This is not my usual type of post about history, architecture, or family. The heaviness and upheaval around the world is felt in so many ways. This week a devastating storm hit the east coast of southern Calabria, as well as Sicily and Sardinia. I watched videos of 26-foot high waves crashing along boardwalks and beaches that I walked, spent time on. I was reminded of the power of the wind and sea and I cannot help but reflect on how Mother Nature can also (increasingly) affect lives. Heavy snows, fires, floods, ice storms and Cyclone Harry.
The photos here are before and after, showing Catanzaro Lido when I stayed there in late September against screen shots from videos taken the other day. (You can find numerous videos on YouTube and Instagram.) I walked that boardwalk every morning. Harry smashed chunks of concrete and tile and pushed up untold amounts of rocks from the beach onto the boardwalk and the road. The flooded merry-go-round was mere minutes from my hotel room. My heart, even with everything else going on, has somehow found room to feel sadness and compassion for the Calabrian people and the businesses that were affected by this storm. Clean up has already begun up and down the coast, with many hands chipping in to shovel rocks, dig pathways for the water to return to the sea, and clean up the rest of the destruction. Buona fortuna.
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