7th of May 2018
It´s evening again. A beautiful one and the weather has been truly great, sunshine and then a bit of thunderstorms and rain, not much.
I was thinking about the fires, the burned trees, and the climate in my land this summer and about the people who are everywhere cutting and cleaning last years horror.
There is so much to cut and clean. You drive 5 minutes and there the emptiness appears or the disaster. Black trees or no trees at all where they have been removed. There are stacks of cut ones all around, everywhere. Some of them will be used for keeping the houses warm next winter.
There are branches and leaves to be burnet.
On the other side of the road I walked this morning there is a farm with lots of grapevines. The man was working in the field; I do call it a field, taking care of the trees. They are getting greener these days but during the winter they are naked and a bit ugly!
We did talk a bit, me and the man, not me and the grapevine. It was getting hotter and I was in hurry to get back before the worst heat. I even had a hat on and kept it on during my whole walk!
Taking care of the vineyard is a huge work and it never ends. The grapes will eventually end up in a bottle on some ones table, making the drinker happy. Next year everything starts over again and this goes on and on forever.
Being a farmer in my land is a hard work.
On the other side of the road there are trees that need cutting. This morning 3 men working hard and cleaning the land by cutting trees, those 3 have been there since I arrived 7 days ago.
I went into the wood, just to get the feeling, and looking ahead exploring what was in hiding between the trees.
I love the moss, it is beautiful and wherever I looked this morning I saw art among the trees. Just nature at its best.
We need to pause, look around, and breathe in the beauty. Even a cut tree is in a way full of beauty.
Please look at the photos I have put in this blog. They speak louder than words.
Sit down and imagine how my little land will look when all the trees have been burned and there is just waist land. Imagine how hot it will be. Imagine how the green becomes black, humans and animals will suffer, nothing will be the same. All green will disappear if we have another summer like the last one. We need a miracle. We need the authorities to take action and make sure that there won’t be a repetition from last year.
Driving through the villages there is destruction everywhere. I have not been to one, not even one, village where there is no damage from last year.
Imagine the tourists, will they keep coming when the green has disappeared and the heat is soaring?
I have to admit that I am worried. The devastation is that most of the fires last year were manmade, controlled by greed.
How sad is that!
Tomorrow is day 8 of my wonderful holiday. I will go to Viseu. The adventure continues. Making the most of every day in peace and quiet is the goal.
I don´t travel during the summer. The immigrants arrive and the tourists as well. The traffic is monstrous and the heat will be unbearable this summer, at least here in the centre and north part of my little and wonderful land.
I have been sharing with you the devastation but below I want to show you the beauty of this evening.
Hulda Björnsdóttir
My thoughts shared with you 