Tuesday 11 August 2009

Preparing for tonights shooting stars.





Wilf walked ahead of me on the morning tour of the olive groves and lavender fields completely immersed in the scents and sounds of the Italian countryside. His little brother sat at the farm gate waiting impatiently for our return - in addition to his sore hip he now seems to have managed to rub the skin off one of his paws leaving it raw. The walk ended with Wilf initiating a quick 'splosh' game in the pool.
Tonight is the 'night of the stars' in the local village. Not as we first imagined when we moved here anything to do with Hollywood but rather a mass gathering of star watchers. They arrive in their hundreds in the village carrying a variety of telescopes and settle down between midnight and four in the morning to watch the annual shooting star shower. In a civilised touch, the local restaurant moves its kitchen outside and serves meals until dawn. With no light pollution ( sodium lamps are unknown this deep in the country ) the heavenly display is really quite something. The sound effects from the Italian families gathered en masse in the cool of the night air is equally impressive with cries of enraptured delight echoing around as the shooting stars scurry across the sky. Silent reserve is not a concept that has much purchase in Italy.

6 comments:

Whispering Walls said...

Viva San Lorenzo!

kks said...

the shooting star event sounds fun.....
cute pics of dogs as always! the splosh game is similar to one of my dogs game....roll ball under fence, bark, mom has to go get ball! drives me crazy...:)
raw paw sounds like an allergy...

Laureate said...

That sounds absolutely heavenly! :-)

I enjoy your blog, it is the first I read in the morning.

Take care,
Kim (Carp, Ontario)

Angus said...

ww- grazie

kks- it must be something to do with the move from the cold and damp of Scotland to the heat of Italy but their allergies are a worry here. Good to know there is another sufferer driven crazy by the ball games!

laureate - thank you for the heavenly comment!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I have brothers???!!!
Edward
What a perfectly charming blog!! We shall return, and often, for obvious reasons!!
Pamela

Angus said...

Pamela - Welcome to Edward and Apple