Spanish views from a small town

Hearing yesterday that Santiago might be closed because of the rise of contagion there, I decided to go to a pet store to buy the kitty litter I use (a very large bag that has a very good quality-price ratio), and in the meantime, buy some flowers to arrange bouquets for the cemeteries. Despite the high infection rate, the Praza de Abastos, the marketplace, was not empty. There were plenty of people shopping for their meat, fish, and green groceries. There were also lines at one of the florists there. But she was charging three euros for each rose, so I left and went in search of a couple of other florists I remembered.  It turned out that one had closed and the stall had been converted into something touristy and closed at the moment, and the other had retired. That left a green grocer selling chrysanthemum plants, and another florist that had recently opened. Roses there were at a decent (!) two euros each, and the plant was cheaper than cut mums. However, today I still returned ...

It is definitely getting cooler now. Today I had to wear jeans, my normal winter clothing, and put aside my lightweight pants. I also had to wear a t-shirt with a shirt over it, because it was quite chilly. The leaves on the vineyard are almost all yellow, and starting to tumble to the ground. Now, there's more light at the back of the house, under the arbor. The fruit has gone, except a few, recalcitrant grapes, and the feijoas that are falling to the ground. Fall has definitely installed itself. It's time to start thinking about the flowers for All Saint's Day, and All Soul's Day. Every year, I order some arrangements to take to the cemeteries, and make some others myself. Every year, I keep forgetting until the middle of October to put in my order with the local florist. This year, I am too late. He told me he wasn't taking any more orders because he's not hiring helpers this year, thanks to the virus. Unfortunately, my husband told me that other florists are...

Today is All Saints' Day, tomorrow All Souls' Day. It's the day of taking flowers to the cemetery, and visiting those who have gone. The week before is also the week of cleaning and scrubbing, getting ready for the visits. The day before is the day of rearranging schedules to be able to get everything done. Monday I bought some roses and white chrysanthemums to make a floral arrangement to put in the niche where my parents are. Cemeteries here are the opposite of how we live. In rural Spain most people live in individual houses. When they die, they move to apartment block cemeteries. Each apartment house, or panteón , has between three and five flats, or niches. Sometimes two people share an apartment, but mostly they are singly occupied. This is because there are no rolling fields or hills upon which to keep spreading a cemetery like in the U.S. I remember visiting Forest Hills Cemetery near our house in Boston, and that was full of winding avenues and trees, like a very...