Olive Nets: Photograph by Will Tenney

Olive Nets

High above the Cinque Terre coastal village of Manarola is its sister village, Volastra. As we climbed up and up through first vineyards and then into olive orchards, I was mystified by the art works I saw all around me. Surely what I was seeing were site installations by a very avant-garde sculptor. The contrasts of form, color, and texture were incredibly well proportioned, the locations obviously carefully chosen for prime viewing from the path through the grove. But my visions were dashed when I learned that this was not art, only an efficient means of harvesting the ripening olives. They just fall into the nets, you see, and are collected. No knocking the trees with great sticks as they do in Spain. Relax! Just let nature do the work. More time to enjoy the home-made local wine!