As the COVID-19 pandemic was ripping through countries and communities, years 2021/22 were a time of reflection about the caducity and frailty of life as we knew it and of what seemed unassailable before 2020. To stay close to nature and avoid the isolation of strict lockdowns due to COVID 19 pandemic in the big city the author moved to the countryside to stay in Barbarano Romano, a 1100 people village in northern Lazio, some 70 kilometres north of Rome. The choice proved its worth. Despite the pandemic, nature had its rhythms and needs: tending to the sheep, harvesting, as seasons and colours changed. The author has thus enjoyed the simpler and more genuine social milieu, and the closeness to an untouched natural habitat. A small community of friends was already there to enliven the evenings with their conversations, while the locals slowly opened up and allowed the author to participate in their annual activities. The year 2022 has been a time of the author’s personal discovery, connecting to a community and its land, while witnessing the change of seasonal colours and the cautious reopening of commercial activities.