Text : Rob

Photo : Rob + unkown

April 20, 2020

My friend Ray

My friend Ray is not a person. Not even a living being. And he's not an imaginary friend. My friend Ray is Mount Ray, the mountain above Entracque, where my mother, and her father, and her father's father carried the sheep to the pasture for generations to ensure the family's subsistence. It is the benevolent mountain that everyone in Entracque simply calls the Ray and has contributed to the well-being of many. My father and my mother met in front of him. The flocks of sheep left the Ray a long time ago and it is no longer the tended garden it was in the days of the mountain pastures. But it is still there, just a little wilder perhaps, and always the first to welcome me when I return to the village.

My mother Giovanna with her father Guglielmo and her mother Giovanna on the slopes of the Ray.
My mother Giovanna with her father Guglielmo and her mother Giovanna on the slopes of the Ray.
My mother in the Arpetta meadow.
My mother in the Arpetta meadow.
My mother (standing) and her sister Lena at the pasture hut.
My mother (standing) and her sister Lena at the pasture hut.
My great grandfather Antonio and my two uncles Toni and Nino at the pasture hut.
My great grandfather Antonio and my two uncles Toni and Nino at the pasture hut.

Next article

Italy

The Natural Park of the Maritime Alps