The Rain in Spain…

The Rain In Spain…

Lousy weather today, here in Spain. So, I decided to give the office staff the day off…

It started a few days ago with thick fog in a shade of orange that makes the punchline from the UK TV commercials, ‘You’ve been Fanta’d’, look pale. Our normally sunny and verdant mountain garden looked more like the set of some post-apocalyptic B-movie.

In fact, the phenomenon is known locally as ‘calima’ and in this case, it was caused by blown-in dust from the Sahara. The photo below isn’t mine, but you get the idea…

The dust storm has moved along now – along to the UK I understand. So they can enjoy its benefits across the Channel.

Instead, here up my mountain, we’re stuck with swirling fog, visibility that says I can’t see the end of the garden, and about 6 inches of rain a day. The long-range weather forecast tells me it’s due to turn to sun and cloud around the 31st March (15 days away as I write this).

Anyway…
To the point of this little story…

This morning, as I got up at around seven to make my tea and let the dogs out to relieve the pressures of the night, I was met with a flooded naya.
This isn’t unusual here. The house I share with Him is a renovation. and so far, we’ve not gotten as far as getting windows into the naya (open-to-the outdoors covered area by our front door). Consequently, when the rain comes in sideways, it has nowhere to go except the solid concrete floor of the naya.
Fortunately, it doesn’t leak down and into His office. Instead, it settles in a dog-thrilling pool an inch deep and has to be swept, scooped and bucketed out of the door.
This isn’t an A1 experience at seven am while I’m still in dressing gown and slippers, and wanting no more than my morning tea.
Still, there’s always my trusty wellies – still going strong after they travelled with me from the UK over seven years ago, and always standing by the door for just such occasions…

Step out of slippers…
Try to avoid inch-deep rainwater slopping across tiled floor…
Slip naked toes into wellies…
Encounter… something…
Stones?
Pebbles?
?
Hmmm...

Step out of wellie, incidentally dropping bare feet into freezing f****g cold rainwater…
Turn wellie upside-down and shake…
Shake again… vigorously…
Nothing…
Nada…
Crickets…
?

Explore wellie with fingers…
Encounter weird object…
… objects…
WTF?
?
Wrap fingers around object…
… objects…
… and extract cluster of two dozen hibernating snails from wellie…

Repeat process for second wellie…

So much for moving to sunny Spain with its, normally, endless blue skies.
*sigh…*