A Story of Flow

Serafina Vinon, a 76- year old woman from the tiny hamlet of Pont Trentaz in the Val d’ Aosta region of the Italian Alps, still gets up at 5 in the morning to milk her cows. Afterwards, she cooks a huge breakfast, cleans the house, and, depending on the weather and time of year, either takes the herd to the meadows just below the glaciers, tends the orchard, or cards some wool. In summer, she spends weeks on the high pastures cutting hay and then carries huge bales of it on her head the several miles down to the barn. She could reach the barn in half the time if she took a direct route; but she prefers following invisible winding trails to save the slopes from erosion. In the evening, she may read or tell stories to her great-grandchildren, or play the accordion for one of the parties of friends and relatives that assemble at her house a few times a week, 

 

Serafina knows every tree, every boulder, and every feature of the mountains as if they were old friends…..

 

 

When she was asked what she enjoys doing most in life, she had no trouble answering: milking cows, taking them to the pasture, pruning the orchard, carding wool…. In effect, what she enjoys most is what she has been doing for a living all along. In her own words: “ It gives me great satisfaction. To be outdoors, to talk with people, to be with my animals… I talk to everybody-plants, birds, flowers, and animals. Everything in nature keeps you company; you see nature progress every day. You feel clean and happy: too bad that you get tired and have to go home….even when you have to work a lot, it is very beautiful.”

 

When she was asked what she would do if she had all the time and money in the world, Serafina laughed----and repeated the same list of activities: she would milk the cow, take them to pasture, tend the orchard, card wool. It is not that Serafina is ignorant of the alternatives offered by urban life: she watches television occasionally and reads news magazines, and many of her younger relatives live in large cities and have comfortable lifestyles with cars, appliances, and exotic vacations. But their more fashionable and modern way of life does not attract Serafina; she is perfectly content and serene with the role she plays in the universe.