A favorite memory of mine upon entering Italy's Southern region of Puglia, is being among the abundance of olive trees as far as the eye can see. One olive grove after another with trees of varying sizes and boasting all sorts of types of olive. The sun shining its brilliant rays between the oblong shaped leaves, the sounds of the cicadas chirping through the air all around you and the smell...it's hard to describe the smell of the olive groves but it's somewhere between an earthy meets woodsy meets sun-drenched. It's a perfect combination of the senses.
On one sunny afternoon, I visited a set of olive groves near the Adriatic Sea very particular to all the others, the secolari, the secular or noble trees hundreds of years old and quite an impressive display. Large roots growing strong out of the earth, incredibly knotted and sometimes even intersecting with nearby roots creating one singular tree. They were magnificent. Already a lover of the good ol'fashioned olive trees, I was immediately taken with these older, grander ones.
Honestly, can colors be more attracted to one another...the blue of the sky, the green of the leaves and the browns of the roots meeting the earth. I wish I could paint, I'd paint olive groves all day long.
All the years I lived in Italy and later visited during the summers, I've always loved and appreciated these majestic works of art. To see them lined in formation in the groves, each unique to its neighbor is quite a sight. Reminds me of an army. Tall, strong and proud conquerors of the land.
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