🛌 My bed wouldn’t let me get up this morning. At least that is my excuse and I’m sticking with it.
Now
🎆 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.
😧 That moment when I think that I have lost my credit card and driving license, or they have been stolen. That’s when I see how I can loose all sense of sanity very quickly.
….
That moment, too many moments later, when I find that they dropped onto the floor of the car. 😮💨
🫠 Melting this evening (today). Today hit 34°C. The house is warm, at least upstairs (living area)…downstairs (sleeping) is cool. Windows open everywhere to catch any breeze that might want to blow through.
🧰 I find it a joy when I discover a really good plumber, or electrician, etc. That person or persons feel like gold to me.
🥵 It must be hot out there. There is no wind, and the air coming through the windows is cooking.
🤫 After just under two weeks of visitors, everyone has left. I sit here this evening in silence. I can feel my body and mind settling, like the snow settling in a shaken snow globe. And with the settling I can better touch my inner life, a place where I rest well.
🌡️ After a cool week, the temperature is starting to rise again. Clear blue skies and warm sun outside.
📯 There was one hell of a lot of honking car horns outside just now. That and a faint sound of horse hooves. I have no idea what was going on, and it stopped before I could get outside. There is a festival happening in the area this weekend, and so I wonder if the noise is related?
😮💨 I am completely exhausted. Just too much going on over the last week, regardless of the good time had. I could spend this evening in and have an early night, but that is not going to happen. We have an event to go to. Maybe this weekend?
🗺️ Well I have just managed to drive around a part of Lisbon without the aid of Apple Maps, or any maps for that matter. It was not big achievement, I did not travel that far, but I could not have done that a year ago. I’m getting to know my way around.
👨🌾 We spent some time this morning at the Farmers Market in Príncipe Real neighbourhood of Lisbon. I enjoy the community atmosphere of these markets. I also just enjoy stepping back from the market, sitting down and people watching. Families, individuals, couples even the pet dogs. Interacting, buying, chatting, playing. We are all so varied in looks and personalities (as well as one can know a personality from a face in the crowd). I find people fascinating.
🌥️ Well today ended up better than I feared weather wise. No rain, some sun, though cool…especially this evening.
🏙️ In the big city, Lisbon. Rain is threatening and it feels unseasonably cold.
🛩️ I just took a look at a live flight map of aircraft over Europe right now. In Central Europe it was barely possible to see the map underneath all of the airplane symbols. I don't know how the Air Traffic Controllers keep their sanity with that level of responsibility?
😋 Marmite peanut butter for breakfast. I haven't eaten that for a while, Amazon deliveries in the US turned out a mess. So I bought a couple of jars while in Britain and opened one this morning. Delicious.
🧓 I had a senior moment just then. I was staring at the computer unable to remember the web address that I wanted to go to. I could 'see' the site in my mind, but could not for the life of me remember its URL.
🌧️ An unexpected brief shower of rain just happened. Last night it looked as though the heavens were going to open up upon us, but nothing happened. This morning it was overcast, but nothing threatening, and it rained. I’ll never make a good weather forecaster.
🐍 I saw my first snake here in Portugal a couple of days ago. It was making a quick dash, or quick sliver across the road.
🤧 Hayfever is no fun, even if I do try and put on a brave face when the attacks come.
We have just been to the supermarket and I was considering moving in permanently. The air conditioning filtered everything irritable out of the air, and for a few minutes I felt as though I was back to my normal self.
⚽ I think that the local, favourite football (soccer) team won last night? Just as I was about to go to sleep, normally a very quiet time here, car horns and fireworks started going off.
😮💨 I’m exhausted and am not entirely sure why? There was a lot of walking around Lisbon over the last couple of days for sure, and I slept well last night.
Yes, but that was sleeping off yesterday’s walking. Tonight will be an early night.
🚶♂️ It was as a joy walking through the streets of Lisbon early this morning as the world woke up. Few people around. A new day starting.
☔ Where did that come from? It’s raining. The sun was out a few minutes ago.