I am not sure if I am following the rules of this community, Throwback Thursday, with this post. The point is to remember an event, person, situation or place from the past that was significant or interesting... Post pictures from the past while talking about it and remembering... but maybe also the differences in how we see the same things or events now.
History is often subjective because although facts should be interpreted objectively, people who write history are humans after all. Emotions play an important role in all our thoughts and activities but time helps to see facts in a slightly more objective way, from a distance. Sometimes it takes many years to really understand what the real reason was for certain events we lived through. No, it probably doesn't lose its weight and importance, it simply changes the perspective. On the other hand, years can fly by too quickly, like lightning. The environment changes in an instant, or so it seems to us. I was surprised and touched by the scenery I saw today, in a very familiar place to me...
So, why do I think that maybe this is not the appropriate form in which I present today's post? Well, I hope the admin will clarify my doubts, as the thing is that I took these pictures today, but they still show a place I have visited many, many times in the past and it looked different.
Sierra Helada was our hill, our greenery that breathed for this little town. Today I no longer live there, I recently moved and our little hill has changed too.
These two photos were taken a few years ago when green trees surrounded our walks to the lighthouse. The paths were protected by the trees in this way:
...and what I saw today almost broke my heart. I went there to have my lunch with a view between the morning and afternoon lessons and then I heard the sound of the chainsaws. This year, the drought hit these hills hard, actually the trees. Many, many conifers simply dried up due to lack of water and the hills turned brown. I have already mentioned this in some of my posts these months. The trees now look like this:
I heard the chainsaws from the distance and walked a bit closer to the works that the sign announced. There were 8 or 9 workers, cutting down the dead trees. I suppose it is a job that has to be done as the dried-up trees can fall and harm the people who walk every day here.
The sight left me impacted. I am not used to seeing the Sierra Helada in this state, dried up, but I know this has to be done. All these brown trees will have to be cut down, and hopefully, new, young trees will be planted in their place.
Everything is cyclical, like our life. And on a global scale, nothing is different. This hill that I remember as a place I loved a lot will recover, I have no doubt, although the damage is great and it could take many years for it to become green again. But it eventually will recover, because the dying of these trees may contribute to fertile soil for the next, even more beautiful green woodland.
