One of the enduring images I have in my head of the ultimate Italy is a field full of red poppies in full bloom swaying in a gentle breeze. There are tons of pictures and images of this phenomenon on the Internet, in travel books and in magazines. From the moment we arrived in Italy last March I've been waiting for the moment when we would arrive at the top of a hill along a country road and set out before us would be endless fields of brilliant, swaying poppies.
Everyone told me that I'd have to wait until mid-May for this long anticipated moment. Well, here it is the beginning of June and I'm still waiting. For 2 weeks now I have been a crazy woman wielding a camera, riding around the province literally in search of fields of poppies. They started sprouting in ones and twos a few weeks ago, and as my anticipation built for the “big show”, the poppies continued to bloom in small clusters along the sides of the roads, around guard rails and in open fields.
“Poppies with Guardrail” is not what I'd envisioned for the title of my perfect photo.
“The unusually cool spring weather has arrested the blooming of the poppies”, I am told.
“Just wait”, they say. “Pazienza”.
“Every field within miles of here will be full of them. You won't be disappointed”, they promise.
Well, yesterday, when I finally got a glimpse of a reddish field, it was impossible to get a good look because there were other roadside flowering bushes in the way (not that I'm complaining... just saying... I mean, the yellow ginestre are gorgeous and fragrant, but I'm looking for poppies here.)
Bill is being very patient, although he's getting a little testy lately as I'm constantly asking him to pull off the road so I can get a better look. There's just never a good place to stop. We're either on a curve or there's no shoulder or a huge truck is climbing up our bumper. While Bill is driving, hyper-alert for pedestrians, oncoming and passing cars, passing-on-the-right motorinos, euro-cyclists, weed-pickers, mushroom gatherers and other miscellaneous obstructions to road safety, I'm in Poppy-world, in search of the perfect photo! Wish me luck!!!!!
Oh Carol, you just did not pick a good year for the annual poppy display did you.
ReplyDeleteKeep hunting as they do seem to be improving daily. I have the same problem getting my husband to stop, so intended to walk to a field I had seen recently not that far from the house, then they went and harvested, before I had a chance how could they do that to me?
Drove around Lago di Vico this afternoon and saw not a single papavero...don't those farmers know that we want to photograph their fields before they mow them down???
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ReplyDeleteThe ginestra is really a total surprise. It's really gorgeous the way the hillsides are just covered in those bright yellow bushes. I want some for the Florida landscape.
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