wind

As I ride north, the wind blows fiercely—the maestrale, a wind that is as much a part of Sardinia as the very mountains and seas that surround it. The road winds alongside the rugged mountains, which, like silent guardians, watch over the path that leads to the sea. With every turn, the air changes: the cool, fresh breeze slowly gives way to the warmth of the setting sun, its golden light casting long shadows that stretch across the land.

Eventually, you reach a marble quarry. The sight feels surreal, like stepping into a frame from an Antonioni film. The sharp, industrial shapes of the quarry clash with the raw beauty of the natural landscape, and it’s almost as if time stands still. The machinery, now quiet, still echoes the sounds of human labor. This contrast between the natural world and the human imprint on it stirs a deep reflection, a contemplation of humanity's relationship with the earth.

This scene, though distinct, transports you to another place—another memory. You think back to your time on Lipari, where you visited the old, abandoned pumice quarries. The land there, too, had a strange, desolate beauty, where the earth and the bodies of the workers seemed to merge. The workers, once laboring under the harsh sun, were no longer there, but their presence lingered, woven into the very fabric of the landscape. You recall the weight of history, the sweat, the struggle, and the sacrifice of those who had worked in these harsh conditions. In those abandoned quarries, the lines between human reality and the earth seemed to blur—bodies and stone, labor and land, forever intertwined.

The quarry before me now, with its veins of marble cutting through the earth, is a reminder of the harsh realities humans have faced in their relentless pursuit of shaping the world. And yet, there is something strangely beautiful in this human imprint, a kind of paradox: the beauty of the earth shaped by human hands, the tragedy of labor immortalized in stone.

After a brief pause, I gather myself and continue my journey, heading toward Olbia’s harbor, where the next chapter of my adventure awaits. The sea, the sky, and the wind guides me, as they always have. But as I ride, I carry with you the weight of these reflections—the deep connection between the earth and its people, the land and its labor, the past and the present.