Hard graft in heavenly surroundings: the olive harvest on the soft hills below Guardia Sanframondi, Italia.
The work leaves my hands soft, after coming through branches with my fingers, to pull out the ripe fruits. My back aches with twisting and stretching, but there's a satisfaction in knowing that the labour was for a potent natural material that'll serve my partner's family, and others.... His elderly uncle sets the pace, and is hard to keep up with!
A mix of several varieties piles up, and I sit on the ground in the warm November sunshine, pulling out leaves and twigs... mountains appear in shades of green, red-pink and deep-dark purples.
Big hemp sacks are slowly filled to tight heaviness... these sacks will be taken down to the nearest frantoio, where they'll be pressed onto oil.
I gifted my time and energy to the family's collective efforts, and to their abundance of this golden liquid for the year.... partly knowing that these riches also will benefit myself, as I'm often fed by them, or gifted bottles of oil! But even if I wasn't benefiting directly, this is a vital part of contributing to the bigger fabric of my adopted family, and the wider community: being present, participating, sweating and sharing the work, weaving our collective stability.
In unstable times like these, the sharing of the burden is particularly vital.
