Bohemia's meadows and forests

In its issue dated yesterday, Time magazine honored Czech hydrologist Josef Křeček as one of 36 European heroes. Křeček was chosen for his environmental efforts in North Bohemia. The Czech media jumped on the story, mainly because Křeček is virtually unknown in his home country. The Czech media were less enthusiastic about a story Time ran 10 pages away. Time explored the recent wave of self-immolations in the CR. One of the victims left a note saying he was protesting the "so-called democratic system where not people, but money and power, rule." Life on this earth is indeed frustrating and challenging at times, but we can't help thinking that if that young man had waited a few weeks for spring to arrive and had taken a stroll through the divine Bohemian countryside that Křeček has been trying to protect, he might have found that life is worth living.