Text in the Audio

1

Walk, walk

Cross the beaches and green hills

High above, a stone hut. Empty, broken.

In the house, a fire

Still unlit

Waits me

We will walk until we inhabit that stone house.

From its windows, I will spy on the dangers of the land, I will see the sea that becomes ocean, the curved horizon, and the snow-capped peaks far away and yet so close.

Seeing you arrive.

2

I enter the cave with my two little boys by the hand. We're coming from the forest.

I'm teaching them to recognize birds. We climb trees in silence

And remain still, amidst the greenery

and the birdsong.

We take the opportunity to pick fruit.

We take a dip in the river, which is shallow, but we love to play

to whoever can find the strangest stone.

Playing in the water makes us very hungry, and there are always snails

Or some tasty little fish to calm our stomachs.

Rolling in the grass to dry off is something we really like;

we turn green, and that color brings us great joy and pleasure.

We're almost fluorescent now.

Our hunger grows, and we know that in the cave awaits us

some delicious meat delicacy cooked over the fire.

The forest is starting to become dangerous. Noises,

winds, and darkness alert us that it's time

to return to the cave, to the warmth, to the love of the infinite forms that the cave represents.

3

The enormous cave is damp, pulsating, breathing, and transpiring.

The darkness is total at the back of the cave, but it brightens

as we approach the entrance's eaves.

The great curve of the roof fades into darkness,

though each family has its own fire.

The small circular areas of light form a

constellation of warm lights inside the enormous cave.

With their smoke and their Shadows.

It smells of food, animals, skins, our fluids.

And when the wind and rain beat relentlessly inside the cave,

the air clears and the footprints are erased.

It's like when everyone leaves the cave to move on to another refuge.

After an indeterminate amount of time, all traces of life are buried,

amalgamated in a single layer of earth and stone.

After another vague period of time, other humans,

new clans, return from the forest and activate the cave

With dances, music, paintings, fires, stories,

with their loves and heartbreaks.

And the rain, the sun, the wind, the intense cold,

the river water flooding the cave once more.

4

Watching the fire so I don't feel defenseless.

It's watching the darkness and the cold of the night and winter.

I feel that with fire we can live beyond the changes of the sun and the moon.

I also scare away predators, and we cook what we eat.

There are those who create controlled fires inside the cave,

because they know the best place to place them,

to have a good fire without too much smoke.

Because too much smoke doesn't let you breathe.

I think it's better to build the fire far from the entrance.

They say that long ago, humans from this same cave

found fire when lightning struck a tree,

and to everyone's surprise, they felt the light and the heat.

And then a band from this same cave did

all kinds of tests to control it

and keep it lit forever,

we even learned how to carry it.

5

Every year in Cantabria, when winter arrives, 10,000 hectares of forest burn. Fires have doubled in the last decade.

The locals are used to seeing the smoke linger; it has always served to tame the scrubby landscape.

But the issue is the abandonment and depression of rural areas.

This is due to the severe depopulation and aging of rural areas, and the cessation

of traditional agricultural activities.

Thus, the areas cultivated and grazed in the past are now

covered by scrubland or monocultures that are

doomed to burn sooner or later. Uncontrolled.

The climate is weakening and stressing the forests,

increasing dry vegetation, its flammability, and its combustibility.

And the forest has been haphazardly filled with houses,

without any plans to protect against fire.

The day when no one remains here on the farms:

Then the fires will come, and the mountain

as a place of life may disappear.

6

What to do if you see a bear?

The best thing to do is retreat slowly and quietly, so as not to alert it.

In the event of a chance encounter, if it's a bear approaching at close range and hasn't detected you, it's best to make yourself known. But don't make a fuss or shout, so that they change course before you get too close.

Bears roar when attacked, and if you scream, they can understand that they're being threatened and try to defend themselves. Never run! Bears can travel at 50 km/h and will likely come after you.

Bears are trying to protect their cubs, their food supply, or their territory. Bears don't seek to hunt humans.

In Japan, there's a vending machine that has gone viral, selling bear meat. It was installed at the Tazawako bullet train station in the city of Senboku.

Travelers can buy freshly hunted bear meat. At about 2,200 yen, or about 15 euros, for 250 grams of meat. This is a local product from northern Japan.

Bears are increasingly moving into inhabited areas due to the scarcity of their own food, so hunters are responsible for regulating their numbers to avoid accidents.

7

What does bear meat taste like? According to those who have tried it, bear meat is a mix of lean and fatty meat, which doesn't toughen, with a slightly spicy flavor, similar to venison.

The species that survives isn't the strongest or the most intelligent. It's the one that best adapts to change.

The Cantabrian brown bear is listed on the Red List of threatened species, in danger of extinction. A total of 370 brown bears have been recorded in Cantabria. They can hibernate for up to six months without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating. Outside of hibernation, they sleep 20 hours a day.

8

I'm in a forest

Being in the middle of the forest is necessary

Being lost

In the forest

Alone

For a while

It's necessary.

My great-great-grandmother's grandmother

I knew her. The mother of my mothers.

I know her: a sweet and strong woman.

Spanish women of the forest, of the stones, of the fire.

She was fine. She wasn't hurt.

She gave me those seeds, that trust, that knowledge that everything is okay

That we've all healed.

A landscape, both wild and delicate

Campfire

An intimate, ritual moment.