The
stain is still there.
I
have to say I think it looks quite artistic.
Given my interest in what might loosely be called Modern Art, it is
amazing how many isms, movements, happenings, installations, genres, and
categories my gestural wine-inspired-broken-bottled artwork fits. I am mostly impressed that it seems to have
certain anthropomorphic elements, and I feel that in its lightly silhouetted
form there is a certain reference to Michelangelo’s sculptural Dying Slave
series or even elements of a Pieta. Bear
in mind when you look at this stain/artwork that it is on a pavement, and it is
only the fact that I have rotated the image that makes it appear as though it
is on a wall. I would emphasise that The
Stain is a result of an accident and not my hurling the bottle at some wall in
an excess of snobbery at the quality of the wine!
It
has now survived one whole day.
Normally, in July, here in Catalonia, I would be fairly confident that
it could survive the whole summer, but this month, so far, has been a trifle frisky as far as the
weather is concerned. I mean it is sunny
at the moment, but we have had pesky clouds filtering and dulling the normal
direct sunlight that we have come to expect from summer months. Still, even with the element of unpredictability,
I think that my work will adorn the pavement for some time to come!
-o0O0o-
Even
after all the time that I have spent in Catalonia, I am still confused by house
numbers. The lack of discernable logic
in that you would expect from numbering, that is, as part of its essential
nature, sequential, is often lacking in this part of the world. Even the even numbers on one side or the road
and odd on the other is not always strictly adhered to and expecting 14 to be
opposite 13 is very often something of a long shot in some parts of the town.
So
really I only have myself to blame for trying to go to a ‘Medical Centre’ in a
block of private flats. In my defence
the flats did have the number that I was looking for and there was no
indication of anything else that would fit.
So I attempted to get in.
This
was a problem as none of the buzzers had a number remotely like the ‘door’
number I had been given for my open appointment for a retina scan. Eventually, a Little Old Lady emerged as a
result (I assumed) of my knocking. I was
wrong, and it was merely a coincidence that she emerged when she did. However, I marched in and found myself
confronted by another locked door. The
Little Old Lady had, by this time exited the building and I was left wondering
what my next step was going to be. While
I was pondering the Little Old Lady reappeared and was clutching a ring of
keys. She then, ineffectually, tried to
open the inner door and eventually gave the keys to me. I opened it at once, to her delight and I
went through and the Little Old Lady immediately disappeared again.
Up
some rather dim and foreboding stairs to a series of doors that were numbered
up to 5. Not 9 - that was the door that
I was looking for. Further exploration
to higher floors revealed that the layout and numbering was exactly the
same. No 9.
Having
found a light switch, which merely helped to illuminate the lack of the
requisite door, I stumbled my way down the stairs (the light having gone off)
and decided to exit and explore.
Where,
of course, I found that a completely separate building next to the block of
flats had a humiliatingly large sign telling me that the medical facility I
needed was the one that I had ignored in favour of the unprepossessing domestic
door that I had chosen as the appropriate entrance to my destination.
Door
9 found. No response. The gum-chewing receptionist that I had been
told to ignore told me to wait, which I did for a very short period of time
before I was whisked out of a crowded waiting room and into a machine-stuffed
consulting room.
I
think that the only difference with this retina scan from others that I have
had with an ordinary optician was this one was lined to a computer. Ditto the ultra sound scan of my eyes that I
had. Although this one was accompanied
by smearing my eyelids with some sort of cream and then moving a scanner
pressing onto the skin of my lids. In no
way was it painful, but in no way was it pleasant either.
I
know have to wait until tomorrow for the full results of the scans, but the
doctor was able to reassure me that things looked normal. Which of course begs the question of why a
small piece of translucent gauze seems to sweep its way across my eye from time
to time. Research (i.e. putting a phrase
into Google) revealed that what I am suffering from is a part of ageing,
especially of those with short sight.
The advice and treatment seemed to be of the “get used to it” approach
because all of the surgical interventions seemed almost barbarically horrific. But as I have been more-or-less irritated
with my eyes and my eyesight for the last sixty years of my life, I am sure it
is something I can get used to living with.
And anyway the relief at finding out that it is nothing more than
normal-ish ageing is reward enough to be going on with for the moment!
-o0O0o-
As
today is Tuesday, it is The Card Place for lunch. The Card Place is of course notable for
having nothing to do with cards, the designation is merely a reference to the
long and distant past when the restaurant was under a different owner. Nowadays each Tuesday is our opportunity to
recognize the quality and value of the food that we invariably get there! The name of the restaurant is Restaurante Els Fogons de L’Avia,
Carrer Antic Camí Ral de València, 38, 08860 here in Castelldefels. In our opinion this is the best value for
money in town and well worth trying. An
extra inducement for my patronage is that I get a personally mixed sauce to
accompany my meal whose spiciness is well beyond the normal Spanish range of
acceptability. It is the sort of spicy
sauce that augments the food without hiding it in pain! Delicious!
-o0O0o-
Still
no final result from my Open University Spanish course. The release date for the results is the 19th
of July, so still a week officially, but the results usually get to use before
the stated date. I keep checking my
emails!
-o0O0o-
Meanwhile,
if you want to enter my little competition to guess the date by which The Stain
will have disappeared from the footpath over the motorway, do contact me with
your estimate and your email address.
There will be a prize for the person nearest!
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