It’s a Low


I did a few plumbing courses many years ago in Bristol.  The first thing the very much old-school instructor told us was his number one rule; never encase your pipes in concrete.  He was scathing about those who think it is a good idea.  God only knows what he would have thought of the plumbing in our house where, you’ve guessed, every single pipe – feed and waste – is encased in bloody concrete.  Actually I think I know, I think he would have told us to move.

I only mention this because I’ve been putting a new shower in upstairs and we also bought a dishwasher than needed plumbing in.  The last two weeks have been accompanied by much swearing even by my prodigious standards.  When the nearest decent DIY store is 50 minutes away, it adds to the frustration and the ‘oh my god, why?’

I had to do something to keep me occupied.  Sonalee left and suddenly I was plunged into that feeling of desolation.  The work at the school in Portugal had finished, there was no structure in my days anymore, Sonalee was gone, the house felt too big and I found myself going down the road of depression.

Last picture before Sonalee went back

I recognised the symptoms from a period in my life many years ago.  Not wanting to get out of bed; cooking rubbish meals for yourself; sitting on the sofa and just staring at the wall; unsavoury personal hygiene habits; the house looking like shit; not exercising; not reading; drinking too much; just letting all things slide; being tearful for no reason. 

To be fair, individually these things occur when you’re feeling good but collectively they point only one way.  I know this isn’t a topic that is supposed to be discussed, especially in a blog because things on social media are supposed to be all happy and stuff , but what to do?  For a few weeks, this was how I felt; I felt utterly depressed.   After the euphoria of Sonalee being home for two weeks, I guess it was natural that I felt so low when she went back to Morocco.

I’m glad I caught it after only a few weeks.  Oddly enough it started with the shower because I’d promised Sonalee that she would have a new one for her return and I can’t disappoint can I?  And then I got news that I would be teaching online again in May at the school in Lisbon, which is very exciting.  It’s only for five weeks but it will keep me busy until Sonalee returns home.

Which has been made more difficult.  The Moroccan government have decided to ban all air travel between Morocco and Spain.  No one knows how long for.  So now we have to consider how to get Sonalee, Bibi and Sparky (The cat) home by ferry.  We also have to consider how I can collect my police check in a country I can’t get to. 

The mural on our friend Jan’s house

I think it is fair to say that these last nine months have not been easy and that the next three will not be much different.  Que hace?

In the meantime I’m trying to break those bad habits that you sink into.  I’ve started the jogs with accompanying dogs again and am reminded that I’m old!  Muscles seem to ache more and more.  The hoover is out permanently, much to the chagrin of the dogs and I’m experimenting with food again – Broad bean soup; chicken and leek pie; patatas bravas (a Spanish thing) and Thai curry.  Oh yeah!

And then there is firewood collecting.  Our friend Ken said that he knew people who had trimmed their olive trees but couldn’t be arsed to collect it – it’s illegal to let wood rot in the fields.  If we got it then we could have it for free – bargain!   So we went out last week to cut it and gather it.  Fine.  An hour or so and I had a reasonable pile.  But then a few days later Ken said what we had garnered was pitiful so let’s go out and collect from another mate.

So we did.  With the dogs with us as well because that’s what people do here.  It was good.  Three of the dogs ran around a lot but Luna had just gone off so excited.   Honestly, seeing Luna just sprint off in sheer excitement about being able to run is one of life’s joys.  I hope that, one day, you can see it. 

Anyway, so we spent two hours out in the middle of nowhere about five km from our house.  We wrapped up with no sign of Luna.  Gotta go, so we came home.  To find Luna in the middle of the street looking very puzzled.  I have no idea how she does it but she always finds her way home somehow.  And the thing is, the whole village know it.  They all know who she is.  She annoys the dogs and cats around the corner; she wanders up and down the village wagging her tail at people just for a bit of attention; she yaps at the hens in their enclosure up the road and she just charms people.  Everyone loves Luna.  

But, back to the firewood.  We’re going out again tomorrow for another draining day.  By the time we’ve finished I think Sonalee and I will have enough wood for the next three years.  And everyone has an opinion about how I should take it through the house.  You see, all of the firewood is just dumped outside the house.  It’s normal.  Then you have to get it out to the patio at the back to spray it with diesel (There are insects that are attracted to it and then eat it, hence the law that says you can’t leave it in  the fields).  I had three  different people show me how to do this properly.

What they all failed to realise is that I am so much taller than all of them.  I don’t have the easy access to the floor that they do, I can’t walk through my house without bending down through the doorways.  This affects how you operate when carrying stuff.   I simply can’t do what they do. 

It was actually nice to have them show me.  We had a laugh and a joke about me not being Andalusian and it was nice to think that they were taking their time to care about me.  Even Dora didn’t mind them demonstrating how to pull or carry a bucket of wood through her house – it’s definitely her house, never mind the name on the deeds. 

And now the village is gearing up for the summer.  Municipal walls are being painted.  The trees at the swimming pool are being trimmed.  A new playground is being installed outside of the pool.  The village plaza bar has been cleaned.  The pool has been swabbed clean.  The water in the fountain has been switched on and the museum has been given some appealing artwork outside to advertise it. 

The line of gossiping old ladies on the benches of the street up from us is increasing with each evening.  The trail of middle aged mums doing the four kilometre walk each evening as part of their healthy lifestyle is most definitely deeper.  The numbers of teenagers hanging around the library where the free village Wifi is at its best is gathering numbers.  The smaller kids playing football in the plaza are increasing in their annoying screams and the foliage around the village is getting out of hand.

There’s a general feel of  ‘yep, let’s have a good summer so let us get ready for it’.  It’s really nice.  It’s also nice to know that it will all be ready for when Sonalee comes home.  She’ll come home to a socially distanced village who nevertheless recognise the need to just simply enjoy being alive by doing the things that we all do when the sun is at its most merciless.  Which is, of course, get up early, do stuff, have a long nap, do more stuff and then go out till really late. 

It is the way of things here.  And I cannot wait until we are both able to experience this together.  We are, literally, counting down the days. 

Hasta Luego, Inshallah.

Ayubowan

Paul

PS:  There are a few examples of a cover being  better that the original.  Here is one.   Here is anotherAnd this isn’t a bad effort at all.


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