🥵 It’s humid today. Muggy, like walking through a think cloud of invisible warm water. I think a prelude to Tropical Depression Gilma arriving here this weekend. Gilma is waning which is a blessing. Last week it was a hurricane midway between the US west coast and Hawaii.
Now
🌞 Yeh! The sun is out. The first time for 48 hours. Hopefully it will remain so until the next storm arrives at the end of the week.
🏄♂️ Meanwhile my stepdaughter’s partner and their son are off to find the good (big) surf thrown up by the storm. Island life.
🌧️ Now it’s coming in. Sideways and every other way that it can manage. Wind assisted.
🔌 Charging lights, phones, etc and making sure that candles are at the ready, just in case the power goes out tonight as Tropical Storm Hone arrives in the islands.
🚿 Taking an outdoor shower with dark grey clouds rolling in, sprinkles of rain falling, wind blowing. Island life.
🛌 I had a bad night’s sleep last night. First I couldn’t get to sleep, then I had a few hours of fitful sleep, and finally I slept for a couple of hours and ended up oversleeping. Now I feel as though I am playing catch up and the day has hardly started.
🤫 Sitting quietly. Reflecting.
☕ Yesterday was a five coffee day. I am already on my third coffee today, and it is not midday yet. Two is normally where I stop, apart from every now and again. A new pattern? What’s up? 🤷🏼♂️
☕ Oh dear. It’s a three coffee morning.
☕ The aroma of freshly brewed coffee drifts across the house this morning.
🥵 The last couple of days have been very humid. This morning outside it is like walking through a thick bath.
🚘 In other news, my eyes do not enjoy me driving at night. I’ve said it before on this blog, but my aging eyes find the glare of the car headlights, especially the bright LED lights, too bright for comfort.
🔥 I’m back from sitting in the fire of what was my men’s group this evening - at least for me. That’s not necessarily bad, in fact from my experience it is good, though it can be uncomfortable at the time…and require some wind down time afterwards.
🏝️ Island life. The power went down an hour ago, taking the internet with it. And where we live, the cell signal can be weak. It is improving, but we couldn’t get by without WiFi calling. There is no clear indication when the power will be back on, so it is probably an early night tonight.
👁️ I was sat watching a movie last night and started getting a migraine aura. Within ten minutes the aura was interfering with my view of the screen.
The aura cleared and I waited for the pain of the headache. It did not come to much. I thought that maybe this time I am going to get off lightly.
This morning I have woken up to the dull thud of a migraine. Not the worst, but still making life uncomfortable. I’ve taken a tablet to try and take the edge off of the pain….that and a little more caffeine this morning. I have never found anything to completely remove these.
This migraine will probably be my companion for the next three days. That is the norm for me.
🌄 It’s feeling warm before the sun is up. A warning of what is coming today? At least the Trade Winds are blowing.
🌧️ It has been a wet, wet, wet, wet day so far, and doesn’t look as though it is going to let up anytime soon. This is more like winter than summer.
🏝️ I drove up to my acupuncture appointment this morning with the windows open instead of the A/C on, enjoying the tropical smells and humidity of the island.
🥵 After the dry heat of Europe, I forgot how hot & humid Maui can be. My gratitude for the Trade Winds that keep the islands cooler than they might otherwise be.
🙉 As we make our way back home, I find myself wanting to push back on the familiar sights, sounds and stimuli that are returning to us, and instead hold onto the tastes and experiences that the last three months have brought.
Letting go is not always easy.
🛫 We will soon be taking off from Barcelona airport. San Francisco next stop. Starting the journey home…though I’m starting to wonder where that is right now?!
🛌 My bed wouldn’t let me get up this morning. At least that is my excuse and I’m sticking with it.
🎆 Fireworks are going off all around us tonight as Barcelona celebrates the Summer Solstice and the lead up to the Festival of Sant Joan (St. John).
🌧️ We are waking up to a wet morning, the first for a long time. Gentle drizzle accompanying the sounds of small waves breaking. A quick glance at the weather forecast says that we won’t be going far for the next few hours.
🚗 Starting the journey home. Driving across Spain to Barcelona to catch a flight. Writing this from a hotel in Madrid. The sounds (mainly traffic) of a busy city rumbles below. The wind blows around the terrace. A different world. Change. Reflecting on so much.
🐦 I like how in some Portuguese motorway service stations they play the sounds of birds. After the noise and stress of highway driving, the sounds of birds I find relaxing.
⛈️ Well the weather has finally broken this time. At long last. I just heard the longest roll of thunder that I have ever heard - a couple of minutes?
🌧️ The air was getting heavier and heavier. It was feeling thick to walk through. Above the clouds were building. Dark clouds. Finally, just now, the impasse broke and there was a brief shower. Short, but enough to lighten the air and to allow us to breathe again.
🛣️ Portugal, the home of straight roads. Seriously, I have never seen so many straight roads, even out in the countryside. They are a joy to drive, because you just point the car in one direction and go. Maybe a few ups and downs, but few turns. At least that has been my experience so far, and my kilometers are building up.