Sass da la Prea

In the woods outside the small town where I grew up (Cagno, in the province of Como, Italy) there is a gigantic erratic boulder named Sass da la Prea. Because of its particular shape (it seems to be standing) it has always been considered a sort of “natural totem” by the people of the town and it has been a frequent destination for short trips in the woods.

Some weeks ago I decided to try to reach it again, so I went back to the places of my childhood with my girlfriend and we set off for a small journey. It was a nightmare. The footpath has been almost completely canceled by the vegetation and the torrent downstream now resembles more a swamp than the nice water stream I recalled from my memories.

The boulder itself was difficult to be seen, despite its height of more than ten meters, because it has been almost completely covered by the vegetation.

(check the photos: on the left the boulder more than twenty years ago, on the center the boulder nearly ten years ago, on the right the boulder now – they were taken in different seasons, but I think that the change can be noticed nevertheless).

Sass da la Prea many years ago

Sass da la Prea a few years ago

Sass da la Prea nowadays

Today people don’t live the woods as they did just ten years ago (at least in the area where I live). We are more and more likely to stay at home, pampered by our technological gadgets, confined in our urban areas and forgetting the beauty of the natural places that surround us.

Needless to say, something like Sass da la Prea was a sort of ‘characterization’ of the areas around it and a reference for the people who knew and visited it. Now most of the inhabitants of the towns around the boulder probably forgot it and, if not, they simply think it’s not that important. We are slowly flattening our diversities and loosing the uniqueness of folks and places.

Edit: some new photos taken by Ivan can be seen here: http://fotoalbum.alice.it/lafucina/sass-dela-prea-cagno/

~ by ege010 on July 14, 2008.