Italy is again having a tough time regarding this damned covid as a third wave is now imminent. So many red zones have been imposed and even Rome has had to shut its sights and museums. The only safe place to be in Italy is the island of Sardinia, its only white zone.

I was so lucky to have visited Florence last month, a visit I shall always treasure in the enchanted deserted spaces of this cradle of the renaissance and a Uffizi all to myself as if it were my private gallery. Let’s hope it won’t be too long before my next visit there.

We are, indeed, under siege by the micro-monster. Lucca again has the R factor above 1. However, in our mountain area north of the city the battle seems to have equalled out and we remain in the orange zone. It is so unfortunate for families especially those living in cramped city flats, but here in these still leafless Apennine woodlands, we can be surrounded by a nature that is rapidly shaking off its winter blanket and entering into the joyous season of spring.

Sadly, so many events at Bagni di Lucca have had to be cancelled; events that mark the year’s social and religious calendar in such a significant way.   No Befana, that good witch which concludes the Christmas festivities.  No international women’s day with those inspiring events and exhibitions at Ponte’s Casino. And clearly, no Easter celebrations like the awesome living crucifixion procession at Castiglione Della Garfagnana.

Events, some of which date back to time immemorial, have had to be cancelled to safeguard us from the invisible enemy. Let’s fervently hope that they will return soon.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to be with my wife for over four months now because of cancelled flights. No Christmas together in forty-four years of married life.  No New Year clinking of glasses. Not even Sandra’s birthday… Only that virtual presence that Skype and WhatsApp manage to give – I  can’t wait for the next generation of smartphones to supply us with holograms of our loved ones!

One thing which hasn’t been cancelled yet is nature’s annual cycle of rebirth. Just doing a bit of gardening can awaken the senses and make one realise the beauty of the earth and its living forms.

So let’s enjoy earth’s resurgence and let it give us strength through its infinite wonders to see us through these rather trying times and help us appreciate ever more fully, through enforced absence, all those things and lives we hold most dear.