....

Another shot from the same spot...my camera couldn't decide
what to focus on, and I kept it. I like this.

  I remember once, in my wild youth, looking across the valley at the hills opposite. The wind was blowing pretty good, and the grass covered hills were being blown in a way that made me think of hundreds of bunnies running in unison... I have never forgotten this imagery. It was the softness, and the waviness of it.. anyway, around here it is happening, and I am in awe again. I think this is all wheat,  but don't know for sure. All I know is that it keeps me sighing.

A green and grey wonderland

These moments are what remind me that I am somewhere very different than home.

I just love these fields...

  So the day before yesterday, we head back over to the island, Isola Maggiore, so Johnny can do some painting, and I can explore more. We didn't hike around much on our earlier trip, and I was blown away by the forests of wild fennel growing here! I mean, everywhere...and these plants were huge. Like five feet tall and growing. All through the olive groves on the upper sides of the island. A perfect ending to my yellow and green postcard from Umbria.

Wild fennel gone WILD!

Some up close fennel love.....

  You can learn more about Umbria, and also plan your own adventures by checking out my friend Katia's website:

http://www.umbriamagic.com/