Spanish views from a small town

This year is so nefarious, it's even bad for crops. There's precious little fruit, whether in home gardens, or even in supermarkets. We have apple and pear trees that other years were bowed down with fruit, as well as orange trees that were growing little round green oranges. This year they're empty. A neighbor down the road has plum trees with boughs hanging onto the road. Last year, I would pick a couple to eat as I finished my walk, fighting with the birds for the ripest ones of the bough. This year, even the birds were hard put to find one ripe plum. Even fruit in supermarkets is missing in action. Other years, I would buy red plums that were juicy and sweet. This year, they have no juice, and the sweetness is a memory. There are fewer, too, and pricier. A local plum, the mirabelle, appeared one week in one supermarket, and I haven't seen it since. The mirabelle plum is a plum the size of a large cherry, yellow with reddish tints. It has a tiny stone you can spi...