Thanks to Brexit I went to Texas...

Exactly one year ago I was flying from Italy to S. Antonio, Texas via Frankfurt and Washington DC... and all this thanks to Brexit. How so ?|

I have a little obsession for a little unusual place in the UK, a place that I want to visit sometime in the future, this place being the Isles of Scilly . In June 2023 on a lazy Sunday afternoon I was just thinking about that place and realized that, after Brexit, I, as an Italian, need a passport to go there! So I got my expired passport and started the boring process to renew it.

To renew it in Italy you need to book (online) an appointment to a Commissariato / Questura  (basically a  Police station, different  names depending on its size)  bring with you old passport, a couple of recent pics, receipt of two separate state tax/tariff, your id and so on. I got my appointment quite fast, booked in June for... September 8 (sometimes you wait a year or more). Ok, I'll wait September, I'm not in a rush.

In July a couple friends announced they were going... to Texas, in mid October to... watch the 14 October annular eclipse and planning / scouting for the April 2024 total eclipse. They asked around if anyone else wanted to go with them. I said "I do!" as the budget for this trip was way lower than the one for the total one. So in September 8 when i went to the Commissariato I brought with me my flight tickets to ask for an "expedite" process as I had to fly out on October 12.  Thanks to that I had my new shining passport on October 8... Just in time to apply for my ESTA.

Having a flight early in the morning (something like 9 am) I decided not to sleep the night before as I had to get into my car a little past 4:30 am and again that was a lucky choice, At around 2 am I was trying to add the last details to my (already approved) ESTA, details like where I would be staying but I wasn't successful and expertly cursed the website . So I sent a worried message to the friend that was in charge of booking the hotels/airbnb... he should have been sleeping as he had another, later flight but he was suffering from insomnia and answered me at 3 am with full details. Ddetails that I was asked to provide the following morning in Frankfurt by USA security desk  before/for boarding the USA bound flight.

All in all.. as I said i went to Texas thanks to Brexit.
 

Slowly going up

It's still dark when the bus stops in front of the minuscule train station and she starts doubting again that being there it's not a good idea. Someone, in his need to get down at this stop decides for her pushing her gently toward the doors. Surprised, she just get off the bus and keeps going forward, passed by more determined former bus passengers, stopping just before entering the station itself. After a couple deep breaths she turns around and looks at the village square for the first time in a little more than twenty years.

It's so early and cold only a few places are open: the greengrocer (he is unloading fresh fruit and veggies from his truck), the newsstand, the bar and the station seems to be the only places alive. But something else is alive here: the sea. She hasn't been near the sea since when she lived here, hasn't listened to it, hasn't smelled it, hasn't seen it. Yes, she had her eyes closed for the last hour of the bus ride, she wanted her village sea to be the first sea she saw.

Pushing her backpack up she moves toward the promenade, she had a few hours to spend down here before she could go up, up there. So she sits on a bench on the promenade, well, on the new one as this isn't the one she remembers, they did renovate it: wider, surely nicer, but still not the one she is used to, one of the many things she wasn't used to she had to adapt in the last few years.  So she sits there, on a new unfamiliar bench, far away from the harbour where some of the older fishermen may still recognize her. She sits there, looking at the sea or at her tennis shoes, trying not to think too much about things she can't change anymore. The life she hears behind her is almost the same as twenty years ago, some people going the bar - newsstand - station route, a greetings there a joke here, others, mostly women, visiting, chatting and gossiping with the greengrocer or in the shops that opened in the meantime. For a few minutes the chaos kids going to the nearby school naturally brings with them fills the square. Many cellphone ringing here and there the biggest difference from her memories.

The pale winter sun is finally high enough to have warmed her up a little and the square is now almost empty after the early morning rush. She pats her legs awake, get up, tugs her coat, secure her wool hat on her head and her almost empty backpack on her shoulder, exhale and then she starts her slow climb.
She try to keep her eyes down, she walked and run up and down these small streets so many times, alone or in good company, even when she wasn't here, that she don't really need to see the street to climb it and then, then there is nothing nice for her to see now. All the windows closed, the smaller pots no more on the sills, the bigger ones just empty: the cold winter defeated them all.
She reach the little church, and find it closed. The old priest, her only contact with the village died a several years ago and the new one had no reason to really keep up the only correspondence she had. She still stops there, resting her right hand on the old wooden door. She knew the priest wouldn't be there today but still hoped to find the little church open, to pray there again while listening to the sea. After a couple minutes she get back to her climb.
It takes her little time to reach the gate of the white house, she stops there and, slowly, she gets out a  letter from her backpack and starts reading it. She really has no need to read it, she know it by heart, it is the reason she came here today.

Giovanni wrote her, again. He finally found Granny's pink brooch, the only thing she asked of Granny's things after she died a few months ago, and to invite her for her first grandchildren christening, still sad and wondering why she didn't came to his wedding and Granny's funeral.
Ad that's why she was there today, in front of her old house, sure the door key will be in the second pot on the left window, sure that there will be no one home. Because she didn't want, she didn't deserve to meet her son Giovanni or his wife Anna and even more so she didn't deserve to see her grandchildren being christened Antonio in that same moment. Little poor Antonio that would never meet his namesake grandfather, her husband Antonio that she killed twentytwo years ago.

This is obviously a sequel to Running to the sea... these past days/weeks, while I wanted to write something I had no idea what to write but today i reread that and finally got an idea...

At pier's end

This come to my mind abruptly, today, and had to be written.


At pier's end


I can see her, she's on the pier, like many times before tonight, past the boats resting in the marina, past the empty benches, she's at pier's end. She can't or does't want to see me.
She came here after our last quarrel, the last one of a long series. I will not say that she's the one being wrong, not always at least.
She often comes here when she need some quiet time, after our quarrels to calm down or just when she need to think. She often said me she loves to look at the sea, wondering what is or could be hidden under the waves.
She seems tired, panting like after a great struggle, like she carried here more than the nasty words we traded at home.
I should know, i'm just floating toward the seabed, a kitchen knife in my chest, at pier's end.

The letter and (sad) spirit of the law

Someway today i was bitten by the writing bug, that was while driving home from saturday shopping... so i've spent the afternoon reading a little about how U.K, law are formatted and writing this..

Part one: the letter of the law.

Muggle Children Future Protection Act 1904

An Act to make provision for the welfare and future of muggleborn minors and the recognition of the parental authority of their muggle relatives and guardians; to make provision for a complete knowledge of the new society their charges enter and let them make an informed decision about their future; to make provision for the consequences of said decision.

Be it enacted by the King most excellent Majesty and with the advice of the Lords Magical and Spirituals and the Wizengamot, in this present assembled and by the authority of the same, as follows.

1. Muggle parental authority recognition and rationale of the law
   1. The Wizard Society recognizes the parental authority of muggle parents or guardians as legally appointed (from now known as Parental Figures) over muggleborn minors. Until the minor is of age the Parental Figures have the final word in their charges life choices.
   2. The age considered to establish the minor status is the one established by Wizard laws for Wizard and Witches.
   3. To exercise their right Parental Figures need to know not only how the Wizard Society works but, even more, how their charges are adapting and integrating. This body recognize that many muggleborn minors often omit and hide a great part of their experiences from their Parental Figures.
      
      
      
2. Wizard Inspection of Full Experience
   1. A procedure to give a precise and complete knowledge of the current wizard life of muggleborn minors to his or her Parental Figures and let them decide on the Minor stay in Wizard Society is created as stated by the following provisions:
   2. The procedure will be known as “Wizard Inspection of Full Experience”, in short W.I.F.E.
   3. The W.I.F.E. execution shall make use of extreme security procedures and provisions as it will determine the entire future and well being of a minor.
   4. The parties involved in the execution of W.I.F.E. are:
      1. The muggle Parental Figure (or Figures) requiring said W.I.F.E. execution ;
      2. The muggleborn Minor for which the W.I.F.E. execution is required
      3. A Representative for the Ministry of Magic.
      4. A Potion Master qualified for the administration of Veritaserum as mandated by the Veritaserum Act of 1502
   5. Any muggle Parental Figure may require, at any time, the execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure for any muggleborn Minor he or she is in charge of. Said request shall be addressed to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, to the attention of the Underage Affairs Office.
   6. Acknowledging that said Parental Figures may not be proficient with wizard communication means and could find difficulties in reaching the Ministry by wizard means, that request for the execution of W.I.F.E. will be accepted by said office in the widest way as for the medium and wording of the request, being those of wizard or muggle origin.
   7. Any other Ministry department receiving a communication that could be considered a W.I.F.E. procedure request shall reroute said request to the Underage Affairs Office and shall not refuse or discard said it.
   8. The Underage Affairs Office worker in charge of the W.I.F.E. execution shall name a Ministry Representative.
   9. The Representative shall act as go-between between the muggle Parental Figures and the muggleborn Minor to better the understanding by said Parental Figures of the new society the Minor is becoming part of during the execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure.
   10. The Underage Affairs Office worker may name any able adult wizard or witch subject to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland law as Ministry Representative. As in most cases the Minor will be a student at some magical school it is suggested that the Representative should be the Parental Figure of a classmate of said Minor.
   11. The Underage Affair Office worker shall name the Potion Master in charge of the Veritaserum use.
   12. If not already Ministry Officials, the Representative and the Potion Master shall sign a Non Disclosure Agreement to not divulge anything learned during the proceeding of the W.I.F.E execution and to respect any decision the Parental Figures will make.
   13. The Underage Affairs Office shall schedule for the W.I.F.E. execution within 30 (thirty) working days of the reception of the request and shall promptly notify the parties involved.
   14. The notification to the muggle Parental Figures shall be made by muggle means.
   15. The notification to the muggleborn Minor shall be charmed with a compulsion charm keyed to the age of the Minor to ensure the collaboration of said Minor to the execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure.
       
       
       
3. Execution of the W.I.F.E procedure.
   1. The execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure shall be performed in a warded room in the Ministry of Magic in any of its current venues. The ward should bar any magic but potions and any form of physical harm in said room.
   2. Before entering the designated room the Minor shall surrender his or her wand to the Representative for the duration of the W.I.F.E. procedure.
   3. The Representative shall explain to the Minor and to the Parental Figures the nature of the W.I.F.E. procedure and how full disclosure to the Parental Figures will only be in the Minor future and well being interest.
   4. The Potion Master shall examine the Minor to establish and administer the lowest dose of Veritaserum needed by the Minor as for the Veritaserum Act of 1502. During the following questioning the Potion Master shall keep checking the Minor health for any adverse effect by the serum.
   5. The Potion Master shall ask the Minor if he or she is in posses of any potion and shall establish if said potions may pose a threat to the execution of the W.I.F.E procedure. Should dangerous potion be unveiled the Potion Master shall destroy them immediately.
   6. The muggle Parental Figures and only the muggle Parental Figures may proceed to ask questions to the muggleborn Minor. The Representative may suggests questions to the muggle Parental Figures.
   7. Only when the Parental Figures declare to have concluded their questioning the Representative shall ask one question to the Minor, this question being: “Are there any experiences in your stay in Wizard Society that you haven't mentioned to them, today or in any other occasion, that could influence in any way the decision of your Parental Figures ?”. This question may be reworded in any way the Representative believe would be better understood by the Minor. After the Minor answers the Parental Figures may ask more questions.
   8. Due to the potential length of the questioning, but at the undisputed judgment of the Potion Master, supplemental doses of Veritaserum may be administered to the Minor.
   9. Once the questioning is terminated the Potion Master shall administer the Veritaserum Antidote and examine the Minor for any adverse effect.
   10. Once the questioning is terminated the Parental Figures shall be left alone with the Minor in the warded room where they shall come to a decision regarding the future of the Minor stay in Wizard society.
   11. The decision have to be made inside that room to protect the Parental Figures by inconsiderate actions by the Minor were said Minor should not recognize the wisdom of the Parental Figures decision.
   12. Once made their decision the Parental Figures shall inform the Representative of their decision.
       
       
       
4. Conclusion of the W.I.F.E. procedure
1. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue his or her life inside the Wizard Society the Minor will be so permitted.
2. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue his or her life inside the Wizard Society the Representative shall return the wand to the Minor.
3. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue its life inside the Wizard Society the costs of the Veritaserum and its antidote shall be on their account. If the Potion Master is not a Ministry employee his or her honorary shall be on their account.
4. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue its life inside the Wizard Society they have the option to ask for the Minor to be obliviated of all the W.I.F.E. execution procedure.
5. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to leave the Wizard society they shall choose how the leaving will be performed as for the Renounce to Magic Law of 1203. The Representative shall help the Parental Figures to choose in the interest of the Minor future. Accounting for the age of minors the suggested solution shall be complete obliviation as for provision 5.3 of the Renounce to Magic Law of 1203.
6. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to leave the Wizard society they may choose to be obliviated of any experience and contact they ever had with the Wizard society as an alternative they may ask to be Imperiused to never reveal the existence of Wizard Society.
7. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to leave the Wizard society any procedure costs will be on Ministry account.
8. The Representative shall report in writing the proceedings of the W.I.F.E. execution to the Underage Affairs Office worker in charge of the procedure within 2 (two) working days.
9. In observance of the “Ministry Worker Regulation Act” of 1644 Representatives are reminded that in the report shall be registered every action any person subject to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wizard law that can considered a crime for further investigation.
10. If the decision was for removing the Minor from Wizardry Society minor infractions to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wizard laws by the Minor shall be condoned in sight of his or her future life long absence from Wizardry Society.
11. If the decision was for removing the Minor from Wizardry Society the Representative shall surrender the Minor's wand to the Underage Affairs Office worker in charge of the procedure for its destruction within 2 (two) working days.

Part two: the (sad) spirit of the law.

Coming home from work in late June Emma and Dan Granger found a quite heavy envelope in their mailbox, Its sender was stated as the "Underage Affair Office".

It was quite an inconspicuous designation but they knew its origin, it came straight out from the Ministry, the Ministry of Magic and it could be the solution of all of their recent concerns about their only daughter.

Already in her first year at Hogwarts, in this incredible and almost unreal Wizardry society they suspected she was lying to them. Just after two months of school, starting around Halloween of that first year, her letters became colder, more guarded and almost standardized. They were sure something big happened but the extraordinary answer they got "I've made two friends, they are great!" would not have been the reason for such changes, or at least not if she just got a couple, ok, her first couple of friends, instead of doing something big, big and wrong with them.

Each month, letter and year was worse and now after her third year at Hogwarts they were absolutely sure that she was hiding something, not just something but a lot and this was driving them crazy and desperate for answers, for the truth!

A couple weeks ago they found themselves reminiscing about a little leaflet, almost hidden in that life changing letter she received three years ago, the letter that changed their life. They went to their home office and found it in Hermione's school related folder: it was a brief explanation, strangely almost in faded black ink while the rest of the letter was bright and colorful explaining about a way to insure that muggle Parental Figures (that would be them) could really know how the life of their charges in Wizardry Society was. They needed to know, they could accept magic, they could accept they daughter not becoming a dentist but they could not accept their daughter becoming a liar!

So they wrote the request for the W.I.F.E. procedures and mailed it to the 64423 PO box, London.

It seemed that the Ministry of Magic worked fast, as the letter was a summon to the Ministry itself, Underage Affair Office, level 5, room 5017 where the W.I.F.E. would be held in a couple days.

"Ok Dan, could you give Hermione her summon, please and tell her the Representative is Lucius Malfoy"

The Paradox

I'm seated alone in a big light grey couch, in front of an unlit fireplace and a led tv above it, in a luxurious cabin in the wood between mountains, with the front wall made almost only by glass.  Depressed by the recent news about the attacks in Paris, reflecting on the nature of humankind i stay there, motionless for some time in the little light dawn is spreading around. With a sight I turn on the tv without really watching it, but in a few minutes a new special edition of the news starts and with some trepidation i give it some attention.
But it is not about Paris, it is not about more death, alien spaceships are quickly approaching earth.

I'm now on a hill, near the city the alien spaceships decided to approach and with the few others that have the ability to fly on our own we start to fly toward the the city.
From the long sharp ships a couple little (in comparison to the ships) vehicles depart.
They are something halfway between advertising balloons and airships and are en route to the city center, where a lot of skyscraper and narrow streets, just a few meters larger than those vehicles are, dominate the city-scape.
I arrive flying in the city just as one of those airships gets trapped in one of the streets. The vehicle is so soft that not even a window of the building it touch is broken, but still the airship comes to a stop.

A couple aliens, very human-like but still different enough to feel alien, exit the airship and enter the otherwise unoccupied and a little run down building through one of the window.
I've entered the building, probably from an open window on the upper levels as I'm now going downstairs to reach the aliens. Suddenly i stop and sit on the stairs and start crying big fat tears, silently sobbing and gulping down each breath.
After a while one of the aliens, a male if you stick to human standards, reach me from the lower floors. He stops and looks at me, before having to answer some communication device and i someway know he is speaking to his father (that is also his commander) that is bothering him for some reason or another. I see/feel/know how annoyed he is by his strict father. Someway he dismiss him and look back at me, wondering and silently asking why I'm crying.
Between sobs i answer that I'm so happy, happy and relieved that i could meet them, that i was always sure that aliens existed but that i thought i would never be able to meet them, I try to explain him the Fermi Paradox. And i keep crying, even if we are now smiling at each other.


A. N.
This is mostly a dream i had just one or two days after the attacks in Paris in November 2015 that i had to write down and now found on my pc.
If you want to know how the alien looked like they were a gentler, less animalesque version of the Thundercats, basically humans with something feline in them.