Spanish views from a small town

It's June and summer is here. Between last month, this month, and at least the first half of next month, is the best time of year. We are enjoying the high point of the year; it's light at six in the morning, twilight stretches to past eleven in the evening, and the weather is beautifully warm. Another sign of summer were the four buses that passed by me as I went to take out the trash this morning, taking various groups of kids on their field trips. Exams are over, and now it's time for the end of year field trips. This year, they're back, to the kids' joy. They are the true hallmark of summer vacation, the foretaste of a summer of play and fun for many. My memory of primary school tells me that we did have field trips that were fun. I remember one to an amusement park, another to a bowling alley, one to watch Pippi Longstocking at a small theatre somewhere in the Back Bay. There was one during the school year to local businesses, to see how they were run. I also r...

First afternoon of vacation and I don't know what to do, already. Maybe I'll write. Maybe I'll try to remember what it's like to create art. Maybe I'll re-read a book. Maybe I'll go for a ride. Maybe I'll just vegetate. I'm not helped by the fact that rain is creeping up on us from the south, because, of course, there can't be an entire Holy Week without rain of some kind. The good thing is that it's warm, though not as warm as forecast. Still, it's a short-sleeve and slip-on shoe warmth, even if it doesn't get to shorts weather. And everybody wants to take advantage of it, as we could see yesterday afternoon on a drive we took around here. There were droves of people walking along the seaside and sitting at terraces. People want to think winter is behind us. But it'll return; this is still March. There were even people on the beach yesterday. Now, it was nice, but 23ºC isn't beach weather for me. And, from the looks of things, th...

It's being said that this summer, vacations will have to be local. No one knows when borders will be re-opened. No one knows if anyone can actually take a vacation.  What is most likely to happen, is that there will be vigilance at the beaches to keep the number of people down. So many people per X square meters per beach. Someone in Italy came up with plexiglass dividers to keep sunbathers physically apart. They sound pretty expensive and klutzy. Most likely all the concerts and fiestas will be cancelled or postponed. Bars and restaurants will also have limited capacity, once they open.  I assume that if few foreigners come on vacation, this can work out. Even so, unless fewer Spaniards travel within Spain, things might get hectic. Most of the vacationers in our corner are from other parts of Spain. Finding a spot on the beach has been getting difficult, to put it mildly, over the years. If capacity is limited, it's a first come, first in basis. Which means that when I f...

Living in Galicia, we tend to think it's the greenest area of Spain. But the rest of northern Spain is green, as well. It's even greener in other areas because eucalyptus trees are not as exploited as they are here. So, you'll see firs, chestnuts, oaks, and many other deciduous trees.  So, Cantabria is green . It was our vacation this year, five years after our last one. Luck had it that I chose one of the most peaceful and beautiful spots as our base, Vega de Pas. It's called that because of the Pas river that runs through it, but it should be called Paz, instead, for peace .  The first day or two there were still plenty of visitors, but then the fifteenth of the month passed, and suddenly, most of them were gone. The first couple of nights we had the choice of four or five restaurants. After that, the choice whittled down to two and then one. Even the bars of the other restaurants closed, at least earlier in the evening. Few cars passed through. Few enough that a ...

As September draws to a close, so does my month-long vacation. I give classes all year except Christmas, Holy Week, the last week of June, and the month of September. All year I await an entire month of being able to get things done in the morning AND in the afternoon. Normally, my afternoons are spent in classes, and all errands have to be taken care of in the morning, as well as housework.  So, when I wake up on a September morning, I think about what I need and want to do that day. First of all, breakfast. Then, Facebook. Then, writing when I feel I have something to say. By that time I need to fly to the grocery store if I need an ingredient for lunch, and then I have to make some food. I'll leave the housework for the afternoon. During lunch I think about what I want and need to do in the afternoon. If it's a sunny day, I think about painting with pastels. I also think about reading some more. Perhaps I might go for a drive. Put clothes out to dry in the sun, or hope t...