Local elections are still more than a year away, but new hopes are already brewing in Motovun. At first I, too, was swept by the news that several young people are planning to form an independent party, which would perhaps have a chance against the “establishment,” but I am starting to wonder upon hearing of the possible candidates for the new endeavor. Some of them are recent defectors from the two existing parties, which have vied for power ever since Croatian independence. Or well before. They are old hats, as it were. Although their gripes may be perfectly valid, it is difficult to imagine them offering anything but the usual. The main problem is the size of the electorate, of course. Too few people. Too many old hats, as well. And yet, there is no way around them in such a small community. To wit, it is time to suspend disbelief once again, and side with those who offer new hopes, no matter how slight they may eventually turn out to be. Pessimism will get us nowhere, anyway. Or so I keep repeating to myself well ahead of the game, which I can already see and smell and hear and touch, as though I have lived in Motovun all my life. Nay, longer.