L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 6 important lighthouse in Italy in terms of light and geographical position, the faro di Punta Care- na, in Capri. I had reached my goal: I was a lighthouse keeper. Your job is fascinating, poet- ical to the eyes of many, but it certainly requires enormous professional skills and knowl- edge. Today, however, as it has been happening in many "old fashioned" professions, Man's mind, wisdom and eyes are replaced by technology. In what machines will never be able to replace you, at Punta Carena? Once I entered the world of lighthouses, a true passion for this type of job was born. In part, it was also thanks to the nature sur- rounding me, this Mediterranean macchia which is unique in the world, where each sunrise and sunset, the infinite of the sea truly reward me during my working days, spent in complete isolation from the rest of the world. I think a bit of myself as a Capuchin friar, who tends to his vegetable garden and devotes himself to his daily writings in complete silence only distracted, every now and then, by the sound of seagulls, by a grey-colored pigeon, by a large white heron with its orange beak. It's heart wrenching to know one day I'll have to leave my job and my home, the walls where I lived, in full harmony with the sea - at times calm, at times stormy - my own moods and feelings. It's horrible to say that technology will replace this job. It's horrible to think lighthouse keepers will no longer be needed. I said it to every single jour- nalist and TV I spoke to: never ever machines will be able to fully replace Man, especially in this type of job, which requires great care for both mechanical and electrical systems: toothed wheels gears need to be lubricat- ed almost every day, just like the lighthouse's electrical system, which needs daily maintenance. And then, there is the whole opti- cal part of the lighthouse: its crys- tals must be always clean. You write poetry and paint. How much do you think living in such an isolated yet beautiful place had a part in your becom- ing an artist? During my spare time, when I am not on service, I like to read, to write poems about my mood and about the colors of the sea: today it's blue, then emerald green, then again it changes and becomes silvery gray. Maybe it's the nature around me to inspire me, or the total solitude, or maybe it's this job so peculiar and unique, that so many envy me, that lets me time and space to think, write and create beautiful verses and beautiful thoughts. It lets me see the world as a beauti- ful place… What will you always keep in your heart of Punta Carena and of the years you spent here? Once this lovely mission ends, when I'll finally enjoy a deserved respite from work, I'll always keep in my eyes and heart those lights - 8 to be precise: 4 towards the sea, and 4 towards the main- land. I'll remember my sailor friends, who would sail into the summer night on small boats to fish squid. I'll think of the lam- pare of large fishing boats sailing along the Punta Carena in the late evening, or of that fisherman friend, who would thank me for the light he needed to return safe- ly home. One last thing, very simply. What will you miss, every morning and every day, about your lighthouse and your job? I'll miss the sunrises and the sunsets. Just there, where the day is born and where the day dies, places that leave a beautiful feel- ing in my heart, a feeling that says everything is life, everything is becoming, everything is beauty. The one thing that gives me hap- piness right now is to know that there's a lighthouse where I'm moving to, that very lighthouse I used to love when I was a child. I'll find my sea and the walls of my home, even if they'll never be as herculean as those of a light- house. Light, color and shapes on the crystals of the Punta Carena's lighthouse © Enrico Desiderio - Capri review The steps leading to the heart of the lighthouse: its lights © Enrico Desiderio - Capri review "Toothed wheels gears need to be oiled almost every day, " tells us D'Oriano © Enrico Desiderio - Capri review D'Oriano worked for decades for the Italian Port Authority before becoming a lighthouse keeper in 2005. Photo courtesy Carlo D'Oriano NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4

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