I had serious difficulties in choosing the theme for this first article of 2020. Therefore, I chose to write about something perhaps a little unusual for a “Mother Concerned with the Environment”. Or maybe not…
First, I thought about writing about the climate, but after reading the article by Professor António Covas, I thought that everything had already been said: «If we don't change our life, we may no longer have life to change», period.
Nelson Dias' open letter about Miguel Sousa Tavares' comments to Greta Thunberg is very close to my own view of the way the young Swedish activist's path is being interpreted by the world, so I also felt that this issue was unjustified. more attention.
Then I thought about talking about Montijo airport; about lithium mines; on the project of a hotel on a beach in Matosinhos (which the Minister of Environment himself finds “strange” that he has positive opinions); about the dredging of the Sado river; on the design of a new bridge on the Gilão river, in Tavira; about the return of a new project for three hotels to the João de Arens area, in Portimão; about the imminent destruction of Alagoas Brancas, in Lagoa, one of the last wetlands in the Algarve…
There are so many situations of environmental crimes happening, or about to happen, in Portugal, that it would need many lines and many paragraphs to sensitize readers to the importance of preserving the environment, biodiversity, habitats, the importance of, in each moment of our consumption, we think about the 3 “Rs” (recycle, reduce, reuse).
It would take many words to demonstrate the importance of implementing a true collective ecological consciousness, a green wave of protection from our Common Home, starting in our own home… And the truth is that probably – and unfortunately – no one (or few) would go read.
Therefore, I decided to take the well-known Borda d'Água almanac, a “useful repertoire for everyone”, with its respectful 91 years of age and making, futurology.
I have chosen, in the next lines, to share with you the “Judgement” of this new year, in the hope that, in this way, in a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, we can all be part of something bigger than ourselves – something written in the stars.
I still remember when my grandfather, an Algarve fisherman of race, took his almanac and religiously opened the leaves with his penknife, taking precautions for the new year, a ritual I repeat in his memory.
According to “O Cartola” who signs the “Judgement of the Year” (the emblematic article that closes each edition of “Borda d'Água”), “we have started the year 2020, under the Saturn cycle, with our star ruling closer, the Sun, which sublimates our inner ambition, our way of making ourselves known; on the other hand, it adds little to our real self-knowledge and makes known our individual tendencies without increasing the reasons for giving us heartburn in front of certain people».
Reading this first paragraph, I was in doubt whether this would be a good or bad omen for the new year. Let's continue...
«The sun is full of truths and it can shake up our daily life a lot, but it will be very positive; for sincerity will be on the rise during this period. It centers and illuminates all the planets and summons everything in its place. It is a year that inspires us leadership, health and faith».
Better: I feel more hopeful!
Then, as I read on, I learn that, according to the Chinese Zodiac, 2020 will be the year of the Metal Rat, a brilliant and resourceful Rat when it comes to finding solutions to difficult problems but struggling to accept and learn from your failures (sound familiar?); a Rat who doesn't like solitude and who, when deprived of the moral support of his relatives, is prone to depression (makes sense…); a year of renewed ambitions and strategies in which you turn your back on the past, with no regrets (a good pronunciation, that being the case…)
I also discover that 2020 will be the International Year of Plant Health. A year in which there should be more concern about plants, trees, birds, insects, ecosystems – the natural cycle of nature, 100% biological – but which our Parliament seems to ignore, allowing glyphosate to continue to circulate freely in our public gardens, on the crops… Perhaps they also need to receive advice from “Cartola”.
“What we've been doing so far is all wrong, as we eradicated the pests that ate the crops and applied chemicals to make them grow. With these miraculous chemical applications, we ended not only the pests, but also their natural combatants, consequently, we were poisoning ourselves too. Now, and very slowly, we began to realize that everything was wrong after all!»
I'm not saying it. It's Senhor Cartola, who is 91 years old. Maybe it's time to start respecting the elders, their wisdom, listening to the signs of our great old friend Earth, feeling her, nurturing her, taking care of her, she who gives us everything and asks for nothing in return, except our respect.
We build the future each day we are alive.
May we together build a better 2020!
Author: Analita Alves dos Santos is a Mother concerned with environmental issues
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