The workings of Italians...
The ramp leading up to il Poggiolo and a neighbour’s house beyond… the neighbour is allowed to pass with their I Diritti di Passaggio our notary public’s lawyer could not strike off our deed. The neighbours do have another entrance/exit but, OK, we had to. move on… rarely sees sunlight. During Winter, never. In the Summer, only for a couple of late-afternoon hours. The rest of the time, it is captured by shadows. Ideal conditions for a healthy layer of moss & weeds. More moss than weeds. Add to the near constant shade the local Lunigiana humidity today hovering around 80 to 90% and the ramp can be a slippery slide. Yippee!!! Perhaps not.
Up to the tall arch where our property line resides, the ramp below from that point actually belongs to il Comune di Casola in Lunigiana. Our fair village of Codiponte belongs to this civic entity. It is the Comune’s competence, its responsibility to ensure the ramp’s safety with proper maintenance & care and, how about a hand-rail? Or, some other means to descend & climb without risking our necks. None of us are getting younger to be so nimble to do without. No!…. said the Comune. To those bureaucratic folk, the ramp leading to only two residences, is considered nearly a private case. Off base for the communal interests at il Comune. There is a short hand-rail at the base of the ramp down at the junction with the village’s main thorough-fare, via Alfredo Ricciotti. This name, for what in reality is more an alleyway than a street, was previously thought to be via Comunale. I recently discovered thi novelty during a Google Map search of Codiponte. I was aiming for a bird’s-eye screen-shot of il Poggiolo, and there, in hovering white lettering was the new name. Gosh. But, I digress. That hand-rail’s location IS APPROVED by the Comune because, at that point, many more residents may profit from it use. Way more comunale than our secondary and… euw, ick… private needs. Ahhh, a vestige from Italy’s romp with Communism, ie, the highest common denominator serves the most. Wins every time here. Maybe.
Years ago the ramp was a plain & simple construction in stone. Flat pavers for each tread and, at each riser, stones set vertically for an effective nosing. Rock solid. Modern times came along. Stone was felt to be passe’. Ugly. Difficult. Il Comune agreed and poured a crude cement & gravel veneer to simplify the ramp. The quality of the cement… the amount of sand to mortar… was scarce. A polite term. Years & years of often hard rains has eaten into this suspect covering. Weeds and moss have since found ample good homes in the cracks & crevices. A slippery piece of work, as stated above.
This past weekend, two neighbours worked diligently… all day long… with a water jet and brushes to clean away the moss, the weeds, their roots, and loose cement and stones. The ramp looks clean, too clean. Now devoid in many places of the very material which keeps all in place. I am afraid, as the neighbour’s work dries, what will remain of the cement & gravel will crumble even more. Better, if they had just left well enough alone. Ahhh, Women’s Work is to scour & clean. Stand back. Naturally, intent on una buona pulita, no consideration was given to what might occur post-diligently-all -day-long. Time has its consequences but Women’s Works can hastens its effect. The Law… don’t touch it, leave it be, let the things take their course, if you mess with it, one risks having more trouble afterwards was left in the fury of their day-long efforts. I predict more trouble. But then, I go out our back gate, the Dog leading our procession to the Scuzzy SUV, stick in bocca. I do so because of the villagers fear of my Dog and the Medieval Bridge is un carnaio di inconvenienti. How about that? Italian can be so effective sometimes.
These two neighbours had taken matters into their own hands. Stealthily. A committee of two. A tight-lipped consensus. Neither You nor I were ever consulted. One third of what they tackled is ours!!! A very Italian tactic. See, in Italy, everyone must agree, who are actively involved. That’s the catch. One No! will KILL an initiative DEAD in its tracks. Italians fear the consequence of a No! And, especially, if the try to duck and ignore it. EXCEPT if you are in the government. Then, it is the opposite. More on that in another blog post. Italians find safety, security, certainty in unanimity. The other and more prevalent trick is to be highly selective of the participants… the underlying plan of Italian politics and its social interactions. Certainty is assured through exclusion. Sometimes hard to do but, the Italians ardently strive to control the chorus, ie our two neighbours and their scrub-a-dub-dub. Causes me to ask THe Question… and this is mightily helped by the American’s recent behaviour… What has happened to our Democracy? Have all of us been ignored too?