Appreciating right now – in Spain

It’s very cloudy with a cool wind today and yes, it’s threatening rain! No, this is not a blog to moan about the weather, it is the opposite.

I am really beginning to understand why so many Spanish people and even a lot of ex-pats, are telling me that they like this weather.
It’s about variety and options and I’m just beginning to understand it and also to remind myself of the power of living in the now.
Variety
There is a different light with each passing cloud, there are shadows that form and disappear and a breath of something fresh as the wind trickles around a corner.

A windy day but don’t the flying flags look great

I looked out the balcony and it was great to see all the flags really flying, for days they have just hung there and now we have a great display.
The sea looks different too, its calm and peaceful a cool shade of grey. Restful and calming to the eyes and ears, a chance to look and appreciate stillness in nature.

Variety in all that I have been able to do in a morning. In the heat just one task exhausts you. Today its been exercising, housework, making beds, the local market. Seeing a friendly face there, now I really appreciated that as it’s the first time I’ve stopped and said ‘Hi’ to someone and that connection made me feel that this was more than a holiday, more than a stopping off place. It made me realise that Altea is teaching me something.

Today I want to eat, that is what the lovely freshness and coolness has given me. The variety of fresh food in the market. The colours and sights made me actually feel hungry for the first time in a while. I might miss the smells out, but its all tempting.

Then the supermarket for the big shop, wine, cola, biscuits, nibbles. Now it is actually the opposite side of the town from the market, today it was a pleasant cool walk.

I noticed work being done around the town.

Pavement repairs

All the green spaces are getting a good tidy up too.

Options

It’s as though today there are so many more options for getting things done or even not done.
The weather is perfect for those jobs to hot in the summer.

The place needs a tidy up and it’s getting it. There are teams working all over the place as you hear the trimmers, lawn mowers, cutters, the rhythmic thud of a soft hammer as a pavement gets redone and all  amongst the Police whistles – well it is Market Day and traffic is heavy.

For me and that freshly mown grass, I’m tempted just to get out there with a book and just sit and enjoy the feel of the grass beneath my feet. The rich colour which is because of the needed rain we have had.

I am appreciating Spain and Altea more. I am living in the now and being grateful for the activity and also calm around me. I have options.