Apparently olive trees never die! Even when they are cut down, the root system can literally regenerate the tree! The older the tree grows, the broader the trunk. Stories about olive trees go all the way back to Noah’s ark.
There’s something poetic about the ancient and abiding characteristics of the olive tree that I find quite mysterious.
When I am cold and soaked through from the Scottish winter, it’s images like this olive tree that help me believe spring is coming again… and then summer. Though the darkness is more prevalent than the day at the moment. In Scotland we get the long days and the early dawns in summer. This is something I look forward to! It feels like everything in Scotland has to reemerge or regenerate after the darkness of winter.
Summer in Scotland is like the root of an olive tree – regeneration of healthy lifestyles and park days and all that stuff emerges once the days lengthen. You notice it when the sun rises higher than your nose by noon. Those lovely long Scottish days, the beautiful sunsets and the ability to wear flip flops clears out the busy and hassled Scottish temperament in a girl, leaving room for some more desirable things – the compulsion to just sit still and be in the sunlight… the awakening of creativity, the atmosphere for going on long walks, having barbecues… rest.
This is the first winter that I really feel affected by the lack of sunlight in my days. I heard an Italian friend say that the skin turns green in winter because it’s so dull and dark. Not to let the weather get the best of me, I decided to play a wee trick on myself. Looking at holiday photos is good for the head and heart…
The day I took this photo in Italy was literally beaming with sunlight. I remember being so warm and almost blinded by the glare from the white gravel as I took this photo. But I can still imagine that feeling – sun, warmth and vitamin D in abundance!
