The only thing we cannot stop, even in Montalcinello, is the clock of time. We can, however, spot those influences that make us age in spirit and push us toward preservation, so dear to those who oppose change, rebirth, and innovation. Often one ends up blindly obeying one’s own clan, whose lowest common denominator is precisely the defense of the current state of things.
I was among the first to leave social networks: I shut down Facebook in 2010. I never felt the need to parade my narcissism on Instagram and, above all, for very many years I have shunned television, so much so that I don’t own one and therefore don’t pay the license fee. I have come to believe that this medium, entering homes, has for decades exerted a deep influence on consciences and caused immeasurable harm.
There is nothing worse than sitting helpless in front of a magic box that, day after day, bombards and devastates minds with news turned into spectacle, often told in a morbid way, or that tries to make conflicts and military aggression acceptable, suggesting the existence of “just” wars.
Yesterday, with a certain satisfaction, I climbed onto the roof and removed the last symbol of that propagandistic world: the TV antenna.
Of course I realize that, for earlier generations, television and, more recently, Facebook have been important reference points. However, it’s hard not to notice how young people, fortunately, seem less and less drawn to that old cathode tube.
For this reason I believe that one of the small revolutions possible today is to turn off the television, even in Montalcinello, and to remember who we were before this medium crept into our homes, slowly changing habits, traditions, and a rural know-how built over centuries.
As for the rest, given the temperatures, I’m focusing on the garden to make it more and more spatial and universal.
At the same time I took care of the Terrace over the World, focusing on seemingly small but high-impact tasks, such as removing the weeds that were trying to climb the walls and get closer to the village.
For this job it was necessary to use a brush cutter with blade and line for brambles. Climbing plants, in fact, can create a favorable environment for the spread of many unwanted insects, with possible repercussions on the vegetable gardens and on the balance of the surrounding landscape.
In the future I would like to better explore the dynamics that allow particularly invasive insects, such as flies and horseflies, to reproduce in such large numbers and to have such a significant impact on the environment, despite the valuable and unceasing work carried out by swifts and house martins, whose presence should be supported and enhanced.
