I live in a country that’s considered to be one of the greenest in the world. It’s referred to as the Emerald Isle. It’s beautiful.
Yet except for high summer I get blown away by how green Abruzzo is.
We’re into May, ok the weather is a bit strange right now, but for a region that has an average high temperature from May to September of over 20 degrees it manages to avoid that sun-burnt look for most of the year.
I actually find it breathtaking.
I can stare out at Abruzzo’s expanse and just go “wow”!
I think it’s down to contrasts. The natural undulation of the land, the snow-capped mountains and the blue of the Adriatic all contrast with the verdant green of the land.
I know it’s not pure green. Very little is pure anything. But as I looked over photographs that I’d taken in previous months of May, green is the colour that strikes me again and again.
Wild flowers are plentiful. Throw them into the mix and you get all sorts of hues leaping out from an intense green canvas. Poppies and wild orchids with their delicate displays are all enhanced by the natural green background.
Of course if you look closer you see a range of colour, it isn’t simply green it’s shades of green – maybe not stretching as far as blue but definitely all the way from yellow.
If you’re lucky to see the landscape in all its early morning glory the colour almost shimmers, as gentle breezes cause wave upon wave of green to break against the olive trees.
I think I’m getting a bit too poetic for my own good. 
Time for some photos, all taken in the month of May.
Most are of lush green landscapes.
Among these photos is a favourite of mine and it may surprise you to learn that it isn’t dominated by green grass.
It’s the one with the olive tree proudly standing to the left, with hills in the distance and some blue sky showing though the clouds. Below that May sky you can just make out the shadows and light falling on the land as the almost yellow field sways in the breeze.
A large version of that photograph hangs on my office wall. I can’t see it when I’m working on the computer but once I relax, move my head up to the right a little, it’s there. A 30 cm x 40 cm image that reminds me of a time I went for a walk and had the good sense to stop, look, listen and breathe.
I’m not sure if you can ever take it all in. You certainly can’t capture it all in a photograph. Sounds and smells are left behind, and all you can do is use the image as a hook and let your imagination do the rest.
Why include the lizard?
Lizards may not be the sharpest tool in the box but when it comes to blending in this lizard picked the right colour – well the right colour for scurrying through green fields but maybe not so good for sun bathing on house decking.
