Attentive Practices
The wind blows strongly and causes a chilly ambience in the orchard. At times, it carries with it the sound of Cosimo’s whistling across the field where I focus my attention to the work of Abdu—him being occupied with gathering cutoff branches, mostly by means of a large tractor-hung kind of rake but also by hand, bringing them to the meadow on the other side of the stone fence to become burnt. Observing, trailing really, every step of Abdu, I find myself smiling, feeling happy as the whistling of Cosimo remind me of that of my father. A milder setting momentarily sensed. These instances, however pleasant in their fleeting character as they are, occur brief, the chill more persistent. It is rather cold, I think to myself, following the tractor while pondering about the fact that I am wearing the same set of clothing that I wore during harvest late December; still wearing my warm-lined boots with a double set of stockings, walking here clothed in my dungarees layered with two fleece jackets and knitted gloves, I make a note that I need to ask if this coldness that I experience, 12 degrees windy as it is today and have been for the majority of the month, is common weather of April here. I had imagined myself wearing lighter gear by now, maybe not shorts, but definitely not gloves, and I wonder if it is only me experiencing the weather as cold, or if others do as well. I am quite positive that the weather of December, however experienced by any given person, occurred pretty regular, for I have spent time here in December before, thus have prior knowledge to use as a sort of reference frame for comparison. Furthermore, and ever more important, my fieldnotes from the harvest period—last year and the one prior to that—speak to how people more habituated to the climate of this place found it rather regular for that period of time too. It being my first time spending primavera in Salento, however, I cannot really tell whether it is extraordinarily cold and windy for the period or not, wherefore I need to explicitly probe this wonder of mine. Asking around, some tell me that it is, others that it should be warmer weather by now. Yet others tell me that it fluctuates, hence, occurs quite hard to tell. I note it all down for future reference, including the subjective dimensions of weathered experiences, while finding some warmth also from the sun reaching the ground of the orchard in between the spaces created by a couple of clouds passing by. The wind gusts, making also this warmth a brief experience. Yet another note taken. One more, a note that is, about the fire, for in the midst of all my thoughts on clothing and climate (changes?)—curious about that which occurs common in a fairly new context to my being—I marvel about the wind not making the fire spread across the meadow. To my mind, me being upbrought in a setting where one ought to be wary to make fires even during the wet and cold season of winter due to the risk of dried grass from previous years possibly causing uncontrolled spreading of fires, stand amazed watching the branches burn. In place.
Much like notes of atmospheric occurrences find place in my jottings, so do, obviously, those of practical engagements happening while conducting this fieldwork too. During the last couple of months, most have revolved around my learning about the cyclical practice of pruning olive plants per se as well as about related matters, such as how the size and sweetness of olives become affected (thus also the oils produced therefrom). I have during this period spent much time learning mostly by closely observing the practice being undertaken by various practitioners, following their work as it happens in the orchards, me moving along on the grounds while they carry out their work, which, depending on aspects such as the age of the plants or the structure of their canopies, either takes place from the ground, a ladder or a lift. These observations of mine have been enhanced by instructive guidance through the techniques and purposes of the work undertaken. By way of example, I have learnt about the essence of pruning as related to flows of photosynthesis and flowering as well as become even more familiarized with plant growth habits and the value-landscapes informing the work undertaken from the perspective of given practitioners. While I on a regular basis have participated in the everyday work that pruning constitutes, I have not myself performed the action of actually cutting away branches, such as to pave way for continuous growth in allowing for air and light to contribute to photosynthesis taking place evenly throughout each plant; let alone, such as to mitigate fungi and other moist-liking things carrying negative effects on production. Though I by now have a pretty good idea of how and why the work is carried out, I am much too novice to let loose with a saw, be it manual, mechanical or pneumatic in kind. Matter of fact, I am lightyears away from becoming skilled enough to engage such work, for, while I in theory am knowledgeable thereof and sensibly may advance reasons for doing this and that, I am practically a rookie and one dare not let loose a rookie to carry out this artful care. Well, at least not in professionally cared for orchards, such as those that I conduct most of my fieldwork in. In these, I would at tops would be allowed to cut bigger pieces of wood into smaller firewood, but there goes the line for my embodied skill at this point. Moreover, due to restrictions in terms of insurance and other bureaucratic measures, I am prevented also from carrying out such work. And so, I am left observing, and observe I do, attentively so, the professionals carrying out the work of pruning, plants growing, orchards blooming, machineries running, branches becoming collected and burnt, the state of remaining olives on branches and on the ground and more. Thus, despite my practical void of pruning experience, I have nonetheless through my observant participation become attuned to modes of its engagement and the results thereof, and I have become so to the extent that I may relate the cyclical work of pruning to equally cyclical flows of cultivating olives for olive oil production, such as to the need to adapt harvest in order to obtain a particular oil.
