Go on slowly

With the usual ups and downs of weather, we landed in the summer. It will still be a season with some difficulties.
First, because Covid is always around the corner and we must not let our guard down. Of course, the weather of the sun puts some protection from contagions. The vaccination campaign has provided us with a fairly large shield, but there are still many exposed flanks to keep under observation.
The game is not over. We must be cautious, in order not to run into surprises that we would no longer want on the horizon: the ongoing autumn-winter in Australia is once again filling hospitals for Covid.

And then the summer is affected by the winds of war in the heart of Europe, in Ukraine, with its atrocities and destruction. Tensions are growing strong and increasingly worrying. We never imagined finding ourselves facing such a climate. The much-acclaimed restart in our summer - with the ingredients that are known to us and that Covid has interrupted for a long time - appears to be very ballasted. There is no illusions. There is also no need to be distracted and not even just folded in on ourselves.
Among other things, the severe ferocity of these times nails us on scenarios of costs, price increases, increases. Everything is rising, with the risk of seeing a spiral triggered by which everything goes up in price and cost, leaving more than one victim on the ground when dealing with weaknesses, fragility, precariousness. To pay more, dramatically, are always the last or the penultimate. Inflation, which has returned to gallop after 36 years, can bring the least protected groups to their knees. From an investigation by Coldiretti, it already appears that 7 out of ten families pay attention to what is consumed at the table, starting with the reduction of any waste.

In short, summer arrives, with the need to switch off, but it is not easy to cut out these brackets in which to start breathing more calmly. Yet we need it. Families feel the need to find themselves in slightly less nagging contexts.
The boys are waiting for a bit of relaxation with friends. The elderly cannot be neglected, while behind them they already have months and months of doubled fatigue, within the various lockdowns. In short, you have to roll up your sleeves, without too many illusions, but certainly appreciating small, big gestures in everyday life in which to build something positive for everyone. We are met by the upcoming occasions such as village and hamlet festivals, such as entertainment initiatives for children, such as moments of aggregation for all ages ... May they really be opportunities to grow together, at best. In spite of everything.

Corrado Avagnina
NP June / July 2022