Today, when I saw this shepherd with his sheep on the hillside as I drove across the middle of Sicily, I jumped out of the car hoping to record the splendid scene. It’s difficult to capture and communicate just how magnificent and green the island’s center is this time of year. Clouds, rain, and snow blow across the mountain ranges and rolling fields, creating a vivacious, lush landscape where wheat grasses, artichokes, oranges, lemons, citron, and, of course, sheep are thriving.

We humans are all bundled up, wrapping inward in an attempt to stay warm and dry; yet the panoramic scenes with which I am confronted remind me, as I regretfully prepare for my return home, that it’s a new season – – one where everything is fertile for growth and full of hope. And so, with that, I will board the plane in the morning with a renewed spirit and passion, ready to cultivate what’s next.