The seasons keep on moving round. The air in Barga Vecchia now has the faint tinge of wood smoke as one or two wood stoves are fired up for the first time this autumn. Heavier jackets can be seen on the streets – not worn by the visitors it has to said, as they are still arriving in short sleeves, sandals and bottles of water in hand but the colder weather is not that far way now. For a second opinion, just look at the swallows this week. They have been gradually moving up to the cyprus trees next to the Duomo and gathering in larger and larger groups ready for their long migration to Africa. One morning we will wake up to find them all gone until miraculously they are back to herald in the spring once more.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21bemKTkjH8
Click on the link below to listen to swallows singing in Barga Vecchia earlier on this year
Lovely, O’Connor. The stuff waking dreams are made of. And my compliments to your soundman, whom you never credit. The fellow (or is it a gal?) is a genius.
the funny thing is that recording was taken at dawn during the summer of a lone swallow sitting on the telephone wire outside my window … its song was so loud it woke me up. I recorded it and then played it back to the swallow who almost fell off the wire in surprise and started singing back as loud as he could (I presume that it was a male, defending its territory)