O canto do vento 35Preserve not only the memory but also what (still) exists
It took a little time between the train whistle, warning we were getting to the train
station, and Mr. Silva’s crowded car that would drive us to Atafona.
I looked at the car of the 40‘s and thought: how can all of this get inside, plus three children
and my parents? But the driver said: “it’s all set, let’s go because it is a long journey!” And it
really was. We faced a storm on the way, the windschield wiper stopped working. The driver
spread cigarette smoking to make the water flow easily, and happiness made us arrive at
Atafona.
Atafona, the region of the far sea and the burned feet soles, of the stolen eggs
from the neighborhood (mom made us give them back), of my father’s checkers game on
the Penha church steps, of the vendors selling everything in donkey baskets in the morning,
of the kites we used to fly at the end of the evening by the Paraiba river, of the Atafona/São
João da Barra road, and the “cat’s eye” seeds that we used to pick up while dad watched
how the asphalt grew per day.
Then came the 1971 Kombi, that my father drived on Sundays to take his three
children to Grussaí. Despite the long journey, we always stopped at Cajueiro so he could
buy three pineapples produced right there, “sweet as sugar” and he peeled them with a very
sharp knife and cut “slices” to distribute among us. We were always rushing off his feet to
get to the beach as soon as possible!
When the first surinam cherries trees were seen...that’s it! We were in Grussaí. We
got off the car and each of us ran to a different side to eat as many fruits as we could get as
fast as possible. Dad always walked fast towards the sea! And the sea was far from where
the car stopped.
But it was beautyful: the three of us “sucking” surinam cherries and running
towards the sea! Running, laughing, feeling the sound of the wind in the casuarinas, no
houses around, only the Restinga, hot sand and chameleons, which ran away when we
approached the surinam cherry trees!
And there was the sea! And a huge history with the Grussaí Restinga continues to
happen... After I knew “the inside Grussaí” that few people knew. I began to hear stories of
the first Restinga house construction in Grussaí and many other stories under a chestnut
tree, until the day I built my own house. I learned that Grussahy (as it was written in the old
days), could have been “Guruçá aí” called by the elder. Guruçá or “waiting-tide” is a crab that
has a square shell and a creamy white color, found on the coast of Brazil, living in holes
above the high tide line on sandy beaches.
I swear I did not see the time pass, as I was busy with so many things... But one
day I noticed that condos were arousing and surinam cherry trees slowly disappearing... but
no the “inside Grussaí”! This refuge was saved! But the real estate pressure also knocked
down this relic!
For my joy life lead me to know
Caruara, so-called by the Restinga lovers.
I could not believe what I saw. There are
untouched Restiga forest spaces, and
according to the guides reports, nobody
knows them yet. After visiting Caruara for
a whole year, I could register plant species
with gorgeous flowers, exotic fruits,
exuberant and unusual trees that have their
time to show up. I met lagoons, marshes,
areas with white sand that only Restinga
has. The sound of nothing, the wind sound,
the sound of Restinga... The scorching
sun during the day hides red, yellow and
gray when the afternoon falls. A fantastic
spectacle!
We do not feel the day passing in
Restinga. But we need to see the Restinga
and fight so that it will not fade. That is
the reason of this book, that tries to keep
the memory of a Restinga that is almost
disappearing, and on the other hand a
small contribution to make public the need
to preserve the Restinga range that still
remains between Iquipari and Açu, and
is being maintained in Caruara Reserve. I
am delighted with all kinds of plants, and
tried to register and study together with
my partners in this book 38 Restinga plant
species, its flowers and fruits. But we think
we should also show Grussaí’s restinga
pictures of the past and include a chapter
“Letters to the Restinga” to make people
remember the several generations who
lived in this unique land. This is a book of
love to the Restinga and a clamor for its
preservation!