Rambling thoughts

Today is a beautiful sunny day, but the wind is blowing with such force that we are stuck inside. I ventured out earlier this morning to take my daily photo of Mulhacén, but hurried back in with the wind pushing me towards the house.

Yesterday's daily photo because today it was hidden in the clouds

It has been a typical week.  On Monday Sam went to Órgiva with our neighbor to pick up some fence posts and I followed in our car to purchase a few groceries, get money from the ATM, and pick up the mail.

The church in Órgiva

On Tuesday we had a load of firewood delivered. The previous owner had ordered a truckload for us before we moved in, and that was a tremendous help. But the stack was quickly shrinking and we decided that we would be more comfortable if we got a second load.

Paco arrived about 9:30 in his truck filled with olive wood.

Yay for Paco!

Fortunately almost all of the pieces are the correct length for our not-large stove, so other than stacking, there was little else that needed to be done. The quantity was nearly twice what we had gotten in the summer, so we should have plenty to finish out this winter and get through next winter as well. We have learned that having a well-stocked pantry and a full woodshed are two of the great feelings when you live remotely.

Ahhh.....

Sunny weather has been the norm for much of the week. There is a particular hike we have done each time we vacationed in Spain and a year ago we did the hike and caught the tail end of the almond blossoms in a small orchard that we pass through. On Wednesday we did part of the hike (the part that did not involve climbing straight up or straight down the cliffside), but were surprised to discover that the buds were still tightly closed on the trees. We will check back in a week or so.

Looking across to the villages of La Taha while hiking

After our hike we drove on to Trevélez, the highest village in Spain, and enjoyed a delicious lunch surrounded by a local crowd. This village gets a good share of tourists, but in January, on the far edge of town, there seemed to be only locals out and about. As we drove out of town towards home we passed a teen-aged girl who was hitchhiking.  We stopped and agreed to deliver her to Pitres, another village between Trevélez and the turn off to our place. She had more English than she was comfortable using, but between our Spanish and her English we managed to keep a conversation going for the 20 minute drive together.

There are signs that spring is just around the corner.  Of course the almond blossoms at lower elevations are a brilliant indication, but even here at 1300 meters we have bulbs beginning to burst with color, small purple flowers scattered throughout the grass, and one of the strawberry plants has a bloom.

Almond blossom

A rose in our yard

These sweet flowers are scattered throughout the field

Hyacinth is blooming

We noted yesterday that the arrival of spring doesn't carry the same relief that it did in Oregon since we have had so much sunshine this winter. Many days we are in t-shirts even though the nighttime temperatures drop near or below freezing. I remember the first daffodils in Oregon - Each year when I spotted the bright yellow flowers, I felt like someone had loosened the grip on my throat.  I knew there would be weeks of rain still to come, but the promise of spring was there and that meant I would start the climb out of my seasonly-depressed mental cave.

This winter I never entered that cave - there has been depression, but because of American politics.  I can't imagine how I would be handling this horrific time in the dark wet days of an Oregon winter.

We will never know for sure what started us on the road that brought us to this place, at this time, but we are so thankful to be here now.

A sunrise photo, just because...