Deer Rafaella, female character of year 2023

 

Let me please introduce you Rafaela. I met her the day bebore yesterday, next to the dry watercourse we have in my hometown, while I wnt out jogging. It was a causal, improvised gathering. And she impressed me. Having her so close, so pretty and so fragile.

Once I gained the impression that she would not be aggressive nor attack me, the first thing I imagened to do was to take a picture. Next? A selfie with her. Not easy task, since I had to find the best angle and she was not on pose-mode. Finally I took a third snapshot with the local gentlemen who were accompanying her, and the ones who informed me about the name of the animal, the gender (female) and the status - probably pregnant. Unfortunately I didn't even dare touch her, and I marched.

The return journey was no longer the same. What the hell was Rafaela doing on the road, allowing herself to be caressed and take photos with anyone who passed by? Was that your rightful place for her to be? Was she domesticated? Is Rafaela perhaps a Darwinian evolution of deer and understands that humans can become an ally, instead of the biggest predator in the food chain? Perhaps she wants to catch up with the pig or the dog, two successful species from the point of view of survival as a species? Was she there to ask the human species for explanations and ask us what the heck we are doing with the Planet?.

For a moment, I felt as if I had Mother Nature in front of me, exposed in all her delicacy and harmony. You become small in those moments. Maybe Rafaella doesn't deserve to be the character of the year - I had someone else in mind - but the climate emergency in general, and the drought in particular, has made me change my opinion. The other day my daughter asked my position regarding climate change. I, who tend to simplify my own reasoning and leave it in two, maximum three bullets, responded that the Planet has gone through different climatic stages, but these are very slow and therefore imperceptible to living beings, so it gives them time to evolve to be able to adapt. Second, I am convinced that human beings with their activity are accelerating these changes. Finally, it is our responsibility as a species to leave the Planet, at a minimum, the same or better than how we found it, impacting it as little as possible.

And being said that, I went home a little more depressed.

Thank you Rafaela for proviking me Stendhal syndrome in me. Let's see how long you last.