Life, lately: spring sunsets and scarlet fields

The light lingers in the sky these days and the sunsets are so beautiful that they take my breath away. There's a stillness in the world at this time. A silence that is only broken by the cries of a few seagulls that float our way, riding the thermals effortlessly. The old fishermen used to say that seagulls fly inland when bad weather is approaching. These days, they seem to fly inland all the time, whenever the fancy takes them. I love to watch them, high up in the sky, so at peace, so far away from human turmoil. I  often wonder what they see, whether they even notice us. Or whether they're looking out for a tasty lizard or gecko to eat. I relish these moments of peace before the blue turns to indigo, the seagulls disappear and the bats come out of their hideouts.

While the human world took a step back these past 8 weeks and sheltered indoors, abandoning everything it took for granted, nature carried on relentlessly. The fresh, green beauty of early spring is fast giving way to a hundred shades of gold and the days are an endless succession of warm and warmer. This is the last hurrah. While things are easing up on the COVID front and we are slowly allowed to leave our homes and mingle again - with masks and at a safe distance - nature will slow down as it prepares for a long, hot, rainless summer.

Were it not for the changes around us that are so obvious, I would be prepared to swear that it's still March. My brain is still stuck in some frozen time capsule before this whole panic started and it hasn't moved on. I almost grab a coat whenever I need to leave the house because, it can't possibly be May can it?  But the walks we occasionally take in isolated pockets of our countryside confirm that much has changed. When we went into isolation, the valleys were green. Now they are mostly golden. The wheat has been harvested and the hay baled and I delight in my bucolic surroundings and wonder whether I will ever be ready to join the fast-paced rat race again.

Remembering Easter

The downside to our isolation is that there's not much that I've been up to lately. Easter (which seems like weeks and weeks ago) was a quiet affair. The three of us stayed home (how's that for stating the obvious?) and I cooked my first Easter lunch in years (since we're usually invited to my parents'). It was a simple meal. I made sage and olive oil flatbread, roast beef, garlic parmesan roasted broccoli and some store-bought potatoes au gratin with porcini mushrooms. For dessert we had individual gooey lemon souffle' pudding cakes which sounds enormously complicated but are really very easy to make.

Scarlet fields at Laferla Cross

A couple of Sundays ago we went for a drive to a rather out-of-the-way-place known as Laferla Cross. The moment we got out of the car we were greeted by carpets of scarlet clover. They were really pretty and acted as a perfect foil to the cross on its plinth and the 17th century chapel that is located just metres away. 

As we walked closer, I was disappointed to see that it's no longer possible to walk right up to the higher ground on which the cross is situated.  It has been barricaded off, probably because the chapel has been allowed to fall into disrepair and they don't want anybody getting hurt. It's a shame that we find it so hard to look after our heritage properly.

A little bit of history: the first cross on this site was erected in 1903 but the current replica was erected in 1963. The chapel of the Annunciation dates to 1857. It replaces an earlier structure that was built in 1420 but suffered intensive damages.

I feel like these 'Life, lately' posts are starting to get a bit repetitive but things are looking up on the COVID front. So I'll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully, next month, I will have some more interesting things to write about -  although I am starting to wonder whether I will happily mingle with strangers ever again. I think there will always be that little bit of fear, at least for the first few weeks. Is anybody else thinking the same thing or am I just paranoid?