South From Mulhacén: A Perfectly Normal Week

This week was just a normal week. I considered skipping the blog because who wants to read about normal life? But after scanning my Facebook newsfeed and seeing story after story of doom and gloom and sorrow, I decided that normal weeks may be exactly what people want to read about!

Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast with the neighbors. We arrived about 10 and spent several hours together. We are fortunate to have wonderful neighbors with two delightful young children. There is a gentle ease when we are all together; an ease that is rare so early in a friendship. It was a dreary day, but even when the hillside is swallowed by clouds, there is beauty.

Fog on the mountainside

Monday we went into Orgiva to check the mail and pick up packages. I had ordered two jigsaw puzzles and was excited to have an on-going project. My tendency towards compulsion meant that I was about 400 pieces into the 1000-piece puzzle by the time we went to sleep Monday night, but I have found a better rhythm as the week has progressed.

The citrus trees in and around Orgiva are loaded with fruit and along the streets there are deep purple blooms of morning glories and the sweet scent of jasmine; each outdoor cafe table was occupied as people meet for coffee or an early beer and tapa, and all the time there are views of the snow covered Sierras. Will this ever really seem "normal" or will I continue to appreciate how special this place is?

Morning glory

Lemons!

On Tuesday we decided to walk to the fuente to clean off the screen where the spring water fills the barrel before being piped to our tank. We started walking up the road and saw a flock of sheep in the distance with many sheep dogs and we decided to hang back in order to avoid provoking the dogs. There were also several hunters scattered across the hillside and each hunter had up to ten dogs with him. The hunting dogs were focused and didn't pay any attention to us as we walked. We climbed up the steep path to the spring and Sam took several minutes to clean off all the gravel that had washed down onto the screen. He noted that the screen will need replacing soon, so that will be a project for another day.

Fuente screen cleaning with a view

Wednesday started bright and sunny and the mountain was a brilliant white against the deep blue sky. We stayed around home, Sam doing yard work and I tried to get laundry washed, hung out and dried before the afternoon clouds blocked the sun and enveloped us.

Thursday we drove up the mountain to the look out tower and took a walk along the acequia. It was the same hike we did three weeks earlier with Manuel and the changes were drastic. The previously yellow leaves were now brown and there was a constant shower of falling leaves as we walked. The mountains, now snow covered, provided dramatic views. We stopped for lunch at an old oak stump and sat on the exposed roots for our picnic. The patterns in the weather worn wood of the tree were spectacularly detailed.

Stunning views

Fascinating patterns

After the walk we hunted for pine cones. The large cones are excellent fire starters, but where we had previously seen the ground covered with cones, there were none. Someone else had gotten there before us and gathered all the fallen cones. While we hunted there was another man with a bag doing the same thing and it felt a bit like a hectic scavenger hunt as we tried to get to each long-needled pine first. This time we each went home with only a few cones.

Friday we went back to Orgiva to pick up a package for Sam. We visited with friends that we encountered as we walked through town, and then stopped at a bar for beer and tapas and enjoyed sitting in the warm sun accompanied by a friendly cat. We decided to do a grocery run while we were off the mountain and went to the Mercadona. There were two holidays during the week; Tuesday was Constitution Day and Thursday was Immaculate Conception Day. Everything closes on holidays, so the Mercadona was busy on Friday. We purchased what we needed then stopped at Juanmi's in Lanjaron on the way back home. Lanjaron was hosting a week-long "ruta de tapas" and each bar had a specialty tapa for the event. Juanmi served us each a tapa of bread with jamon and cheese topped with a cream cheese stuffed pepper and that was topped with smoked salmon. It was amazingly delicious! For two glasses of wine and the two tapas, it was 4 euro; in the States we would have paid at least $25 for the same thing.

One of Juanmi's tapas

On Saturday we went with our neighbors to a Christmas fair in Orgiva. The event is held each year at a garden there. The couple who own the garden have spent years turning their property into a delightful place with varied landscapes and peaceful spaces. There were many craftspeople selling their wares and we purchased fresh grapefruit and mandarin marmalades as well as several other small items. We enjoyed a dance performance and music as well as food and drink. We ran into friends from Lanjaron and several others who we had met previously, and we appreciated the chance to visit a bit more with each one. At one point I went and sat with a group from Lanjaron and it struck me that I really am making a life here.