Snow on Thassos island in Greece.
At Kazaviti, powdery snow transforms the village and the surrounding country side and creates enchanting sculpures beyond our imagination. This true winter fary-tale does not last much time, though, as it is fragile and cannot resist the sun rays and the blustering wind that shakes the trees. We almost hold our breath and stand still to preserve for a while and admire these delicate structures of fallen snowflakes and ice crystals. Then again, powerful snow storms amass deep drifts that remain prominent for the periods of frost.
Gently the smelting snow trickles and sinks deep into the soil. It is stored there underground as a reservoir of moisture for the hot summer season. The stream in the gorge remains clear: no eroded soil is washed down to the sea and lost. During the rather short periods of snow fall and melting the ancient natural order returns as it existed before the antique civilizations initiated the climatic change in the Mediterranean region that still is in progess. Snow fall is the most effective, lasting precipitation - and tall forest trees the only natural medium which attracts and accumulates precipitation during the warm seasons of the year. In the surroundings of Kazaviti this beneficial broadleaf forest spread again after the people had left. In the gorges the many centuries old plane trees tap the perennial flow of clear water deep underground : but without renewed precipitation these reservoirs will dry up - that is clear enough, but who actually is still fully aware of this natural cycle, and who actually cares... |
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