A HOT DAY

 

A HOT DAY...

It's a quarter past seven in the morning of this beautiful and wonderful Monday, where the thermometers are currently showing 24ºC, with the possibility of reaching 32ºC, in addition to, of course, the chance of rain in the afternoon. As the rains of this late spring are usually localized, not every region ends up graced with them. Yesterday, for example, around three o'clock in the afternoon the weather closed, lightning and thunder echoed across the horizon and rain fell somewhere. Less here. I know it rained because, in addition to the sound of thunder in the distance, the sky turned dark to the east and south of here. And, by the apparent proximity, I thought the sky was going to fall on our heads. So much so that I collected all the clothes from the clothesline...

I'm currently following, on Netflix, a Turkish soap opera whose title in Portuguese is "The Great Ottoman Warrior". The last chapter of the second year was yesterday. I think we were in front of the small screen, me and my better half, for about three hours. If I'm not mistaken, we watched four episodes in a row, as the story was spectacular. Ah, yes, the original name of the series is "Resurrection Ertugrul"... look, the story really is spectacular, not to mention the sets and costumes. But what strikes me the most is how the story changes depending on who tells it. We in the West are used to seeing Islam as the Great Villain of history. Crusades were organized to bring the Word of God to the peoples of the East, as well as to ensure that devout Christians could visit the Holy Land, which witnessed the footsteps of the Son of God on Earth. That is, the soldiers of the Church have always been the great heroes, selfless men who sacrificed their own lives so that the Christian Faith could spread around the world. In the first year of "Resurrection Ertugrul" the enemy faced by the Muslim Turks is nothing more, nothing less than the Crusaders, which led by the bishops of the Church, try to dominate the western lands. Of course, after much struggle and suffering, Ertugrul manages to drive the invaders out of his homeland... it's a story that really holds your attention. There are five seasons... yesterday we concluded the second one, which means we have about three hundred more chapters to go...

Well, the day promises to be very pleasant. Despite the temperature, the weather is mild right now. Yesterday the heat was intense all day. The rain, which should have given us a breath, as I said above, did not come. There was no point in thinking about going out and walking, as it was really hot. And that heat went into the night. It reminded me of my childhood. As you know, I live near a dam. It is important for the region, because in addition to being used for energy production, the large companies located in Baixada Santista, such as COSIPA, for example, use its water for industrial processes... well, a few years ago, when it was still small, the dam dried up. But it dried in such a way that you could cross it by walking from end to end of its bed. The streams that flowed into it also dried up, the thing was such that the men deepened the wells repeatedly to guarantee the precious liquid for their families. Due to the drought, the companies were forced to lay off most of their staff... a good part of the industries were foundry, and depended on water for their manufacturing process. My father couldn't get a job anywhere... and of course, if he didn't get a job soon, starvation would come to our home. Without blinking, he took the ax and went to work as a truck helper and lumberjack... he left home early, around half past three in the morning, he met his friend, the owner of the truck, and there they both went looking for wood to cut and sold to bakeries and thus managed to support themselves... those were difficult times, which he did not let us see. Of course, my mother knew about the mishaps he faced, and helped him with what she could. But the kids had no idea of the difficulties faced by their parents to guarantee their daily meals...

My time is pressing, and I have to say goodbye for today. Tomorrow, God willing, I'll be back. May God pour on our heads all the Blessings we deserve. Stay with God, and may He show us the way to Light and Righteousness...

Kisses to all and see you tomorrow...