This has been a very strange year, first with Covid-19, and then recently, hurricane Janos and it’s consequent flooding and damage. Even for those of us not greatly affected, the shock of the damage and misery that the flood brought to our village will never be forgotten. The expressions on the faces of our friends and neighbours who battled the force of water and mud and lost their belongings was enough to make us realise how wrong we do everything, us humans, and that nothing should be taken for granted.
The first months of the virus we were abruptly forced to realise that we have to learn to live differently, unable to hug, kiss, swim or dance, unable to visit our loved ones, banned even from final goodbyes… less free in so many ways… A few months later another cloud of fear was added… what does the future forecast both meteorological and medical hold… Everything seems to be so obvious now – years of destroying nature, mass consumption, mass production of stock, limiting space around us, disconnection with nature, the wrong model of tourism development, the mass installation of wind turbine farms on Natura reserved areas (environmentally protected) and so much more has lead to all of this.
The sea was for me the only place where I could find a shelter and clear my mind in difficult times, but this last month even that has become impossible because of the mud (and not only that) washed there after the flood.
Nature has a self cleaning and revival system but this is not endless and it seems nature has no tolerance any more… Scientists have been warning for years but suddenly we realised and experienced too that some of the disaster and change of morphology of our lands is irreversible. There is no more time to waste – we need to change the way we live, we have to understand that we are part of nature and we need to obey its rules and not try to tame it …
The south of the island was not as drastically effected by Janos and much of it still appears a paradise when the sun is out. Following a month of grief we managed to have a break and experience some beautiful moments pretending that nothing has changed on this island… even though the mud is still there and the causes have not being solved.
Enjoy a few photos and short video of a beautiful day at Makris Gialos beach (Long beach) at Lassi.
