Seen from space, that BLUE SPHERE wandering the universe, transports us to childhood and to the environment of Marvellous Tales!
And we children, we relive all the emotions in those times and places where, by imagination, we lived with Princes and Princesses, with Fairies and Witches.
In the end, it was the old fight of Good and Evil and we children always wished that the “Good Ones” got the better of the “Bad Ones”! Who of us in those times would have liked the Evil Queen, disguised as an old Witch, to kill the Snow White? Or that Sleeping Beauty would sleep forever without a handsome Prince coming to kiss her and thus breaking the spell that the Evil Sorceress had cast on her? Of course, no one!!!
In fairy tales the "Bad" were punished and the "Good" always won. But these, until reaching the victory, had to overcome many goals and face serious dangers, but in the end, they had the greatest reward: “they got married and lived happily ever after”!!!
But… That wonderful BLUE SPHERE is Planet Earth!
Living down here, with our feet firmly on Earth, allows us to look around us with a less dazzled gaze...
Here, the environment in which we live is not similar to that of the Marvelous Tales because we are no longer those naive, innocent children with their natural capacity for wonder!
For the rest, down here on Earth, there is also a permanent confrontation between the “Good” and the “Bad”! The same is to say that on the one hand, there are those who look at the Planet such as the old markets and pirates whose only objective was to get rich even if, for that, they had to kill, steal, burn, destroy, etc. etc.. And , as, in general, these are the most powerful, the results of their actions are, therefore, more devastating.
These are, therefore, the “Bad Ones”… On the other side, us in the same fight, are those who see the Earth as the Universal Mother and who NATURE also calls Mother!
Why?
Because, like our Mothers of flesh and blood, She, in her own way, gives us being, gives us the necessary food, comforts us, helps us to grow and gives us the “tools” we need to face the future with more confidence. That's why We defend it and We protect it.
And these are, therefore, the “Good”…
Most are younger; they are few or not powerful and have very few resources. But they use other “weapons”: they have the imagination, creativity, energy and will of young people and dreamers!
These use the "weapons" they have in defence of the Planet. So badly treated over time, the Earth, "caused" and "exhausted" sends men "dramatic signals" authentic calls for help":
Excessive and rapid rise in temperatures and prolonged droughts followed by torrential rains and floods; increasingly violent, uncontrolled and tragic fires; glaciers that are millions of years old and losing ice every day and rising ocean levels! The consequences will be catastrophic in the more or less near future, judging by the signs in sight: drought, desertification, famine, poverty, destruction and death!!
The fight is hard, and it will be long, but it is not possible to give up!
The important thing is to ask ourselves: How do we manage the day to day of our lives?
• what we eat,
• what we wear,
• How we move,
• How we behave in the family, in society, at work.
And (very importantly!) how we live and respect democracy.
There are many “battles” to be fought, but the“Nature” also gives us many resources. Human beings only need to discover them and know how to take advantage of them, while preserving the “health” of the Planet.
One of these resources, and which is absolutely EXTRAORDINARY, is cork (“Cortissa” in Portuguese)!!!
It is extracted from the cork oak (“Quercus suber”), a tree that, like any other, grows, bears leaves, flowers and fruits.
But the cork oak has an EXCEPTIONAL feature, its BARK!! It is extracted without damaging the tree. This operation, called “stripping” is carried out every 9 years and the cork extracted is used for various purposes: thermal insulation, fabric for wallets , fashion, shoes, sound insulation, aeronautical and aerospace industry, stoppers! But there is so much more! With imagination and creativity, it is now possible to build houses, or parts of them, furniture, fashion accessories, works of art such as sculptures !!!
The exceptional feature of this tree is not its ability to renew its flowers and fruits annually, but its ”BARK” every 9 years!
Another “virtue” is the possibility that all items made from cork can be RECYCLED INDEFINITELY!
Is it “Magic” of Mother Nature, a kind of “Good Fairy”, providing Humanity with the “tools” for it to defend itself, defending, at the same time, Planet Earth from so many and such serious aggressions?
Let's go back to the beginning, to the environment of fairy tales and the fight between Good and Evil!
"Will the struggle for the defence of the Planet, so arduous and so long, also have a Happy Ending like the Heroes of Wonderful Tales?"
Like those "Heroes" it is also wished that the "Good", who fight for this cause, Win and that Planet Earth and all beings that inhabit It "live many years and be HAPPY FOREVER"!!!
Autor: Maria Costa
19/11/2021