30.11.2018 - Malga Laghetto (Lavarone), November 13th 2017, 2.00 am Damiano, the forest ranger, is the first to shout with a phone call to Isacco, the mayor of Lavarone: “Our Avez has fallen!”
Whenever there was a thunderstorm or a heavy snowfall Damiano used to go and check the conditions of the Avez tree. That day, he drove fast to Malga Laghetto and noticed a hole in the woods where the Avez was located… the foliage was missing. He prayed until the last moment and hoped it was a vain con-cern, but he knew what happened. He ran along the trail taking to the tree… he feared what he might have found.
The strong wind of November 13th led to the fall of our beloved Prince tree Avez del Prinzep. All the community was shocked. The tree survived a lot of storms and it was given for granted that it would been there always.
The truth is that nature was eating it from the inside; the anthill (ants of the genus camponotus) that attacked the decay part of the tree was fought for years. The age, the decay and the anthill made it less stable. The tests made the year before revealed though that the tree was still healthy and strong.
In the end... even the giants fall. And like a crying that creates an echo in the mountains, Damiano’s phone call turned into a whirlwind of text messages, posts, phone calls.
Our Prince fell… The Avez is no longer there… The giant has fallen… Farewell to the king of firs…
Sadness and a deep sense of loneliness are not common feelings arising from a tree fall… The disappearance of our Prince though led to this shared emotion among the community.
Like with the deepest affections we try to give meaning to emptiness, aware of the fact that time is a tyrant, and that what remains must be protected. Thoughts and ideas are not lacking and from a meeting around a desk comes the future. Today, Damiano collects the seeds left on the ground and tries to sow the seeds of the heirs of the Avez. He is also in charge of the cutting, drying and storage operations.
The remains of the trunk left on the ground are going to be protected by a transparent cover, the rests will be transformed into many objects to finance the path of the giants and safeguard other monumental plants of Alpe Cimbra. The story of the fate of the Avez del Prinzep is only at the beginning...
Hidden mysteries!
The name “Avez del Prinzep” – the Price tree - is related to the legends of the mountain. The tradition implied that every Cimbrian mayor used to receive a tree. People narrate that the fir tree was given to the burgomaster of Luserna, whose surname was “Nicolussi Principe” (Preincipe means in English Prince) from which it got the name. Other stories tell that the tree was called the Prinzep – the prince – because it was the most beautiful, majestic and strongest fir tree of the forest where other giant firs grew. Fairy tales and legends intertwine. There are those who believe in them and those who don’t.
Like Damiano, who doesn’t believe in what he sees every time he is looking at the outcomes of the cutting process of the Avez tree: goblins, dragons, bears, forest animals, the moon and other figures seem to be drawn on the wood cuts… there is no doubt, the legends live in the wood as if the Prince tree keep them secretly inside through a strange and special alchemy. What else will we discover? We expect a happy ending like in the fairy tales!
