20
NOVEMBER 2013
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
DISPATCHES
THE BLEAT GOES ON
SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A SHEPHERD
ALTAMURA, ITALY
Walking through the south-
ern Italian countryside of
Alta Murgia National Park,
Graziantonio pauses to
survey the sky, which has
unleashed a spattering of
rain. The 71-year-old shep-
herd pops up an umbrella
and continues his slow trek,
with nothing in sight but a
few rocky outcrops, his trio
of dogs and a flock of 300
goats and sheep.
Graziantonio has been
working the hills outside
Altamura since he was
eight years old. To occupy
himself, he makes up
songs and thinks about his
son, now deceased. It’s a
solitary existence, but it’s
become less so since last
year, when a local man
named Tonio Creanza
started bringing groups of
travelers to meet him.
Creanza is the founder
of Messors, an organiza-
tion that leads workshops
in regional culture. By
experiencing the life of
the shepherd, Creanza
believes, people will gain
a deeper understanding
of many of the foods they
consume. “Sheep eat
the grass, which flavors
their milk, which is then
converted into
cheese,” he says.
“Food, agriculture,
landscape. You can’t
separate one from the
others.”
Today, there are eight
people shadowing Grazian-
tonio as he goes about his
business. “Isn’t this wild
fennel?” says a woman
fromVancouver, bending
down to examine a patch
of feathery leaves. “I use
this for making tea.” A few
goats wait for the woman
to finish her meditation
on the uses of fennel, then
move in to eat it up.
TALKING TURKEY
A CUT-OUT-AND-KEEP THANKSGIVING GUIDE
If you’re going to be in the U.S. on the fourth Thursday
of this month, prepare yourself for a tryptophan high.
According to the National Turkey Federation, 88 percent of
Americans will dig into some
Meleagris gallopavo
—or, more
familiarly, turkey—on Thanksgiving. That figure, of course,
is roughly the same as the percentage of celebrants who
will unintentionally cause an irreparable ri in the family,
o en for a blunder such as making a seemingly innocuous
remark in praise of one aunt’s candied yams but neglecting to
heap similar praise upon another’s cornbread stuffing. So do
yourself a favor and stick to the only safe topic in the room:
the bird. Here, a few conversation starters.
—CHRIS WRIGHT
YEAR THAT THE LINE “IT AIN’T COOL BEIN’ NO
JIVE TURKEY SO CLOSE TO THANKSGIVING”
WAS FIRST UTTERED (TO EDDIE MURPHY, IN
TRADING PLACES
):
1983
YEAR FORMER
SUPERMARKET
CLERK DERRICK
JOHNSON
CLAIMS TO
HAVE INVENTED
FROZEN TURKEY
BOWLING:
1988
TOP RUNNING
SPEED OF A
WILD TURKEY:
25
MPH
PERCENTAGE
RISE IN
REPORTED
TURKEY-
ON-HUMAN
ATTACKS IN
SUBURBAN
BOSTON
OVER A
TWO-MONTH
PERIOD IN
2012 (EXPERT
TIP: “TRY TO
APPEAR LESS
LIKE A RIVAL
TURKEY”):
100
NUMBEROF TURKEYS RAISED INTHE U.S. PER YEAR:
AROUND
250
MILLION
POUNDS OF
TURKEY
CONSUMED
IN THE U.S.
DURING
THANKSGIVING
2011:
736
MILLION
NUMBER OF CALLS TO THE
BUTTERBALL TURKEY TALK
HELPLINE DURING THE
HOLIDAY SEASON:
200,000-
PLUS
YEAR ENGLISH
ARISTOCRAT
WILLIAM
STRICKLAND
MADE THE
TURKEY HIS
FAMILY CREST:
1550
STATE RANKING OF TEXAS
IN THANKSGIVING DAY
COOKING FIRES FROM 2007
TO 2011 (ATTRIBUTED TO
THE POPULARITY OF DEEP-
FRIED TURKEY):
1
YEAR THAT THE JOURNAL OF
AVIAN BIOLOGY REPORTED
THAT FEMALE TURKEYS
PREFER MALES WITH LONG
SNOODS (THE FLESHY
APPENDAGES ON THE FACE):
1997
WEIGHT, IN
POUNDS, OF
THEWINNER
OF THE 1989
HEAVIEST
TURKEY
COMPETITION
IN LONDON
(AWORLD
RECORD):
86
Later, Graziantonio joins
the travelers for
cialledda
,
a traditional lunch of
cucumber, tomato, onions
and water-soaked chunks
of Altamuran bread. “I
knowmy generation is the
last to shepherd,” the old
man says. “Young people
today aren’t so interested in
roaming the fields.” Then,
slowly, he takes his leave.
Tomorrowwill be another
long day.
—LAURA KINIRY
