My brave chum Sergiu up an aluminium ladder at the top of my sour-cherry tree, just beneath some power lines… Picking the heavy crop of fruit (visine) for jam and cherry brandy. Not-my-dog Papi is guarding the ladder against the chickens, while Gabriela and I watch from a safe distance. The thunder was cracking overhead, although the lightning didn’t seem to get closer than Moieciu. But you never know with mountain storms, and I was waiting for Sergiu to fly off the ladder, his hair smoking…

Sergiu braving the lightning to pick cherries