by EZIO MOTTERLE
Never like this year was the astronomical certainty awaited for granted that before Christmas the big dark was finally behind us. Punctual, the winter solstice reversed the trend of ever shorter days alongside ever longer nights: and now the luminosity begins to grow again as always. The great desire for light, also induced these days by the well-known psychological reasons, has ended up diluting the restrictions due to the energy crisis, often respected thanks to new generation light sources: in short, splendid lights shine everywhere, the show of lights set up in the Estensi Gardens in Varese ends up among the great national attractions of this Christmas 2022, many private homes have not given up on a small light show, perhaps with LED bulbs or strings of solar-powered lights. All very nice, if it weren’t still difficult and in some cases impossible to loosen the persistent darkness of daily life, squeezed by a thousand worries even in areas with the highest concentration of well-being. Double-digit inflation, emptier wallets, thirteenth month salaries (when there are any) burned by year-end tasks, non-existent or precarious work, skyrocketing layoffs, declining production, uncertain economic prospects. Seasonal estimates, however, are already producing record data on departures for short or long journeys, Malpensa is flying high again supported by significant tourist flows, mountains, seas and cities of art collect preferences by the thousands, statistics assign an average of 4 to 7 days of vacation each (one out of three between Christmas and New Year’s will spend nights away from home), an account like never before marked by the famous calculation of Trilussa’s chicken for those who, unable to leave, really don’t think about it. In short, if the light returns to nature and persists in tradition, it really struggles to filter into everyday reality. A difficult year is certainly coming to an end, there will soon be big bonfires to mark the longed-for end, the most optimistic already see a beautiful summer of beaches and umbrellas on the horizon. But perhaps there is no need to rush, also considering the health emergency which is proposing new problems that are not yet fully foreseeable. Yes, there is a new, intense, diffused light, celebrated precisely in these hours with a rediscovered religious spirituality in the sign of a great hope for peace. But to definitively dispel the darkness still sustained by the weight of the crisis and by the roar of the missiles, everyone’s commitment and trust is needed. To be combined with the unchanged force of nature… Merry Christmas!
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Seen from Varese: After the dark, the expectation of a new light grows