Rain?

I type this to the mellifluous sound of falling rain, which makes a startling contrast with the melodramatic storm that woke us up in the early morning.  The tempest stayed above us for some time with scores of lightning strikes and an almost constant growl of thunder punctuated by overstated crashes which shook the house!  The lashing rain which accompanied this disturbance has now settled down into a gentle plashing which perhaps heralds the official arrival of autumn.

I should imagine, given the rock hard quality of the sun-baked earth in this area, that there is considerable flooding in the area.  The drainage in the roads can cope with anything other than rain.  Anything damper than dust tends to overload the system leading to vast, picturesque lakes in the roads which make driving akin to being in an aquatic ride in a poorly maintained pleasure park.

This is the first real test for the cacti in their fairly recently planted containers.  They have had a fairly constant diet of sunshine and this will be their baptism as an introduction to the wetter weather of the autumn, winter and spring months.  It is at this point that I seem to recall not putting drainage holes in the containers so I hope that they can adjust to pond life!

Toni visited the doctor again yesterday and has been referred to a physio centre to which he should start going early next week.  His next scheduled doctor visit is in the middle of the week so we should know the prognosis by then.

Yesterday evening was a “catching up” time when I firstly met Caroline at a chiringuito near where I used to live.  This establishment’s days are surely numbered as it is getting near to the date when all of these bars by the sea are dismantled for the summer and put into storage to re-emerge in sunnier times to fleece the tourists.

Having taken Toni to the doctor and returned home I changed the car for the bike and pedalled my way down to the rendezvous.  What is a car trip of a few minutes becomes a somewhat more arduous bike journey – but one does feel that one has earned a drink by the time one has made it to a bar under, as it were, one’s own steam.  Which was visibly emanating from my personage by the time I got there!

Our chat was of the usual frenetic kind as we both dumped our news on each other.  We have made a pact that we will both start the ruta de tapa from the word go next year and meet in the food fair to delight in the comestibles that I missed out on this year.

When Caroline left I phoned Irene who had, just as I phoned, pulled into the street in which I used to live.  It therefore took me a couple of minutes to go from one meeting to the next and we were soon settled in the restaurant of the Basque and looking forward to the usual tasty food that we have always had there.

Another lengthy chat and I was ready for home – but I had forgotten that I had brought my bike and so had to make an effort to get home.  In the dark as the workings of my dynamo are still as a closed book to me.

It has now stopped raining but it is still overcast.  I am prepared to tolerate this untoward weather for a day, but I do expect better tomorrow.