Spanish views from a small town

Today is the 16th of July, and that means it's the celebration of the Virxe do Carme , or, the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel.  The story begins way back when, to end a drought, the prophet Elias promised God, that a local king, King Ajaab, and his people would abandon the praise of Baal. Every few days, Elias would visit Mount Carmel, and one day, he saw a small cloud the size of his palm that brought rain. After that, a shrine was created, and the Order of the Carmelites established. The Virgin Mary got implicated through a vision in the thirteenth century, to one of those Carmelite priests, Saint Simon Stock. In it, she held out a scapular, and said that whoever died wearing it, was promised eternal life in heaven. Simon Stock called this Virgin, Stella Maris , Star of the Seas, and mariners then took her as their patron saint. However, the implication was not of the physical sea, but of the spiritual sea. She was called that because the Virgin Mary was considered the North Star...

This Carnival is turning out to be a wet, sopping, mess. Parades and celebrations have been postponed to next weekend, as rain and high winds laugh at our attempts to enjoy ourselves. But, very possibly, next weekend celebrations will have to be postponed again . Rain and windy weather have been promised through the coming weekend. We had been having a mild, temperate winter till now. Yes, we have had days of rain, but it hasn't really been violent. Until yesterday. Wind gusts of over a hundred kilometers per hour in the entire region. Red alert on the shore with waves of over twelve meters. Persistent, hard rain. In some northern cities seawater and sand have invaded city streets and destroyed stone benches and balustrades. Airplanes have had to be detoured from Vigo to Porto in Portugal. Worst of all, a 20-month-old child was ripped from his grandfather's arms when they got too close to the raging sea.  Apparently the weather this week is due to a stratospheric warming. W...