GIOVANNI

I was about to upload a pic of the olive oil label I've been in a swither about for months when Himself rushed in to say he knew where Giovanni, Il Rosso was. Mama mia! I have wanted a picture of Giovanni for a year. He is very elusive.

So, this is Giovanni Il Rosso, John the Red. He is called this not because of his politics, which I don't know what are, but because he used to have red hair. He never stopped talking the whole while I was there unless to listen to somebody else speak. If he looked at the camera he kept talking. Difficult.

He worked at the tobacco factory in Lucca in a fairly lofty capacity until it closed. He became a woodsman, which is to say he deals in wood. He cuts it, buys it, sells it. Acacia trees grow so fast here that it is permitted to cut them. Other trees, no, but they can die or be blown over. These are all of interest to Giovanni. He and his 20-year-old Fiat tractor are for hire. Italians, although keen on early retirement, aren't actually keen on doing it. They go on to second occupations while collecting a pension from the first.

Giovanni and his wife live high up in the mountains where they have a very big house with a very big heated swimming pool and a large outdoor oven. We went to a pizza party there once and were dazzled by the views all the way to the Mediterranean. We also foundered on the abundant pizzas and frisky red wine. They have a cabin even higher up in the mountains where they go for several weeks in the heat of August. Giovanni works hard. His wife works hard, too, as a cleaner. They could afford to take it easy if they chose but they don't choose.

Himself likes this picture because it has the old Fiat tractor in it. Giovanni and his tractor.

Renzo, Giovanni's brother-in-law, who has a big house very near Giovanni, was working in the hills today too. He he is with Giovanni. Renzo and Giovanni.

For the record: + 9 C. Cloudy with drizzles, not nice. The olive oil has been bottled, now to print the labels.