Tuesday, August 3, 2021

At last.


At last better weather arrives. The skies blue, the breeze gentle. The only residents left in the village are ourselves, The Old Farmer, the Belgian lady , the German billionaires ( plus entourage ) and the parents of the tikes. They are not early risers so our tour of the village is a quiet, solitary affair. The six am radio bulletin has informed its listeners that temperatures in Greece have hit 48 degrees - the hottest ever recorded. 


After the recent rain the soil in the sunflower fields has turned into a thick, sticky, gloop. By the time we get down to the valley Sophie's paws are caked in this mud. Nothing that a paddle in the stream and a drink from the waterfall won't take care of. We head home up the tarmac road. It's twice as long but the gradient isn't as steep and there's no mud accumulation to worry about.


Today, the men in dark suits discuss the on-again, off-again, infrastructure bill, the reappearance of the pandemic in China, Judge Kavanaugh and the Federal evictions moratorium and the impact of the virus on the tourism industry. They've been reading the New York Times and have come away with the impression that Europe is in open revolt over mandatory vaccinations. I reassure them that from my perspective everything in 'Yurp' is calm. There were a number of slightly overweight policemen and definitely overweight sapeurs-pompiers at the vaccination centre last week but that was because the Prime Minister had ventured into the hinterlands for a photo opportunity with the country folk. Despite being fully vaccinated the Manhattanites are reconsidering their new routine of Mondays and Fridays at home and mid-week in the office. 

 

6 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

Bertie fears that the decision to revert to the tarmac road might have been too late for Sophie to avoid a paw wash.

Lisa in France said...

Poor Manhattanites - it is pretty confusing right now deciding what's safe and appropriate for the fully-vaccinated. In Japan, we don't have that dilemma yet, as the percentage of people who are fully vaccinated is still below 25%. The situation here seems potentially quite dire - people are getting tired and the government doesn't seem to have any idea what to do. My daughter had her second shot this morning, so at least we are all finally done.

Coppa's girl said...

Poor Sophie - muddy paws are the pits! Have you thought of wrapping her paws in plastic bags! Hot and sunny here, 28ºC, and we too were out for our early walk with hardly a soul about - the best time of the day.
I was at the Town Hall just on 9a.m. to pick up the key to my new post box. Only a year or so a year after applying for one, and at a cost of 120 euros, it's finally come through! Things are not hurried here, and mañana is a very valid description of the speed most day to day things are accomplished. Now Inca and I will have somewhere new to walk to, when we go to pick up our post. No house deliveries here.
The news from China, and particularly Wuhan, revives not too distant memories of the start of the pandemic last year. Let's hope there's no mutation and it's not a case of "here we go again".

Angus said...

Congratulations on getting everyone vaxed.

Angus said...

Nothing quite like wet clay to stick to paws !

Angus said...

Are tourists from the UK allowed to go to Spain ? I'm now totally confused about which countries are on an amber list and which ones require tests and 10 days quarantine.