Spanish views from a small town

Yesterday afternoon a cold front came raging through. Rain was thrown against the windows, and the wind drove it in under the front door. It was one of the most miserable days yet this winter. Nor could we stay home. There were things to be done outside; life had to continue, even though wet. Toward evening, though, clouds broke up and the wind died down. The calm was upon us. Not for the electric cables supplying us with light. Some hours after the storm, the lights went out. We were given enough time to find candles with flashlights waving beams of light into darkened, suddenly unfamiliar rooms. As soon as we lit the first candle, the lights came back on. Fine, put the candles away. A few minutes later, it happened again. This time we got to light a candle and a parrafin lamp before the blessed light returned. Just in case, though, we left the candles out this time. Good, because the third time was the definitive.  With five candles and two parrafin lamps we could see what we...

Days are getting shorter now we're past the midway mark of August. It's almost a quarter past ten and the sky is a gradient of blue, navy up above and turquois at the horizon. Back in June the sun would be just touching the horizon at this hour.  Already the night is turning cool. A month ago you could still feel the heat of the day at this hour. Now it's cool enough to put on a sweater to sit outside under the yellow glow of the streetlight. A little later on I'll start to close windows to avoid having a chill breeze settle over me as I try to sleep. The blanket on the bed is welcome now and some nights I'm thinking of piling on another one. Today was a beautiful day, but the past couple of weeks have been cool and rainy. The house hasn't accumulated as much heat as usual this year.  In the morning the sun comes up later and makes it harder to get up earlier. In June the sky was light around six. Now at seven it's still grey. I feel sleepier later in th...