The magic of the forest at night

Have you ever been in a forest at night? If you have never done it, I recommend it: nature takes on a special charm and everything seems to become magical.

About twenty years ago, with my daughter, who could barely stand on her own, we ventured into the forest near our house. Equipped with homemade lanterns, suitable clothing to protect us from the cold and humidity of the night and the text of a little song that we would sing along the way, we embarked on this adventure. It was November 11, the day of the feast of San Martino. I still remember the wonder in my daughter's eyes, a wonder that that evening gave her. I will never forget the dozens of questions she kept asking me as we entered the beech and birch trees damp with dew, nor the moments when she held my hand tighter, in the moments when fear seemed to take over her, certain of finding her salvation in me.

That evening we talked to the trees, with the invisible gnomes we imagined lived there, with the magical fairies we saw hopping from one branch to another. We also met two deer (for real), motionless, surprised by our presence, and then Mr. Owl, two curious and wary foxes and, finally, a little deer that seemed to want to join our walk, but then didn't have the courage.

In the woods, during the night, anything can happen. If you enter with your heart full of fantasy and imagination, even more so if accompanied by children, the journey can reserve surprises that you will never forget. I know some of you will smile after these statements of mine, but believe me: imagination cannot be the prerogative of the little ones just because it makes you imagine things that do not exist, imagination helps you dream, and dreams nourish the soul. That is why we need it.

Bianca, my daughter, is now over twenty years old, but she still remembers the emotions she felt that evening and I am sure that, when she has children, she will want them to experience that magical experience too. Over the years, together with my wife, we have brought hundreds of children, teenagers, adults, and elderly people to that forest, asking them to walk listening only to their souls, nothing else, letting themselves go to the fantasy of their dreams. It has always been forbidden to distract oneself with cell phones or take photographs, because only by detaching oneself from everyday rationality can one experience true emotions.

Since 2005, the Lanternata di San Martino on November 11 has become a regular event for the inhabitants of the valley. It is increasingly attended and is still held in the forest where it was born almost by chance. Today hundreds of people gather, curious to experience, at least once, the emotion of the magic of the forest at night, accompanied by musicians capable of making the atmosphere even more suggestive and by actors who amplify the already lively imagination of those present. Of course, San Martino could not be missing, who, on his horse, leads the very long snake of lights.

Also this year, as in all the past ones, I tried not to miss the fascinated looks of the children who enter a place that on other occasions would have only frightened them, and I tried to enjoy their reactions, the gasps, and the smiles. I love seeing them laugh, sing, play with fallen leaves or with images present only in their imagination. Children have so much to teach us and it is a shame when we fail to understand it. Lately, the Lanternata has been further enriched by the collaboration of an association that deals with cancer children in the Varese area and that, during the months preceding the event, prepare dozens of lanterns to give to those who arrive in the woods and do not have one, adding an even deeper value to an event already full of meanings.

I cannot know how far this tradition will go, how it will change or what novelties our Lanternata will have in store for us, but of one thing I am sure: in this case too we started from 1.


NP December 2024
Max Laudadio