Sunny days in winter…

There are few things I love like I love when you get a few warm, sunny days in winter.

We have spent three weeks in Canada where the weather was “mild” by the local standards, but still much colder than it ever gets around here and cold enough for me to prefer staying inside rather than walking around in the snow.

That’s why this past week has been perfect: 16-18°C in Pisa (60-64°F), sunny, bright… perfect. One of those weeks when you get a taste of spring! Too bad they are usually followed but some really bad or cold weather which leaves you wanting for more spring-like weather and activities while you watch the rain come down and the wind roll your vases around on the balcony…

Sunny days in winter are perfect for taking long strolls in the countryside. That’s what we did today. It was so warm, we didn’t even need a jacket. We had the dogs with us… or rather… we followed them around while they were chasing each other, rolling in the mud and running after cars…

The countryside is still totally “wintry”, even though the rain first and the sun after have given the fields a nice green coat!

What I love the most when we take walks in the winter is the unexpected “discovery” of certain objects that look completely neglected… an old ladder leaning against a bare tree, a rusty bucket still placed under the leafless plum tree standing by a rickety old shack, a sickle with an old wooden handle laying by a wet hay stack… It’s almost as if farmers had all of a sudden realized that winter had come and had hurried to their homes to “ibernate” abandoning all their tools behind.

Well.. in our area, what is most likely to have happened is they all realized the wild boar hunting season was on! That’s actually the only bad side of winter walks in the Tuscan countryside… you have to make sure you are dressed in bright colors and stay away from hunting areas!

More photos of another winter walk in Tuscany [added on January 16, 2011].