Summer is passing – and the mountains are calling
The fiesta has finished, the town is quiet, many of the bars and shops are remaining closed for the week and there is a distinct feeling that summer is over! Mid-day temperatures are still 30- 35 degC but the early morning heat has a comfortable softness, the light is different, the smell is different and the sound is different! No swifts are screeching round the skies. The electric cables are bare as all but a handful of House Martins and Barn Swallows left us a few weeks ago. No longer am I waking to the sound of Golden Orioles and Bee-eaters or drifting to sleep to the rhythmic call of the Scops Owls. The grape harvest has started and daily the farmers are driving past our house with their trailers brimming with grapes. It’s undeniable, Autumn is knocking on the door. It is only a matter of weeks now before we get those early morning mists and the arrival of flocks of cormorants!
I always feel ambivalent about this time of year. Another summer gone! Where is the year going already? We’ve been so busy with our guests and fiestas and laundry and cleaning we’ve hardly had time to go to the beach! Our guests are more suntanned than us! And yet, apart from the fact it is followed by winter, I do love the Autumn here in Spain. It lingers on until late November. The trees slowly turn colour and reluctantly shed their leaves. The Autumn rains bring a “little spring” as green grass and a few wild flowers replace the dry, dusty land. Nights are cool. Days are pleasantly warm. And the mountains call! It is simply impossible to walk in the height of summer, so in a couple of weeks time we’ll be back in our walking boots and trying out more walks in the Priorat or Els Ports mountains or if we’re not feeling too energetic some flatish walks on the Via Verde, coastline or Ebro Delta.
Yes - Summers lease hath all too short a date, but Autumn is a season to truly enjoy and get to know the wonderful landscapes of Southern Catalonia. I love them both!
