I Feel it in my Bones

The damp, that is.




I spoke a while back of our attitude to rain over here. Good stuff, is how we think of it, wish there were more of it. You'll need an umbrella, about time, is our reaction. Filling the reservoirs, wetting the soil. These things matter here, and we are always glad to see the rain.

However...

It started raining in late November, and hasn't really stopped. The reservoirs are overflowing, the rivers are bursting their banks, whole estates built on dried up riverbeds are being all but swept away, the soil is so damp you can sink into it up to your knees and we are all, fickle types that we are, thoroughly sick of the sight of rain. We don't need any more, not for a year or so.

It is rather pretty, though. Compare these before and after photos of the river below the old town (basically an abandoned fortress compound from the 12thC, recently re-excavated. The more modern city is several miles from the river, for reasons not unconnected to some serious smiting at the hands of the conquering Arabs in 1195).

The whole effect is remarkable to see, if you are used to the browns and yellows that we have here nearly all the year, including winter, outside of the field that are irrigated one way or another, and we don't do much irrigation here, you need water for that. The yellows and browns are light and bright, and have character and beauty, but it is good to see green from time to time. The lakes this year in Ruidera will be spectacular. I look forward to seeing them soon.

The bridge is called Roman, because of the style it is perceived to have, rather than its origins. It's 19thC and not of any special interest. The second photo is taken from it, looking towards what is the foreground in the first photo.

It is very rare indeed to have so much rain, and so much cold. It snowed again on Monday. I don't know whether this is global warming, incipient Armageddon or just time to move to the Bahamas. Or perhaps it's no more than an excuse to post some photographs.