POMARICO HD

New Beginnings

2012-01-21T16:03:00.006+01:00

New Beginnings
by Gertrude B. McClain

It's only the beginning now
...a pathway yet unknown
At times the sound of other steps
...sometimes we walk alone

The best beginnings of our lives
May sometimes end in sorrow
But even on our darkest days
The sun will shine tomorrow.

So we must do our very best
Whatever life may bring
And look beyond the winter chill
To smell the breath of spring.

Into each life will always come
A time to start anew
A new beginning for each heart
As fresh as morning dew.

Although the cares of life are great
And hands are bowed so low
The storms of life will leave behind
The wonder of a rainbow.

The years will never take away
Our chance to start anew
It's only the beginning now
So dreams can still come true.

Pictures by SPERA GERARDO - POMARICO (ITALY)

He sleep ...

2011-11-27T16:21:00.002+01:00

Spera Gerardo Pomarico (Italy).

Touched by An Angel - November 2011

2011-11-05T14:58:00.009+01:00

Touched by An Angel
---------------------------------------
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
----------------------------------------
by Maya Angelou
Pictures by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

Sunset Poem

2011-08-03T20:53:00.004+02:00

Pablo Neruda – If you forget me
____________________________________________

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.
_____________________________________________

Pablo Neruda

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

March 2011 Pomarico (MT)

2011-04-01T10:51:00.012+02:00

“As imperceptibly as grief” Emily Dickinson (1830–86).

AS imperceptibly as grief The summer lapsed away,— Too imperceptible, at last, To seem like perfidy. A quietness distilled, As twilight long begun, Or Nature, spending with herself Sequestered afternoon. The dusk drew earlier in, The morning foreign shone,— A courteous, yet harrowing grace, As guest who would be gone. And thus, without a wing, Or service of a keel, Our summer made her light escape Into the beautiful.

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

MUSHROOMS NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-06T17:31:00.002+01:00

Petals a poem

Life is a stream
On which we strew
Petal by petal the flower of our heart;
The end lost in dream,
They float past our view,
We only watch their glad, early start.

Freighted with hope,
Crimsoned with joy,
We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;
Their widening scope,
Their distant employ,
We never shall know. And the stream as it flows
Sweeps them away,
Each one is gone
Ever beyond into infinite ways.
We alone stay
While years hurry on,
The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.

Amy Lowell

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

SUNSET OCTOBER 2010

2010-10-24T16:03:00.005+02:00

" The Weary One ... Pablo Neruda "
The weary one, orphan
of the masses, the self,
the crushed one, the one made of concrete,
the one without a country in crowded restaurants,
he who wanted to go far away, always farther away,
didn't know what to do there, whether he wanted
or didn't want to leave or remain on the island,
the hesitant one, the hybrid, entangled in himself,
had no place here: the straight-angled stone,
the infinite look of the granite prism,
the circular solitude all banished him:
he went somewhere else with his sorrows,
he returned to the agony of his native land,
to his indecisions, of winter and summer.

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

September 2010 MANFERRARA (MT)

2010-09-12T17:46:00.002+02:00

Da September 2010 0002 POMARICO MT

Love One Another

Love one another, but make not a bond of love
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping;
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together;
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Poem by Khalil Gibran (aka Kahlil Jubran)

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

September 2010

2010-09-03T11:15:00.002+02:00

Da September 2010

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

Dam of St. Julian in August 2010

2010-08-17T20:19:00.005+02:00

Da AUGUST 2010 .........

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
...That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Langston Hughes

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

AUGUST 2010 .......

2010-08-11T09:49:00.002+02:00

Da AUGUST 2010 .........

... sunset ...
The colors blend,
forming a magical atmosphere.
I sit watching the sunset
knowing that soon will end.
I close my eyes and I see you in all your splendor.
Hope to see you in my dreams.

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

July 21, 2010

2010-07-21T15:36:00.004+02:00

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

Sonnet 46
by William Shakespeare

Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war,
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture’s sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.
My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie,
A closet never pierc’d with crystal eyes
But the defendant doth that plea deny,
And says in him thy fair appearance lies.
To side this title is impannelled
A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart;
And by their verdict is determined
The clear eye’s moiety, and the dear heart’s part:
As thus; mine eye’s due is thy outward part,
And my heart’s right, thy inward love of heart.

Landscapes - Nature 2010

2010-06-20T20:43:00.002+02:00

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

POMARICO May 11, 2010

2010-05-11T23:41:00.003+02:00

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

03 May 2010 POMARICO - ITALY

2010-05-03T22:40:00.002+02:00

Da Diga di San Giuliano APRILE 2010

Da ALLA RICERCA DI ASPARAGI......04/2010

Pictures taken by SPERA GERARDO at POMARICO (ITALY).

Too few the mornings be, too scant the nights. No lodging can be had for the delights that come to earth to stay, but no apartment find and ride away.

Emily Dickinson

NEW LIFE APRIL 2010

2010-04-16T15:27:00.003+02:00

Da APRILE 2010

Fall

You may see me struggle but you wont see me fall. Regardless if I'm weak or not I'm going to stand tall. Everyone says life is easy but truly living it is not.times get hard, people struggle& constantly get put on the spot. I'm going to wear the biggest smile even though I want to cry. I'm going to fight to live even though I'm destined to die. and even though it's hard & I may struggle through it all. you see me struggle...you will NEVER see me fall.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

March 2010 ITALY

2010-03-13T21:51:00.002+01:00

Da Pomarico Marzo 2010

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

Pomarico 03/2010

2010-03-05T15:12:00.002+01:00

Da Pomarico Marzo 2010

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

Churches 2009

2009-12-02T22:46:00.003+01:00

Everlasting Love
The greatest love story ever read or toldHappened over two thousand years agoGod gave to us His only begotten SonHis name was Jesus, and He loved everyone
His love for us was so great and trueHe gave His life for me and youHe died for us so brave and boldHe died to save our very souls
Other loves are like a summer flowerThey blossom for awhile, then they are not thereBut His love lingers as the ages roll onHis love continues long after the others are gone

Da Churches 2009

Life is a Journey
Life is but a stopping place, a pause in what's to be,A resting place along the road, to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys, different paths along the way,We all were meant to learn some things, but never meant to stay...
Our destination is a place, far greater than we know.For some the journey's quicker, for some the journey's slow.
And when the journey finally ends, we'll claim a great reward,And find an everlasting peace, together with the Lord

Translation services

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

NOVEMBRE 2009

2009-11-20T16:50:00.003+01:00

Da NOVEMBRE 2009

Here I Love You

Here I love youIn the dark pines the wind disentangles itself. The moon glows like phosphorous on the vagrant watersDays, all one kind, go chasing each other
The snow unfurls in dancing figures. A silver gull slips down from the west.sometimes a sail. High, high stars.
Oh the black cross of a ship.Alone. Sometimes I get up early and even my soul is wet. Far away the sea sounds and resounds. This is a port. Here I love you.
Here I love you and the horizon hides you in vain. I love you still among these cold things.Sometimes my kisses go on those heavy vesselsthat cross the sea towards no arrival. I see myself forgotten like those old anchors. The piers sadden when the afternoon moors there. My life grows tired, hungry to no purpose. I love what I do not have. You are so far. My loathing wrestles with the slow twilights. But night comes and starts to sing to me. The moon turns its clockwork dream.
The biggest stars look at me with your eyes. And as I love you, the pines in the windwant to sing your name with their leaves of wire.

Pablo Neruda

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

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MUSHROOMS Pomarico HD

2009-10-03T13:33:00.001+02:00

Da MUSHROOMS Pomarico HD

A Special World

A special world for you and meA special bond one cannot seeIt wraps us up in its cocoonAnd holds us fiercely in its womb.

Its fingers spread like fine spun goldGently nestling us to the foldLike silken thread it holds us fastBonds like this are meant to last.

And though at times a thread may breakA new one forms in its wakeTo bind us closer and keep us strongIn a special world, where we belong.

Sheelagh Lennon

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PAINTINGS HD

2009-08-23T10:26:00.001+02:00

Da AGOSTO 2009

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

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SUMMER 2009

2009-08-19T19:41:00.003+02:00

Da Pomarico Paesaggi giugno 2008

To Nature
It may indeed be phantasy, when IEssay to draw from all created thingsDeep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings ;And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lieLessons of love and earnest piety.So let it be ; and if the wide world ringsIn mock of this belief, it bringsNor fear, nor grief, nor vain perplexity.So will I build my altar in the fields,And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yieldsShall be the incense I will yield to Thee,Thee only God ! and thou shalt not despiseEven me, the priest of this poor sacrifice
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Da Paesaggi POMARICO

Da Paesaggi Pomarico

Da Paesaggi POMARICO

Summer Shower

A drop fell on the apple tree,
Another on the roof;
A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
And made the gables laugh.
A few went out to help the brook,
That went to help the sea.
Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
What necklaces could be!
The dust replaced in hoisted roads,
The birds jocoser sung;
The sunshine threw his hat away,
The orchards spangles hung.
The breezes brought dejected lutes,
And bathed them in the glee;
The East put out a single flag,
And signed the fete away.

Emily Dickinson

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

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JULY 2009

2009-07-27T20:46:00.005+02:00

Da JULY 16/2009

Sonnet XII

crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets. Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all dayI hunt for the liquid measure of your steps. I hunger for your sleek laugh,your hands the color of a savage harvest,hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails, I want to eat your skin like a whole almond. I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body, the sovereign nose of your arrogant face, I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes, and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight, hunting for you, for your hot heart, like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)
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SLIDE HD SUMMER 2009

2009-06-29T15:48:00.002+02:00

JUNE 2009 HD

2009-06-14T23:43:00.005+02:00

Da SUMMER 2009

Time and Again
TIme and again, however well we know the landscape of love, and the little church-yard with lamenting names, and the frightfully silent ravine wherein all the others end: time and again we go out two together, under the old trees, lie down again and again between the flowers, face to face with the sky.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Da SUMMER 2009

Is She Found?
Yesterday we walked apart Separate and cold and mortal. Now the sacred kiss has joined us, Now we stand inside the portal
That permits of no returning And my heart is burning, burning.
I know not what the word may be, Or what the charm, or what the token That has filled us with this glory, But never let the spell be broken;
Let it stay a mystery For all times to be.
Yesterday, with lighter joys We wantoned at the outer portal. Now, with love's old alchemy We have made ourselves immortal.

Elsa Gidlow
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SUMMER 2009

2009-06-04T12:40:00.007+02:00

Da Flowers Pomarico Magg

SUMMER SERENADE
When the thunder stalks the sky, When tickle-footed walks the fly, When shirt is wet and throat is dry, Look, my darling, thats July. Through the grassy lawn be leather, And prickly temper tug the tether, Shall we postpone our love for weather? If we must melt, lets melt together!
Ogden Nash

Da PAESAGGI POMARICO (ITALY) III

ROSES

You love the roses - so do I. I wish They sky would rain down roses, as they rain From off the shaken bush. Why will it not? Then all the valley would be pink and white And soft to tread on. They would fall as light As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

George Eliot 1819-1880

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)
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FLOWERS

2009-05-09T19:13:00.001+02:00

Da Piante Fiori

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

SUNSET POMARICO

2009-05-05T23:26:00.004+02:00

Da TRAMONTI POMARICO ( ITALY ) VII 2008 ( SUNSET )

Dreams

I dream of your touch while you are away, I dream of your smile all through the day, I remember the day,You came into my life, I dream of the day I will be your wife. I dream of the day I can fall asleep next to you, I dream of the day I can say I do. To be your wife, To be together for life, Is a dream I have, Every night.

- Jessica Ann Trimble -

Da TRAMONTI POMARICO ( ITALY ) VII 2008 ( SUNSET )

I Will Love You Forever

I love you so deeply,I love you so much, I love the sound of your voice And the way that we touch. I love your warm smile And your kind, thoughtful way, The joy that you bring To my life every day. I love you today As I have from the start, And I'll love you forever With all of my heart.

- Amanda Nicole Martinez -

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

TOP SUNSET POMARICO

2009-04-20T19:21:00.003+02:00

Da TRAMONTI POMARICO (ITALY) III

Cat's Dream

How neatly a cat sleeps,sleeps with its paws and its posture,sleeps with its wicked claws,and with its unfeeling blood,sleeps with all the rings--a series of burnt circles--which have formed the odd geologyof its sand-colored tail.

I should like to sleep like a cat,with all the fur of time,with a tongue rough as flint,with the dry sex of fire;and after speaking to no one,stretch myself over the world,over roofs and landscapes,with a passionate desireto hunt the rats in my dreams.

I have seen how the cat asleepwould undulate, how the nightflowed through it like dark water;and at times, it was going to fallor possibly plunge into the bare deserted snowdrifts.Sometimes it grew so much in sleeplike a tiger's great-grandfather,and would leap in the darkness overrooftops, clouds and volcanoes.

Sleep, sleep cat of the night,with episcopal ceremonyand your stone-carved moustache.Take care of all our dreams;control the obscurityof our slumbering prowesswith your relentless heartand the great ruff of your tail.

Pablo Neruda

Da TRAMONTI POMARICO (ITALY) V

In My Sky At Twilight

In my sky at twilight you are like a cloudand your form and colour are the way I love them.You are mine, mine, woman with sweet lipsand in your life my infinite dreams live.

The lamp of my soul dyes your feet,the sour wine is sweeter on your lips,oh reaper of my evening song,how solitary dreams believe you to be mine!

You are mine, mine, I go shouting it to the afternoon'swind, and the wind hauls on my widowed voice.Huntress of the depth of my eyes, your plunderstills your nocturnal regard as though it were water.

You are taken in the net of my music, my love,and my nets of music are wide as the sky.My soul is born on the shore of your eyes of mourning.In your eyes of mourning the land of dreams begin.

Pablo Neruda

Da TRAMONTI POMARICO (ITALY) VI 2008

Love

What's wrong with you, with us, what's happening to us? Ah our love is a harsh cord that binds us wounding us and if we want to leave our wound, to separate, it makes a new knot for us and condemns us to drain our blood and burn together.

What's wrong with you? I look at you and I find nothing in you but two eyes like all eyes, a mouth lost among a thousand mouths that I have kissed, more beautiful, a body just like those that have slipped beneath my body without leaving any memory.

And how empty you went through the world like a wheat-colored jar without air, without sound, without substance! I vainly sought in you depth for my arms that dig, without cease, beneath the earth: beneath your skin, beneath your eyes, nothing, beneath your double breast scarcely raised a current of crystalline order that does not know why it flows singing. Why, why, why, my love, why?

Pablo Neruda

Da TRAMONTI POMARICO (ITALY) VI 2008

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

DOWNLOAD HD POMARICO PHOTOS

2008-12-29T12:27:00.000+01:00

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS POMARICO

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opera by
http://pomaricoframeset.blogspot.com/ is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribuzione-Non commerciale-Non opere derivate 2.5 Italia License.

RESIN

2008-11-09T18:02:00.005+01:00

Resin, not to be confused with rosin, is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume. Fossilized resins are the source of amber. The term is also used for synthetic substances of similar properties. Resins have a very long history and are mentioned by both ancient Greek Theophrastus and ancient Roman Pliny the Elder, especially as the forms known as frankincense and myrrh. They were highly prized substances used for many purposes, especially perfumery and as incense in religious rites.

The resin produced by most plants is a viscous liquid, composed mainly of volatile fluid terpenes, with lesser components of dissolved non-volatile solids which make resin thick and sticky. The most common terpenes in resin are the bicyclic terpenes alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, delta-3 carene and sabinene, the monocyclic terpenes limonene and terpinolene, and smaller amounts of the tricyclic sesquiterpenes longifolene, caryophyllene and delta-cadinene. Some resins also contain a high proportion of resin acids. The individual components of resin can be separated by fractional distillation. A few plants produce resins with different compositions, most notably Jeffrey Pine and Gray Pine, the volatile components of which are largely pure n-heptane with little or no terpenes. The exceptional purity of the n-heptane distilled from Jeffrey Pine resin, unmixed with other isomers of heptane, led to its being used as the defining zero point on the octane rating scale of petrol quality. Because heptane is highly flammable, distillation of resins containing it is very dangerous. Some resin distilleries in California exploded because they mistook Jeffrey Pine for the similar but terpene-producing Ponderosa Pine. At the time the two pines were considered to be the same species of pine; they were only classified as separate species in 1853.

Some resins when soft are known as 'oleo-resins', and when containing benzoic acid or cinnamic acid they are called balsams. Other resinous products in their natural condition are a mix with gum or mucilaginous substances and known as gum resins. Many compound resins have distinct and characteristic odors, from their admixture with essential oils.
Certain resins are obtained in a fossilized condition, amber being the most notable instance of this class; African copal and the kauri gum of New Zealand are also procured in a semi-fossil condition.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin

MEDITERRANEAN SCRUB

2008-11-02T17:24:00.003+01:00

Mediterranean scrub Two principal varieties are recognized on the basis of the stature of the constituent shrubs. The tall variety is called maquis, the short variety garrigue; but the distinction is somewhat arbitrary and there are many intergrade types. Both occupy vast areas and were derived by burning and grazing from an earlier forest cover. Indeed, constant use of fire has created distinctive plant associations within the scrub, such as the giane (rosemary and Genista species) and ericeto (tree heath) in southern Italy. In Iberia such associations are even more extensive and include the brezales (heathers), jorales (Cistus species), goscojales (Quercus coccifera, kermes oak) and bujedales (Buxus sempervirens, box).

Maquis (French) or macchia (Italian; plural macchie) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs such as sage, juniper and myrtle. It is most often associated with Corsica but is widely found on the mainland as well.
It is similar to the English heath in many aspects, but with taller shrubs, typically 2-4 m high as opposed to 0.2-1 m for heath. A similar habitat type in North America is known as chaparral, though the kinds of shrubs involved are different.

Although maquis is by definition natural, its appearance in many places is due to destruction of forest cover, mainly by frequent burning that prevents young trees from maturing. It tends otherwise to grow in arid, rocky areas where only drought-resistant plants are likely to prosper.
The word comes from the plural of Italian macchia (English thicket). The extremely dense nature of maquis made it ideal cover for bandits and guerrillas, who used it to shelter from the authorities. It is from this meaning that the Second World War French resistance movement, the Maquis, derived its name. In Italian darsi alla macchia means becoming a fugitive.

Garrigue is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is ameliorated, but where annual summer drought conditions obtain. The term has also found its way into haute cuisine, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigue shrubland. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre described garrigue as "discontinuous bushy associations of the Mediterranean calcareous plateaus, often composed of kermes oak, lavender, thyme, and white cistus. There may be a few isolated trees."

Aside from dense thickets of kermes oak that punctuate the garrigue landscape, juniper and stunted holm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such as lavender, sage, rosemary, wild thyme and Artemisia are common garrigue plants.
The aromatic oils and soluble monoterpenes of such herbs leached into garrigue soils from leaf litter have been connected with plant allelopathy, which asserts the dominance of a plant over its neighbors, especially annuals, and contributes to the characteristic open spacing and restricted flora in a garrigue. The fines (charred wood and smoke residues, or charcoal dust) of periodic brush fires also have had an effect on the patterning and composition of the garrigues. Clear summer skies and intense solar radiation have induced the evolution of protective physiologies: the familiar glaucous, grayish-green of garrigue landscapes is produced by the protective white hairs and light-diffusing, pebbled surfaces of many leaves typical of garrigue plants.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

SUNSET POMARICO (ITALY) II

2008-10-15T17:50:00.005+02:00

SUNSET

It is so peaceful at sunset, They show all dreams to be met In it, memories are also held There in your heart, your fears are quelled
As the sun dips low in the sky It reminds you of all those times you flew high And with those memories of soaring above, You have the hope and strength to find new love
Because at that sunset you find peace There, is where your fears all cease For dreams you find your strength to fly There, in that sunset sky.

SUNSET AND YOU
Sunsets are not a rare commodity they come and go every night so i compare you not to a sunset for you come once in a life your beauty surpases the colors of the sky painted anew each night by angels on high for god himself has sculpted you he made it so your only seen by few and you do not hide from the moon as all the sunsets do rather you shine bright under its silver light and you dance all night you do far more than any sunset would more breathtaking than any sunset could sunsets have moved and inspired all man kind since forever but you move me each moment, to a love that sunsets could never

Daniel Cook

A SUNSET
my eyes burn more than a rising sunset provoking the horizon to dare and arise to the challenge every time i look at you the sunset is so daring eyes so daring my mind cringing from memories drawing inside as timidly dead as the sunsets colors are bold killing the every last hated emotion its only passion its only a sunset thats captivated my very being
Kathryn Garner

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

OPUNTIA FICUS - INDICA

2008-10-14T12:31:00.009+02:00

Opuntia ficus-indica (Indian Fig Opuntia) is a species of cactus and a long-domesticated crop plant important in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. Indian Fig Opuntia is grown primarily as a fruit crop, but also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Most culinary references to the "prickly pear" are referring to this species. The name "tuna" is also used for the fruit of this cactus, and for Opuntia in general (according to Alexander von Humboldt, it was a word of Haitian origin taken into the Spanish language around 1500).

Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they efficiently convert water into biomass. Opuntia ficus-indica, as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as corn and tequila agave in Mexico today. Because Opuntia species hybridize easily (much like oaks), the wild origin of Opuntia ficus-indica (or even whether it has a single origin) is hard to be certain about, but Opuntia was eaten by humans at least 9000 years before the present.

The most commercially valuable use for Opuntia ficus-indica today is for the large, sweet fruits, called tunas. Areas with significant tuna-growing cultivation include Mexico, Sicily and the coasts of Southern Italy, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Brazil, and northern Africa, as well as in Eritrea and Ethiopia where the fruit is called beles.
In Sicily, where the Prickly Pear Fruit is known as ficodinnia (the Italian name being fico d'India), the cactus grows wild and cultivated to heights of 12-16'. The fruits flower in three distinct colors, White, Yellow and Red. They first appear in early May through the early summer and ripen from August through October. The fruits are typically eaten, minus the thick outer skin, after chilling in a refrigerator for a few hours. They have a taste similar to a juicy extra sweet watermelon, very refreshing on a hot summer or fall day. The bright red/purple, or white/yellowish flesh contains many tiny hard seeds that are usually swallowed, but should be avoided by those who have GI problems with seeds.

In the center of Sicily, in the Provence of Enna, in a small village named Gagliano Castelferrata, a Prickly Pear flavored liqueur is produced called "Ficodi", flavored somewhat like a medicinal/aperetif. In the early 1900s, in the United States the Prickly Pear fruit was imported from Sicily and other Mediterranean countries to satisfy the growing population of immigrants arriving from Italy (Sicily)and Greece. The fruit lost its popularity during the mid 1950's and has become increasing in popularity recently in the late 1990s until today, due to the influx of Mexican immigrants. Recently the cattle industry of the Southwest United States has begun to cultivate Opuntia ficus-indica as a fresh source of feed for cattle. The cactus is grown both as a feed source and a boundary fence. Cattle avoid the sharp spines of the cactus and do not stray from an enclosed area of Opuntia ficus-indica. The nutrition available in the cactus pads, which is what the cows feed on, far surpasses that found in corn and other cattle feed. In addition to the food value, the moisture content virtually eliminates watering the cattle and the human effort in achieving that chore.
The cultivating of cactus requires only that it be planted and left to grow on its own, without fertilizer or watering. It is best grown on land useless for growing corn and other cattle feed stock. After a year or two, the pads are ready to eat and the fruit is ready to harvest if so desired. After each feeding the cactus is left to grow another meal which happens quite quickly in the desert lands of the Southwest. The cows can be moved to another cactus feeding area. The only effort to fed the cattle is to walk through the selected cactus feeding area with a propane backpack and torch. The torch burns the pads, slightly grilling the cactus pads and burning off the spines, then the cattle can feed without getting stuck with the cactus spines. The cows become accustomed to hearing the roar of the propane torch, which acts like a dinner bell for them.

Ficus-indica has various medicinal uses - including use as a hangover cure (see source at bottom of page). Recently, extracts for the cactus pear fruit has shown to possess antioxidative properties and can cause reduction of DNA damage in human peripheral lymphocytes. This extract has become a potential source of raw material for pharmaceutical and functional food industries. The shoots of O. ficus-indica have been shown to contain at least some mescaline.
The plant is considered a pest species in parts of the Mediterranean due to its ability to spread rapidly beyond the zones it was originally cultivated in. In Hebrew, the plant is referred to as "tzabar." This lead to the popular use of the term "Sabra" to refer to an Israeli-born Jew, alluding to the fruit and the people alike being tenacious and thorny (rough and masculine) on the outside but sweet and soft (delicate and sensitive) on the inside. Kishkashta a main character on a 1970-80's Israeli children's show, "Ma Pit'om," was a large, talking felt puppet of the Opuntia cactus.

Recent DNA analysis indicates that O. ficus-indica was domesticated from Opuntia species which are native to central Mexico. The Codex Mendoza, and other early sources, show Opuntia cladodes as well as cochineal dye (which needs cultivated Opuntia) in Aztec tribute rolls. The plant spread to many parts of the Americas in pre-Columbian times, and since Columbus, have spread to many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean where they have become naturalized (and in fact were believed to be native by many). This spread was facilitated by the carrying of nopales on ships to prevent scurvy.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia_ficus-indica

PARASOL MUSHROOM

2008-10-09T19:08:00.007+02:00

The parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera) is a basidiomycete fungus with a large, prominent fruiting body resembling a lady's parasol. It is a fairly common species on well-drained soils. It is found solitary or in groups and fairy rings in pastures and occasionally in woodland. Globally, it is widespread in temperate regions.

The height and cap diameter of a mature specimen may both reach 40 cm, a size truly impressive for the fruiting body of an agaric. The stipe is relatively thin and reaches full height before the cap has expanded. The stipe is very fibrous in texture which garners it inedible. The surface is characteristically wrapped in a snakeskin-like pattern of scaly growths. The immature cap is compact and egg-shaped, with the cap margin around the stipe, sealing a chamber inside the cap. As it matures, the margin breaks off, leaving a fleshy, movable ring around the stipe. At full maturity, the cap is more or less flat, with a chocolate-brown umbo in the centre that is leathery to touch. Dark and cap-coloured flakes remain on the upper surface of the cap and can be removed easily. The gills are crowded, free, and white with a pale pink tinge sometimes present. The spore print is white. It has a pleasant nutty smell. When sliced, the white flesh may turn a pale pink.
It is a very sought after and popular fungus in Europe, due in part to its large size, seasonal frequency and versatility in the kitchen.
The parasol mushroom is difficult to mistake for any other, especially in regions like eastern Europe where the poisonous look-alike Chlorophyllum molybdites does not occur. Nevertheless, as with picking any fungus for consumption, caution should be exercised at all times.
The parasol mushroom may be eaten raw. It is popular soaked in butter. Only the cap of fresh specimens is considered edible.

Smaller but similar in appearance is the common shaggy parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes.) Its edibility is suspect as it causes mild sickness in some people, especially when eaten raw. One must learn to distinguish the two as their geographical ranges overlap.
Differences from the parasol mushroom include its smaller dimensions, pungent (fruity) and reddening flesh when cut, lack of patterns on its stipe, and very shaggy cap surface.
Macrolepiota mastoidea, a European species, is yet another very large edible mushroom. Its dimensions are generally smaller than that of M. procera and the markings on its stipe less obvious. It is also much rarer.
Species of Agaricus have brown spores and the gills of mature specimens are never white.
There are a few poisonous species which can be mistaken for M. procera.
Chlorophyllum molybdites, a species that causes the largest number of annual mushroom poisonings in North America due to its close similarity. Faintly green gills and a pale green spore print give it away. Furthermore this mushroom lacks the aforementioned snakeskin pattern that is generally present on the parasol mushroom. Its range is reportedly expanding into Europe.
Leucocoprinus brunnea, also found in North America, slowly turns brown when sliced.
White and immature species of Amanita are also a potential hazard. To be sure, one must only pick parasol mushrooms past their button stage. A general rule of thumb with the parasol mushroom as compared to amanita species is that the parasol mushroom has darker flakes on a lighter surface, whereas amanita species have the opposite, lighter flakes (if there are any) on a darker surface, such as the Panther cap.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasol_mushroom

Olive

2008-10-09T18:28:00.008+02:00

The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Lebanon, Syria and the maritime parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. Its fruit, the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil.

The Olive tree is an evergreen tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean, Asia and parts of Africa. It is short and squat, and rarely exceeds 8–15 meters in height. The silvery green leaves are oblong in shape, measuring 4–10 cm long and 1–3 cm wide. The trunk is typically gnarled and twisted.
The small white flowers, with four-cleft calyx and corolla, two stamens and bifid stigma, are borne generally on the last year's wood, in racemes springing from the axils of the leaves.
The fruit is a small drupe 1–2.5 cm long, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars. Olives are harvested at the green stage or left to ripen to a rich purple colour (black olive). Canned black olives may contain chemicals that turn them black artificially.

The olive is one of the plants most cited in recorded literature. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus crawls beneath two shoots of olive that grow from a single stock. The Roman poet, Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "As for me, olives, endives, and smooth mallows provide sustenance." Lord Monboddo comments on the olive in 1779 as one of the foods preferred by the ancients and as one of the most perfect foods.
The leafy branches of the olive tree, olive leaf as a symbol of abundance, glory and peace, were used to crown the victors of friendly games and bloody war. As emblems of benediction and purification, they were also ritually offered to deities and powerful figures: some were even found in Tutankhamen's tomb.
Olive oil has long been considered sacred; it was used to anoint kings and athletes in ancient Greece. It was burnt in the sacred lamps of temples as well as being the "eternal flame" of the original Olympic Games. Victors in these games were crowned with its leaves. Today it is still used in many religious ceremonies.

Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive (Olea europaea; family Oleaceae along with lilacs, jasmine and ash trees), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. The wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor, today the country of Turkey. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps.

Over 750 million olive trees are cultivated worldwide, 95% of which are in the Mediterranean region. Most of global production comes from Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
World production in 2002 was 2.6 million metric tons, of which Spain contributed 40% to 45%. In 2006 Turkey accounted for about 5% of world production, similar to the Spanish province of Jaen alone, well known for the biggest olive groves in the world.
Of the European production, 93% comes from Spain, Italy, Greece.
Greece devotes 60% of its cultivated land to olive growing. It is the world's top producer of black olives and has more varieties of olives than any other country. Greece holds third place in world olive production with more than 132 million trees, which produce approximately 350,000 tons of olive oil annually, of which 82% is extra-virgin (see below for an explanation of terms). About half of the annual Greek olive oil production is exported, but only some 5% of this reflects the origin of the bottled product. Greece exports mainly to European Union (EU) countries, principally Italy, which receives about three-quarters of total exports. Olives are grown for oil in mainland Greece, with Peloponnese being the source of 65% of Greek production, as well as in Crete, the Aegean Islands and Ionian Islands.
Among the many different olive varieties or cultivars in Italy are Frantoio, Leccino Pendolino, and Moraiolo. In Spain the most important varieties are the Picual, Alberquina, Hojiblanca, and Manzanillo de Jaén. In Greece : Koroneiki. In France : Picholine. In California : Mission. In Portugal : Galega. The oil from the varieties varies in flavour and stability (shelf life).
In North America, Italian and Spanish olive oils are the best-known, and top-quality extra-virgin oils from Italy, Spain and Greece are sold at high prices, often in "prestige" packaging. A large part of US olive oil imports come from the EU, especially Spain. The US imported 28.95 million gallons of olive oil in 1994, a 215% increase from 1984. The US is Italy's biggest customer, importing 22% of total Italian production of 131.6 million gallons in 1994.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil

MUSHROOMS IN THE WOOD MANFERRARA, POMARICO (ITALY)

2008-09-30T12:43:00.009+02:00

Typical of the woods of Basilicata and Pomarico, so named because they grow near wild thistles (cardo in Italian).

This mushroom is typical of the Murgia. It is wild and it is called cardoncello because it normally grows under thistle bushes (thistle is cardo in italian). They are very good, I reccomend them and I wouldnt translate the name because it is so typical that it is impossible to do so.

It also seems that many food factories grow these mushrooms, therefore the term "wild" might go depending on the quality of the brand.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

ROSES

2008-09-24T19:13:00.007+02:00

A rose is a perennial flowering shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp thorns. Most are native to Asia, with smaller numbers of species native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance.

The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, with sharply toothed oval-shaped leaflets. The plants fleshy edible fruit is called a rose hip. Rose plants range in size from tiny, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 20 metres in height. Species from different parts of the world easily hybridize, which has given rise to the many types of garden roses. The name originates from Latin rosa, borrowed through Oscan from colonial Greek in southern Italy: rhodon (Aeolic form: wrodon), from Aramaic wurrdā, from Assyrian wurtinnu, from Old Iranian *warda (cf. Armenian vard, Avestan warda, Sogdian ward, Parthian wâr).

Attar of rose is the steam-extracted essential oil from rose flowers that has been used in perfumes for centuries. Rose water, made from the rose oil, is widely used in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Rose hips are occasionally made into jam, jelly, and marmalade, or are brewed for tea, primarily for their high Vitamin C content. They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce Rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products.

Roses are subject to several diseases, such as rose rust (Phragmidium mucronatum), rose black spot, and powdery mildew. Fungal diseases in the Rose are best solved by a preventative fungicidal spray program rather than by trying to cure an infection after it emerges on the plant. After the disease is visible, its spread can be minimized through pruning and the use of fungicides, although the actual infection cannot be reversed. Certain rose varieties are considerably less susceptible than others to fungal diseases.
The main insect pest affecting roses is the aphid (greenfly), which sucks the sap and weakens the plant. (Ladybirds are a predator of aphids and should be encouraged in the rose garden.) The spraying with insecticide of roses is often recommended but should be done with care to minimize the loss of beneficial insects. Roses are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species; see list of Lepidoptera that feed on roses.

The rose has always been valued for its beauty and has a long history of symbolism. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love referred to as Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret — derived from this ancient Roman practice.
Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ. Despite this interpretation, their leaders were hesitant to adopt it because of its association with Roman excesses and pagan ritual. The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.
Rose culture came into its own in Europe in the 1800s with the introduction of perpetual blooming roses from China. There are currently thousands of varieties of roses developed for bloom shape, size, fragrance and even for lack of prickles.

Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. 'Rose' means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages, Greek, and Polish).
The rose is the national flower of England and the United States, as well as being the symbol of England Rugby, and of the Rugby Football Union. It is also the provincial flower of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England (the white rose and red rose respectively) and of Alberta (the wild rose), and the state flower of four US states: Iowa and North Dakota (R. arkansana), Georgia (R. laevigata), and New York (Rosa generally). Portland, Oregon counts "City of Roses" among its nicknames, and holds an annual Rose Festival.
Roses are occasionally the basis of design for rose windows, such windows comprising five or ten segments (the five petals and five sepals of a rose) or multiples thereof; however most Gothic rose windows are much more elaborate and were probably based originally on the wheel and other symbolism. A red rose (often held in a hand) is a symbol of socialism or social democracy; it is also used as a symbol by the British and Irish Labour Parties, as well as by the French, Spanish (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Brazilian, Dutch (Partij van de Arbeid) and European socialist or social democratic parties. This originated when the red rose was used as a badge by the marchers in the May 1968 street protests in Paris. White Rose was a World War II non violent resistance group in Germany.

Rose perfumes are made from attar of roses or rose oil, which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam distilling the crushed petals of roses. The technique originated in Persia (the word Rose itself is from Persian) then spread through Arabia and India, but nowadays about 70% to 80% of production is in the Rose Valley near Kazanluk in Bulgaria, with some production in Qamsar in Iran and Germany.[citation needed] The Kaaba in Mecca is annually washed by the Iranian rose water from Qamsar. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses (Rosa damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In the French rose oil industry Rosa centifolia is used. The oil, pale yellow or yellow-grey in color, is sometimes called 'Rose Absolute' oil to distinguish it from diluted versions. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.
The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and l-citronellol; and rose camphor, an odourless paraffin. β-Damascenone is also a significant contributor to the scent.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose

CHURCHES POMARICO

2008-09-24T17:20:00.007+02:00

Pomarico (Greek: Pomerikon) is a small town of 4500 inhabitants in Southern Italy, in the region Basilicata. It is about 30 km far from Matera, the capital of the province to which Pomarico belongs. The town was founded about 850 AD by Greeks. An old castle was built but only few ruins of it remain.

The mother church, whose restoration ended in 1994, has a Baroque facade and contains within it paintings by Pietro Antonio Ferro and Andrea Vaccaro, a wooden statue of San Michele dating back to 1400 and a valuable antifonario the sixteenth century. The edge of town stretches for 500 hectares, the forest of "Manferrara".

The Marquess Palace, built in the 18th century, and still standing in the centre of the town.
The Main Church dedicated to St. Michael, also built in that period. It has a baroque façade and contains a beautiful wooden statue of St. Michael (1400), as well as paintings of Pietro Antonio Ferro and Andrea Vaccaro.
The church of St. Anthony of Padua (18th century). It lies by a former convent, that was transformed into the City Hall.

Location: 3 km. by the river Basento around the town of Pomarico (province of Matera) Major periods . 1) The human presence on the plateau of Pomarico Vecchio has testified during the sixth century. aC by furniture and artefacts from a necropolis located at the source S. Giacomo. Giacomo. 2) Starting from fourth century. aC stands on the same plateau inhabited a broad and articulated, with a mighty walls and a regular plant, which will remain alive for a relatively short time, until the second half of the third century. aC . It also relate a necropolis, located on the south-eastern hill. 3) In the Middle Ages (XII-XIV century AD.) Attending resumption of life at the site, witnessed by the discovery of artefacts and furniture to an island grave pit.

The excavations conducted in 1989 by the University of Turin, in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendence of Basilicata, have helped to shed new light on this important site of indigenous ellenizzato internal Lucania. Before then, in fact, were known only some of the walls and a small strip of the necropolis.

The new explorations have led to the discovery of the urban regular, set a mesh of orthogonal roads, in which five suspects were isolated. At the center of the plant was also detected a large public structure, known as the "big house", articulated in a series of rooms overlooking a central courtyard. It was designed for the consumption of meals rituals common (hestiatorion), as revealed in particular the discovery of some bothroi with obvious remains of a meal. The function of religion-politics-as well as the complex is confirmed by finding a naiskos, an altar and a stone base for a bronze statue.

The most known citizens of Pomarico were Niccolò Fiorentino (lawyer and patriot during the Neapolitan Revolution, 1799) and Francesco Caggiani (awarded with a gold medal during the World War I).
The elementary school in the city is named in honor of Caggiani.
Franco Selvaggi, member of the 1982 Italy side that won the World Cup, was from Pomarico.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy).

GRAPE POMARICO ( ITALY )

2008-09-18T22:18:00.007+02:00

A grape is the non-climacteric fruit that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts and grape seed oil.

Grapes grow in clusters of 6 to 300, and can be crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green and pink. However, "white" grapes are actually green in color, and are evolutionarily derived from the red grape. Mutations in two regulatory genes of white grapes turn off production of anthocyanins which are responsible for the color of red grapes. Anthocyanins and other pigment chemicals of the larger family of polyphenols in red grapes are responsible for the varying shades of purple in red wines.

Most grapes come from cultivars of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Minor amounts of fruit and wine come from American and Asian species such as:
Vitis labrusca, the North American table and grape juice grapevines (including the concord cultivar), sometimes used for wine. Native to the Eastern United States and Canada.
Vitis riparia, a wild vine of North America, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the entire Eastern U.S. and north to Quebec.
Vitis rotundifolia, the muscadines, used for jams and wine. Native to the Southeaster United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico.
Vitis amurensis Most important Asian species.
The sea grape Coccoloba uvifera is actually a member of the Buckwheat family Polygonaceae and is native to the islands of the Caribbean Sea.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world are dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be reconstituted for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.
The following table of top wine-producers shows the corresponding areas dedicated to grapes for wine making:
Afghan grapes are the best quality grapes than any other country in the world.

Seedlessness is a highly desirable subjective quality in table grape selection, and seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings. Because grapevines are vegetatively propagated by cuttings, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction. It is, however, an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.
There are several sources of the seedlessness trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black Monukka, all being cultivars of Vitis vinifera. Numerous seedless cultivars, such as Einset Seedless, Reliance and Venus, have been specifically cultivated for hardiness and quality in the relatively cold climates of north-eastern United States and southern Ontario. Bright green and elongated or round, the popular Sugraone grape offers a light, sweet flavor and distinctive crunch.
Contrary to the improved eating quality of seedlessness is the loss of potential health benefits provided by the enriched phytochemical content of grape seeds (see Health claims).

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape

SNAILS IN CUISINE

2008-09-18T13:27:00.012+02:00

Snails have been eaten for thousands of years, beginning in the Pleistocene. They are especially abundant in Capsian sites in North Africa but are also found throughout the Mediterranean region in archaeological sites dating between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago. However, it should be noted that wild-caught land snails that are undercooked can harbor a parasite that may cause a rare kind of meningitis.Specialized snail caviar is also growing in popularity in European cuisine.

Helix pomatia, or edible snail, generally prepared in its shell, with parsley butter (size: 40 to 55 mm for an adult weight of 25 to 45 g.; typically found in Burgundy, France).
Helix aspersa:
-Helix aspersa aspersa also known as the European brown snail, is cooked in many different ways, according to different local traditions (size: 28 to 35 mm for an adult weight of 7 to 15 g.; typically found in the Mediterranean countries of Europe and North Africa and the French Atlantic coast).
-Helix aspersa maxima (size 40 to 45 mm for an average weight of 20 to 30 g.; typically found in North Africa).

In Sicily, snails (or babbaluci as they are commonly called in Sicilian) are a very popular dish as well. They are usually boiled with salt first, then served with tomato sauce or bare with oil, garlic and parsley. Snails are similarly appreciated in other Italian regions, such as Sardinia.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snail

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PaesaggiPOMARICOITALY

THISTLE

2008-09-18T13:27:00.011+02:00

Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the plant family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant - on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation to protect the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.

The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean exactly those plants in the tribe Cynareae (synonym: Cardueae), especially the genera Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum. However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes called thistles, and if this is done thistles would form a polyphyletic group.

In the language of flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment. For this reason the thistle is the symbol of the Order of the Thistle, a high chivalric order of Scotland.
Another story is that a Viking attacker stepped on one at night and cried out, so alerting the defenders of a Scottish castle. Whatever the justification, the national flower of Scotland is Scots Thistle, Onopordum acanthium. It is found in many Scottish symbols and as the name of several Scottish football clubs.

Carduus is the Latin term for a thistle (hence cardoon), and Cardonnacum is the Latin word for a place with thistles. This is believed to be the origin of name of the Burgundy village of Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire, which in turn is thought to be the home of the famous Chardonnay grape variety.

Thistle flowers, along with bugle and brambles flowers, are favourite nectar sources of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, and Dark Green Fritillary butterflies.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thistle

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PAESAGGIPOMARICOITALYIV

SPIDERS

2008-09-16T23:24:00.006+02:00

Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals that have two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. They are classified in the order Araneae, one of several orders within the larger class of arachnids, a group that also contains scorpions, whip scorpions, mites, ticks, and opiliones (harvestmen). The study of spiders is called arachnology.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PIANTEFIORI03

All spiders produce silk, a thin, strong protein strand extruded by the spider from spinnerets most commonly found on the end of the abdomen. Many species use it to trap insects in webs, although there are also many species that hunt freely. Silk can be used to aid in climbing, form smooth walls for burrows, build egg sacs, wrap prey, and temporarily hold sperm, among other applications. All spiders except those in the families Uloboridae and Holarchaeidae, and in the suborder Mesothelae (together about 350 species) can inject venom to protect themselves or to kill prey. Only about 200 species, however, have bites that can pose health problems to humans. Many larger species' bites may be quite painful, but will not produce lasting health concerns.

Prosoma

All spiders have eight legs, although a few ant-mimicking species use their front legs to imitate antennae, which spiders lack. Their eyes are single lenses rather than compound eyes, ranging from simple light/dark-receptors to eyes rivaling those of a pigeon (some jumping spiders).
They have pedipalps (or just palps), at the base of which are coxae or maxillae next to their mouth that aid in ingesting food; the ends of the palp are modified in adult males into elaborate and often species-specific structures used for mating. Since they have no antennae, they use specialised and sensitive hairs on their legs to pick up scent, sounds, vibrations and air currents.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PIANTEFIORI03

Sense organs

Spiders usually have eight eyes in various arrangements, a fact that is used to aid in taxonomically classifying different species. Most species of the Haplogynae have six eyes, although some have eight (Plectreuridae), four (eg., Tetrablemma) or even two (most Caponiidae) eyes. Sometimes one pair of eyes is better developed than the rest, or even, in some cave species, there are no eyes at all. Several families of hunting spiders, such as jumping spiders and wolf spiders, have fair to excellent vision. The main pair of eyes in jumping spiders even see in color. Net-casting spiders have enormous, compound lenses that give a wide field of view and gather available light very efficiently.
However, most spiders that lurk on flowers, webs, and other fixed locations waiting for prey tend to have very poor eyesight; instead they possess an extreme sensitivity to vibrations, which aids in prey capture. Vibration sensitive spiders can sense vibrations from such various mediums as the water surface, the soil or their silk threads. Also changes in the air pressure can be detected in the search for prey.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider
http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PIANTEFIORI03

BLACKBERRY

2008-09-16T15:12:00.007+02:00

The blackberries (singular, blackberry; genus Rubus, subgenus Eubatus; also called bramble or occasionally "bramble raspberry") are a widespread and well known group of several hundred species, a number of which are closely related apomictic microspecies, native throughout the temperate Northern hemisphere.

Growth and anatomical description

Blackberries are perennial plants which typically bear biennial stems ("canes") from the perennial root system. In its first year, a new stem grows vigorously to its full length of 3-6 m, arching or trailing along the ground and bearing large palmately compound leaves with five or seven leaflets; it does not produce any flowers. In its second year, the stem does not grow longer, but the flower buds break to produce flowering laterals, which bear smaller leaves with three or five leaflets. First and second year shoots are usually spiny with numerous short curved very sharp thorns (thornless cultivars have been developed purposefully).
The flowers are produced in late spring and early summer on short racemes on the tips of the flowering laterals. Each flower is about 2-3 cm in diameter with five white or pale pink petals. The newly developed primocane fruiting blackberries flower and fruit on the new growth. The early flowers often form more drupelets than the later ones. This can be a symptom of exhausted reserves in the plant's roots, marginal pollinator populations, or infection with a virus such as Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV). Even a small change in conditions, such as a rainy day or a day too hot for bees to work after early morning, can reduce the number of bee visits to the flower, thus reducing the quality of the fruit. The drupelets only develop around ovules that are fertilized by the male gamete from a pollen grain.
The fruit, in botanical terminology, is not a berry, but an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets ripening to a black or dark purple fruit, the "blackberry". Unmanaged mature plants form a tangle of dense arching stems, the branches rooting from the node tip when they reach the ground. They are very vigorous, growing at fast rates in woods, scrub, hillsides and hedgerows, covering large areas in a relatively short time. It will tolerate poor soil, and is an early colonist of wasteland and building sites.
Cultivation and uses
Primary cultivation takes place in the North American State of Oregon located in the United States of America. Recorded in 1995 and 2006: 6,180 to 6,900 farmed acres of blackberries, producing 42.6 to 41.5 million pounds, making Oregon the leading blackberry producer in the world.
The soft fruit is popular for use in desserts, jams, seedless jellies and sometimes wine. Since the many species form hybrids easily, there are many cultivars with more than one species in their ancestry. Blackberry flowers are good nectar producers, and large areas of wild blackberries will yield a medium to dark, fruity honey.
The blackberry is known to contain polyphenol antioxidants, naturally occurring chemicals that can upregulate certain beneficial metabolic processes in mammals. The astringent blackberry root is sometimes used in herbal medicine as a treatment for diarrhea and dysentery. The related but smaller European dewberry (R. caesius) can be distinguished by the white, waxy coating on the fruits, which also usually have fewer drupelets. (Rubus caesius) is in its own section (Caesii) within the subgenus Rubus.
In some parts of the world, such as in Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest region of North America, some blackberry species, particularly Rubus armeniacus (syn. R. procerus, 'Himalaya') and Rubus laciniatus ('Evergreen') are naturalised and considered an invasive species and a serious weed.
As there is forensic evidence from the Iron Age Haraldskær Woman that she consumed blackberries some 2500 years ago, it is reasonable to conclude that blackberries have been eaten by humans over thousands of years.

Commercial cultivars

Numerous cultivars have been selected for commercial and amateur cultivation. Recommended cultivars in the United Kingdom include 'Ashton Cross' (vigorous, thorny), 'Bedford Giant' (heavy cropping, vigorous, thorny), 'Black Satin' (vigorous, thornless), 'Dirksen' (thornless, very hardy), 'Thornless Evergreen' (heavy crops of high quality fruit; thornless), 'Fantasia' (very large fruit; vigorous), 'Hull Thornless' (heavy cropping), 'Loch Ness' (thornless, semi-erect canes), 'Marion' (vigorous, thorny; good flavour), 'Smoothstem' (thornless), and 'Thornfree' (moderate vigour, thornless).
'Marion' (marketed as "Marionberry") is an important cultivar and is from a cross between 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' (commonly called "olallieberry") berries. It is claimed to "capture the best attributes of both berries and yields an aromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor".. The Marionberry was introduced by G.F. Waldo with USDA-ARS in Corvallis, Oregon in 1956. Adapted to western Oregon, the Marionberry is named after Marion County, Oregon, in which it was tested extensively. Olallie in turn is a cross between loganberry and youngberry. 'Marion', 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie' are just three of the many trailing blackberry cultivars developed by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) blackberry breeding program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.
The most recent cultivars released from this program are the thornless cultivars 'Black Diamond', 'Black Pearl' and 'Nightfall' as well as the very early ripening 'Obsidian' and 'Metolius'. Some of the other cultivars from this program are 'Waldo', 'Siskiyou', 'Black Butte', 'Kota Berry, 'Pacific' and 'Cascade'.
Trailing blackberries are vigorous, crown forming, require a trellis for support, and are less cold hardy than the erect or semi-erect blackberries. In addition to the Pacific Northwest of the USA, these types do well in similar climates such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Chile, and the Mediterranean countries.

Semi-erect, thornless blackberries were first developed at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, and subsequently by the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland. These are crown forming, very vigorous, and need a trellis for support. Cultivars include 'Black Satin' 'Chester Thornless', 'Dirksen Thornless', 'Hull Thornless', 'Loch Ness', 'Loch Tay', 'Merton Thornless', 'Smoothstem' and 'Triple Crown'. Recently, the cultivar 'Cacanska Bestrna' (also called 'Cacak Thornless') has been developed in Serbia and has been planted on many thousands of hectares there.
The University of Arkansas has developed cultivars of erect blackberries. These types are less vigorous than the semi-erect types and produce new canes from root initials (therefore they spread underground like raspberries). There are thornless and thorny cultivars from this program, including 'Navaho', 'Ouachita', 'Cherokee', 'Apache', 'Arapaho' and 'Kiowa'. They are also responsible for developing the primocane fruiting blackberries.
In raspberries, these types are called primocane fruiting, fall fruiting, or everbearing and have been around for some time. Prime-Jim and Prime-Jan were released in 2004 and are the first cultivars of primocane fruiting blackberry. They grow much like the other erect cultivars described above, however the canes that emerge in the spring, will flower in mid-summer and fruit in late summer or fall. The fall crop has its highest quality when it ripens in cool climates.
'Illini Hardy' a semi-erect thorny cultivar introduced by the University of Illinois is cane hardy in zone 5, where traditionally blackberry production has been problematic, since canes often failed to survive the winter.
The blackberry tends to be red during its unripe ("green") phase, hence the old expression that "Blackberries are red when they're green".
In various parts of the United States, wild blackberries are sometimes called "Black-caps", a term more commonly used for black raspberries, Rubus occidentalis.
Blackberry production in Mexico has expanded enormously in the past decade. While once based on the cultivar 'Brazos', an old erect blackberry cultivar developed in Texas in 1959, the Mexican industry is now dominated by the Brazilian 'Tupi' released in the 1990s. 'Tupi' has the erect blackberry 'Comanche' and 'Uruguai' as parents. In order to produce these blackberries in regions of Mexico where there is no winter chilling to stimulate flower bud development, chemical defoliation and application of growth regulators are used to bring the plants into bloom.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackberry

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PIANTEFIORI03

DRAGONFLY

2008-09-16T11:19:00.005+02:00

A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, and an elongated body. Dragonflies are similar to damselflies, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most dragonflies are held away from, and perpendicular to, the body when at rest.
Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants and butterflies. They are therefore valued as predators, since they help control populations of harmful insects. Dragonflies are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic. Adult dragonflies do not bite or sting humans, though nymphs are capable of delivering a painful (though otherwise harmless) bite.

Dragonfly characteristics

Male Dragonflies are capable of hovering followed by rapid acceleration. Giant dragonflies can glide for 20 meters at 10 degrees and a speed of 74 cm per second which is similar to some birds.They capture their prey by clasping them in legs studded with spikes. Prey cannot escape by diving away because dragonflies always attack from below.

Life cycle

Female dragonflies lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. When laying eggs, some species will submerge themselves completely in order to lay their eggs on a good surface. Most of a dragonfly's life is spent in the naiad (that is, nymph) form, beneath the water's surface, using internal gills to breathe, and using extendable jaws to catch other invertebrates or even vertebrates such as tadpoles, fish, etc. Some nymphs even hunt on land, an aptitude which could easily have been more common in ancient times when terrestrial predators were clumsier. The larval stage of large dragonflies may last as long as five years. In smaller species, this stage may last between two months and three years. When the larva is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it climbs up a reed or other emergent plant at night. Exposure to air causes the larvae to begin breathing. The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and the adult dragonfly crawls out of its old larval skin, waits for the sun to rise, pumps up its wings, and flies off to feed on midges and flies. The adult stage of larger species of dragonfly can last as long as four months.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/DigaDiSanGiuliano

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PIANTEFIORI03

SUNSET POMARICO (ITALY)

2008-09-15T22:29:00.010+02:00

Sunset, also called sundown in some American English dialects, is the instant when the trailing edge of the sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west. It should not be confused with dusk, which is the point at which darkness falls, some time after the beginning of twilight when the sun itself sets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/TRAMONTIPOMARICOITALYIII

The sunset is often more brightly colored than the sunrise,[citation needed] with the shades of red and orange being more vibrant. The atmosphere responds in a number of ways to exposure to the sun during daylight hours. In particular, there tends to be more dust in the lower atmosphere at the end of the day than at the beginning. During the day, the sun heats the surface of the Earth, lowering the relative humidity and increasing wind speed and turbulence, which serves to lift dust into the air. However, differences between sunrise and sunset may in some cases depend more on the particular geographical features of the location from which they are viewed. For example, on a west-facing coastline, sunset occurs over water while sunrise occurs over land.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset

The timing of sunset varies with the time of year and the latitude of the location from which it is viewed. The timing also varies in local time within a given time zone, determined by each location's precise longitude. Changes in timing of sunset are driven by the axial tilt of Earth, the spherical shape of the Earth, and the planet's movement in its annual orbit around the sun. Some apparent anomalies exist however, the main one caused by the Earth's axial tilt and the Earth's elliptical orbit. In the Northern Hemisphere, the earliest sunset does not fall on the winter solstice around December 21, but instead it occurs earlier in December. Likewise, the latest sunset does not fall on the summer solstice around June 21, but instead it happens later in June or in early July, depending on your latitude. The same phenomenon exists in the Souther Hemisphere except with the respective dates being some time before June 21 in winter and some time after December 21 in summer, possibly in January of the following year. For one or two weeks surrounding both solstices, both sunrise and sunset get slightly later or earlier each day. Even on the equator, sunrise and sunset shift several minutes back and forth through the year, along with solar noon. This effect is plotted by an analemma.
Due to Earth's axial tilt, the direction of sunset in the northern hemisphere is always to the northwest from the March equinox to the September equinox, and to the southwest from the September equinox to the March equinox. Sunsets occur precisely due west on the March and September equinoxes, and the duration of day and night are approximately 12 hours on the equinoxes for all viewers on Earth (precisely 12 hours if measured from the centre of the sun).
As sunrise and sunset are calculated from the leading and trailing edges of the sun, and not the centre, this slightly increases the duration of "day" relative to "night". Further, because the light from the sun is bent by the atmospheric refraction, the sun is still seen after it is below the horizon. This effect is a daily illusion along with sunrise. The sun also appears larger on the horizon, which is another optical illusion, similar to the moon illusion.

The intense red and orange hues of the sky at sunset and sunrise are mainly caused by scattering of sunlight off dust particles, soot particles, other solid aerosols, and liquid aerosols floating in the earth's atmosphere. These enhanced red and orange colors at sunset and sunrise are mathematically explained by Mie theory or the discrete dipole approximation. When there are no particulates in the troposphere, such as after a big rain storm, then the remaining less intense reds are explained by Rayleigh Scattering of sunlight off of air molecules. The brilliance and intensity of the colors of sunsets are typically greater than sunrises, since there are generally more particles in the evening air than in the morning air. Nighttime air is usually cooler and less windy which allows the dust and soot particles to settle out of the atmosphere, reducing the amount of Mie Scattering and the amount of red and orange scattered light at sunrise. Sunrise color intensities can however exceed sunset's intensities when there are nighttime fires, volcanic eruptions or emissions, or dust storms to the east of the viewer. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world.
Sometimes just before sunrise or after sunset a green flash can be seen.

Sunsets on other planets appear different because of the differences in the distance from the planet to the sun and in different atmospheric compositions.
Because Mars is farther from the Sun than the Earth is, the Sun appears only about two-thirds the size that it appears in a sunset seen from the Earth. Although Mars lacks oxygen and nitrogen, it is covered in red dust frequently hoisted into the atmosphere by fast but thin winds. At least some Martian days are capped by a sunset significantly longer and redder than typical on Earth. One study found that for up to two hours after twilight, sunlight continued to reflect off Martian dust high in the atmosphere, casting a diffuse glow.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy) text by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/TRAMONTIPOMARICOITALYIII

BUTTERFLY

2008-09-15T20:39:00.009+02:00

These butterflies I found in the woods around the manferrara and I assure you it was difficult to approach. They move quickly and are really sensitive to noise.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PianteFiori

A butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form. Most species are day-flying so they regularly attract attention. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly coloured wings and their erratic yet graceful flight have made butterfly watching a fairly popular hobby.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PAESAGGIPOMARICOITALYIII

Butterflies comprise the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (Superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (Superfamily Hedyloidea). Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some are known to migrate over large distances. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Butterflies are important economically as one of the major agents of pollination. In addition, a number of species are pests, because they can damage domestic crops and trees.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)

MUSHROOM

2008-09-15T17:02:00.012+02:00

The long walks in the woods, are one of the things that I appreciate more in our small region basilicata. In the woods is all mushrooms, asparagus, strange insects, plants beautiful and much more, in a few words are always evolving, always in motion, have a world to explore. Manferrara Forest is s wooded area (mainly oak Quercus) surrounded by cultivated land, in southern Italy, close to the village of Pomarico. The main land-uses are forestry and agriculture.Conservation issues Urbanization is the main threat to the area. The area is a proposed LIPU reserve. Some or all of the site is covered by a management plan.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/FunghiManferrara

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap just as do store-bought white mushrooms.

However, "mushroom" can also refer to a wide variety of gilled fungi, with or without stems, and the term is used even more generally to describe both the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota and the woody or leathery fruiting bodies of some Basidiomycota, depending upon the context of the word. Forms deviating from the standard form usually have more specific names, such as "puffball", "stinkhorn", and "morel", and gilled mushrooms themselves are often called "agarics" in reference to their similarity to Agaricus or their placement in the order Agaricales. By extension, "mushroom" can also designate the entire fungus when in culture or the thallus (called a mycelium) of species forming the fruiting bodies called mushrooms.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dinospera/PaesaggiPomarico

Lizards are a large and widespread group of reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5,000 species and ranging across all continents except Antarctica. Most lizards have four limbs, external ears, and a tail. Many lizards can shed their tails in order to escape from predators, although this trait is not universal. Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in lizards, and most communicate with body language or bright colors on their bodies as well as via pheromones. The adult length of species within the order range from a few centimeters for some Caribbean geckos to nearly three meters in Komodo Dragons.
The lizards, like other reptiles are cold-blooded animals, that is not able to regulate body temperature, which adapts to the surrounding air or water, why spend much of their time in the sun to warm . The lizards are active only during the day and is easier to meet in sunny days or when weather conditions allow adequate heating body. That is when winter arrives retreats dormant inside its lair.

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy)