Take time to explore the narrow lanes

IT ISN’T all sunshine here, although there’s a lot of it; happily, it can also rain. We’ve seen no downpours or deluges, in spite of the locals’ ardent prayers but, yesterday, we woke to find the day darker than any in the five weeks we’ve been here and outside it was very cold.

A wind blew from behind the house and it had the feeling of snow in it. In the event, however, a mist rolled in over the high peaks of the Sierra de Contraviesa, the range between us and the sea, and by mid-afternoon, it had changed to light, persistent, rain. The locals must have been throwing their hats in the air for joy, despite the danger of head colds.

Wind shook the trees, and the red, bone-dry leaves on the poplars took to the air, carried aloft and out over the deep ravines like spirits released from the desiccated bodies of the dead.