This photo is of Lu Wei, a friend who lives in Beijing and with whom I shared the crazy and unforgettable days during the last trip to China. Iron is a strange material. It 'an important raw material. It 's the basis of virtually all the machines that man has conceived. Yet, by itself, does not serve anything at all. It rusts in contact with air, it is not tough, not hard, does not take the wire. Alone is useless.
But just add a bit of carbon, a small percentage by weight, and is transformed into steel. Still rusty, but the most interesting mechanical properties. And even if you add chromium, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, copper, lead, ... we obtain steels with amazing properties, which can withstand heavy loads, or chemical attack very powerful. And the steel technology is still evolving, constantly creating new families by the features even better.
Why this preamble metal? Why Yesterday I was at the Museum of Iron, in fact. It was so long that I wanted to go there and, thanks to an alert on a person who knows me well, I was able to attend the inauguration of the museum after restoration, together with my grandfather.
The old building in San Bartolomeo has been completely renovated, bringing efficiency in the hammer, forge fueled by trome idroeoliche (you know what is this?) And the water wheel to produce electricity. The inauguration was attended by many personalities more or less known of the jet set Brescia professors, political, religious, industrial. My impression is that very few people would be there for the museum or iron. Many were because thing were there, or be seen, or to meet those who were there to be seen. I was there because it was an opportunity to establish a link with the past, with those who have lived in these areas before me, laying with their own ingenuity, then the foundations of an economy that has turned into one of the most Brescia shining technology industry. And all this without any nuance or celebratory mythicized are just fascinated by human ingenuity, in all its forms, despite being well aware of the limits that the pattern of development set in the early 900 was carrying. Limits with which perhaps we are just at this time to come to terms.
The museum is beautiful and interesting and Board all a visit takes only 15 minutes. But this is not what I would tell. What struck me most was my grandfather. Many have recognized Peter. A lot. The waiters catering, politicians, industrialists, journalists and photographers. And everyone had a greeting, a word, a pat on the back for him. What to look calm and serene as always, clear, just a little 'lost, sometimes acknowledged, and told a story many years ago, sometimes did not recognize or could not remember and only smiled.
I always knew that he had the good fortune of having a great grandfather, but every time I catch myself. A humble, gentle, but determined and safe, with few ideals, but such balances. Many people have told me that the museum has always been generous, even in difficulties, even when there was nothing for anyone. And he said, with gratitude and affection which went beyond the words that were in the looks they had for him. Yet its uniqueness lies not in what was or what he did. Who knows how many men born after the war and who have lived through reconstruction, fance maybe just the waiters like him have spent a lifetime comparable to his own adventures with more or less similar. What fascinates me and moves me is the ' humanity with which he always placed facing each other, whoever he was. His innate talent to speak to the hearts of people, sometimes even without words. The ability to establish immediate contacts deep and true, beyond any opinion or way of life and any social barrier. The fact of leaving a mark, almost a message, tap all with whom he had to do, for whatever reason, overcoming prejudice and going straight to the essence of man.
He, like me, like everyone else, is made of iron. But in his pasta also has many other noble elements and proportions right, and this makes him a special person. I hope that he has inherited some of its capabilities. I will certainly try to always have it in mind as a model and inspiration, trying to be a bit too 'special. To be not just an iron man.
ENRICO
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