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There was a time when a young man, it is not very clear why, he thought that having his whole life ahead of him… what could prevent him from going further? The vital energy of youth and the unconsciousness of how the world was living at that time came together. He was not aware that everything was going to be very difficult for him. He also did not know that being fully in the middle of the dictatorship, the thing was going to be almost impossible for him. But he had a lot of confidence in himself, and he was convinced that nobody and nothing was going to stop him. At least that’s what he thought. He was sure that he could go beyond his time and explore new paths, new horizons. It was then that he met his partner and they dreamed together. He wasn’t sure if they were going to make it, but with all the splendour of his youth, who was going to stop him? Nothing and no one could get in the way, that was his life and he was going to live it.
Under the shade of the pine trees of the summer house, they talked and talked, dreamed and dreamed. His first dream: the house for the family. A house to live away from the madding crowd. They wanted to get away from the bickering of the society of that time… but also that of now. They were not interested in that world, they wanted to go to theirs, they wanted to live their life. They conceived the house in geometric shapes, and in the end the hexagon prevailed. The house had to be big, it had to shelter the large offspring they were going to have. In the end they chose a piece of land near the city where they lived.
When solar energy was not even known for many kilometres around, they installed it in his house. It wasn’t photovoltaic yet, it was thermal, which provided hot water. Then they bought a plastic car (Mehari) to put a battery motor on it. In all that time the children arrived. But there was also a little invention that fired cannons to scare away the birds that wanted to eat the crop. Every minute and a half or two, in a space of peace, the sound of the cannon startled them. For years and years they no longer knew who to turn to. They had put double glazing (at that time they were one of the first) and instead of spending the evening on the terrace, they had to install air conditioning units to be inside the house.
They had gone far from the population and had run into the interests of the farmers. There was no authority who wanted to understand that «whoever drives away the birds from his field is taking them to the other’s field» that does not have the little cannon; but the most serious thing: now, almost 50 years later, the damage that sound, decibels, does to people is being discovered.
The getaways to dive with the family along the coast and many more adventures, meant that the people of that time could never imagine that this type of life existed. Now, immersed in a climate change caused by consumption, what can be said to closed-minded people? Those people who didn’t know what they wanted then and still don’t know now. Who would have thought of living such a life?
In a world of interests, what prevails is brute force, so the weak, the one who has wanted to live ahead of his time, has had to suffer the consequences. They continue to wonder if sometimes it is preferable to live in the daily world of mortals trying to go to yours without being too noticeable, or if it is preferable to rebel against that world and go far, far away from ‘civilization’; although it is evident, that you can go so far that interested and unconscious people are going to persecute you. How can they understand that there could be someone who tries to go his own way and live his life!
Until the next reflection.
Joan-Llorenç sincristal@hotmail.com