Vittorio Volpi

Teofilo Folengo

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I am reading the exhilarating poem “Baldus” by Theophilus Folengo, first published in 1517. It describes the picaresque adventures of Baldus, a peasant boy from Mantua who tries to emulate the Paladins of France’ exploits. It is written in macaronic Latin, i.e. in the dialects of the Po Valley (Mantua, Veneto, Brescia) with a superficial … Read more

Mornig walk around the pond

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This morning I left just before 8:00 – it takes about a half-hour walk to reach this place. It rained yesterday and even snowed on the mountain tops; you could see your breath. I knew that the sun, recently risen from behind the hill, would illuminate the brown leaves of the young poplar. In a … Read more

Light fires up everything

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I went out for a walk in the fields this morning; it was just after eight o’clock. The sun, with the summer time, had just risen. Everything exposed to the east was illuminated: a golden light, which you feel enters your body and mind. “Immediately naked,” I hear myself suggest in thought. Because I really … Read more

Facial tan lines

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This is the poster for a photo exhibition by young photographer Fabrizio Spucches dedicated to Covid-19. The parts left blank by the tan immediately reminded me of the similar tan lines left by swimsuits or bikinis. To the images, I was not able to disassociate their content, indeed to compare it. 1) taking off the … Read more

Light from above

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I was amazed by this photo when I saw it on the monitor. The first words I thought were, “mystical Light”. It’s still the same cherry tree from a few days ago but seen in this light: the feeling is that it was itself full of light, from the inside. The sun had just risen … Read more

Blossoming cherry tree

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Irresistible to pose next to this cherry tree so beautifully in bloom. We try to attend and stay close to beautiful things that make us happy just by looking at them, just because they exist. The mere presence modulates our mood, and from the mood slowly moves a reset of thoughts, connections and knowledge. Sometimes … Read more

My little almond tree

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This year the almond tree bloom is late. It still doesn’t fail to give joy to those who watch. I’m glad to have it in my little patch of garden. Lombardy is on its umpteenth lock-down: you can’t get out of your home town. Spring is borderless, and I like having this term of comparison … Read more

First sunbathing

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It has been a cold and rainy winter as it should be. I carefully keep away fears and hopes, obsessions and news of the moment because they distract me from the peace and serenity of nature. I fill up on warmth, vitality, vitamin-D and all things “positive” about life – I don’t need tests to … Read more

Anticipation of paradise

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I am reading a vulgarization of the of Honorius of Autun in an ancient Venetian dialect (written shortly before Dante). The work is a kind of agile catechism, consisting of questions from the student and answers from the master. In paragraph 81 of book three, the student asks the master: «What clothes will God’s elects … Read more

Mistletoe

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A photo from a few days ago. In the past years, I used a photo like this one to wish a happy new year to all Naktiv’s friends. The sun had just come out from behind the hill (around 9h15), and two park rangers had just passed by. It was perhaps 5°Celsius, but without wind, … Read more

2020-2021: out of the tunnel

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A tree that has become dry from the ivy has fallen, almost blocking the way. But a passage remained, I passed through it and a word formed in my mind: it seemed to me that I was coming out of a tunnel. This is my wish for all Naktiv-friends: to get out of our tunnels … Read more

Dressed by landscape at 5°C

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Irresistible to be there this morning after a few days of rain. And to feel embraced by the light, by the landscape: I have names for everything I see: Monte Guglielmo, the strip of Lake Iseo, Monte Isola, the little church of Cremignane. The fresh morning air wakes me up better than a shower; the … Read more

Landscape-shower at +5°C

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Irresistible to be there this morning after a few days of rain. And to feel embraced by the light, by the landscape: I have names for a few things I see: Monte Guglielmo, the strip of Lake Iseo, Monte Isola, the little church of Cremignane. The fresh morning air wakes me up better than a … Read more

Autumn

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In Autumn you can understand the reasons of a whole year. Different colours are tuned together, different beings and things match perfectly: this is the picture I have in mind. Thousands of words are ready to be spoken. The real world-natural world says it better with silence.   +1

What my eyes see

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What my eyes see goes to form my mood. Faced with something harmonious, it also harmonizes my spirit. Without conceptual filters, without aesthetic canons. It is a simple and natural bliss: like an anticipation of paradise. Today begins the second wave of containment. There could be no better contrast. For three weeks we will not … Read more

Protection

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The sense of protection that I feel coming from nature reassures me totally; it is a life insurance policy. Safety on life is something inherent in nature; it is part of the project. There is no comparison with our small means: police, army, laws, hospitals, insurance companies, mafias and a thousand other points of support. … Read more

Faro Convention & facial masks

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Fifteen years after its approval, the Italian Parliament has signed the Faro Convention (Portugal – 2005) the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society [https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/199]. Article 4 says: “c) exercise of the right to cultural heritage may be subject only to those restrictions which are necessary in a democratic … Read more

My last hike

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During my last hike, I arrived at a mountain pasture (Costaro, 45.907059, 10.269950) only because I was told that there was a centuries-old chestnut tree. I had been there the last time about 40 years ago and with my great surprise, I had seen in the middle of the meadow a martagon lily. The chestnut … Read more

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