Maybe I should have realised it was some kind of warning…
Continue reading “red sky in the morning”
red sky in the morning
Tag: pueblo
olive gathering
It turns out they are harvesting the olives and the pole is being used to beat the trees to make the ripe fruit fall.
I know it’s totally non-pc, but I am reminded of the saying about “a dog, a woman and a walnut tree”. I don’t suppose anyone dares say that anymore.
Apparently they’ve decided it’s not good to beat olive trees, either. This list of harvesting methods describes “el vareo” as “un método no aconsejable ya que daña al olivo” – it’s not advisable as it damages the tree. The advantage of the method, though, is that it is quick and simple and a lot of fruit is retrieved.
la matanza
Today I came across the Asociación Cultural “Tradición Arenense” , and discovered that at least one of the “cultural traditions” of the town of Arenas de San Pedro sounds quite bloody.
This weekend, according to a poster I saw in a bar window, they are celebrating “la matanza, dios mediante, en la plaza de las víctimas.” They could hardly have chosen a better venue, could they?
Presumably dios mediante doesn’t mean that God will be officiating at the upcoming slaughter; it must be the local equivalent of d.v. – deo volente – God willing. Personally, I’d always hoped the Spanish phrase might be con dios al volante – “with God at the steering wheel.”
dust up
There’s nothing funny about a story of Turkish workers dying from silicosis after working in factories where sand is used to pre-age jeans. Nor is there anything funny about the Night Stalker who allegedly attacked 108 old people in the Croydon area over a period of 17 years.
Sadly, the juxtaposition of two reports in a newspaper can add an inappropriately humorous twist. Which is what happened in Sunday’s El Mundo, Crónica section, where, in the printed edition, the two stories occupied full pages opposite each other:
It’s not the double page spread that’s the problem, it’s the photo captions:
Continue reading “dust up”
purple pictures
I really do need that new camera if I am to stop taking pictures like the one on the left. Though what it will take to stop me writing purple prose is anybody’s guess.
I also need it so I can take better pictures than the one below (which comes from the same set as the previous one). After all, if the local area provides me with such wonderful subjects, it would be nice to be able to do them justice.
Not that getting a new camera will make me a better photographer, of course, but it shouldn’t make me any worse.
don't confuse the narrator 