Muriel turns to me. "Here we are!" she says, "these are the colors of summer”.
Over the course of a few days, the dominant color of the surrounding hills has shifted from green to yellow. Little by little, the fields are harvested, taking on the color of straw. The meadows turn a brighter color, as the herds of sheep or cows graze on them and as the summer heat settles.
The hills of Tuscany then start to resemble a large checkerboard separated by dark green hedges. The yellow of the fields alternates with the silver green of the olive groves or the deeper green of the vines. With summer, even the sky changes color. The luminous blue of spring lightens, giving way to a milky veil, due to the humidity that rises from the sea.
Then comes the evening with its fabulous twilights. In the east, when the sun disappears behind the dark hills, we can witness an explosion of colors where dark red competes with orange hues and sometimes, in the middle of it all, a cloud that takes on a color varying from ultramarine blue to black. On the other side, to the west, the sunset makes the mosaic of fields, olive groves, vineyards and forests sparkle.
Then comes night. The colors fade with the darkness, but all it takes is a full moon, and the gardens suddenly take on a magical atmosphere: the shadows of the cypresses on the gravel of the paths, the dry-stone walls which reflect the moonlight, the mass of the great oaks standing out against the clear sky, sprinkled with stars...