Utah-Spain (5)

Hya- how's the rest of the world doing? Spain is raining on me right now... even though I'm in the hills. It's bordering on disaster for these folks... the rain is too much this year for the roads and soil... it's been damaged too much to handle it... but I'm glad to know that the skies haven't shriveled up like dried plums... is that the phrase? I've lost it...

Anyway - as things were so dry in Utah and other spots around the world this summer, it's nice that Utah is getting dumped on and so is the south of Spain.. as for my climbing, well, the rest of my life in Spain is so easy right now that I almost feel like I'm cheating, but since we're not playing a game, maybe it just means I'm doing something right... It's true, I'm not furthering my professional development right now... but I'm living stress free and experiencing the life of many cultures... It's remarkable how many people from all over the world are passing through my life right now... well mostly from the UK and Scandinavia... which is cool cause I haven't know many Swedes, Norwegians, Finns or Danes in the past...

So, I am working now for the Finca, as I've told some of you.. I clean a couple of hours in the morning before going out craggin, and then starting this Sunday I have a week long babysitting job for the owners as they need some free time to hang with friends that they have coming into town... So, when all is said and done, I'll have no bill for sleeping and eating here and I might make a little bit too...

I've moved in nicely and taken over, as is so typical of me, I'm afraid... I've made signs for the kitchen, lamp covers for the shabby lights in the common area and I've already started working on Jean, the owner to let me paint one of the bedrooms cause it looks really really bad and if I were a guest at the finca, I'd be disappointed... I'm still the only USA resident... the 'annoying' guests.. ie. the ones that make the noise, the mess and have all the gear - necessary or not are from another English speaking country, whose name I will withold to protect the innocent...cause we all know stereotypes are unkind... but still, I, the quiet mellow American... (yes, I've been mostly quiet and mellow) get to hear the blows to the American way all the time... we're so in the spotlight that I guess it just happens... no one would really know how to take a jab at Sweden, except maybe a Finn, but anyway...

Christmas is coming up and I'll hopefully be climbing and not paying too much attention to the fact that I'm so far away from the closest friends and family... I won't be going to Ireland as I had potentially planned... I'm gonna save that trip for later maybe... flights from Malaga to London are around 30 dollars, so a quick pop over and back isn't unreasonable... then a ferry to Dublin... oh, it's all so cheap... My friend Uta from Germany, never made it over a few weeks ago, but if flight prices from Germany come down, she may be with me in Spain for New Years... the local climbers that stay in the refugio in town told me that there'll be monster parties over the holidays... it's good to chat with them because their English is super limited and I get to practicar un poquito... Oh and when I have the kids for a week... well, they only speak Spanish!

I was having a thought on the train this afternoon as I was on my way to Malaga to shop for a new book to read and just escape the boredom of sitting around the fire for yet another rainy day... my thought... I suppose inspired by a few images that caught my attention lately... the story of the trial for that guy that murdered those lovely girls in England, a picture of a starving baby in Angola, the recent loss of my friend Hilary's mother, and the destruction to a small village in Indonesia that most of the world will never hear about...

There are a lot of things in the world that can make a person cry. Somehow, we build walls, whether physical or mental to protect us from those most painful... At times those walls are broken by the inescapable realities of death, disaster and other tragic events. When you let yourself open up to the world, however, it doesn't take tragedy to bring tears. Ask any woman about her emotional sensibilities, her perception which weakens and strengthens from day to day throughout her life. Ask her about the days when she cries for a rusted train or a crushed centipede. Ask her why. She may not be able to explain but it's truly a wonder of the world... this heightened sensitivity.

So much passes through us- in through our eyes and sucked by the vortex that is the dark recess of our mind... stored but not read. But once in a while, when we're truly open, the images, words, sounds - they linger in our mind and even get lost, allowing us to explore them deeply and realize the potential of the world to harm, to cure, to be so very weak, to grow and thrive and to laugh out loud with flowers and feathered songs. It's in moments like these that you see the beauty in a land that rains olives, oranges and almonds, a land whose earth is washed away in brown rivers because the trees that provide the livelihood to a community have only come to be because someone somewhere in some time past, decided to ravage the land and force her to open up to stragers, let them grow roots in her soil and destroy any possibility of permanence or stability. Permanence never has existed in this world, I guess... And I suppose fighting for it is futile, however I can't help but think that maybe, just maybe.... and then I think, maybe just being aware is good enough at times... that will always be better than ignorance... and when we have the power to impact and we do, we've done well by someone, somewhere.

I watched a little girl on the train today. I watched disappointment wash over her face in an instant. She was sitting in her window seat on the train, drawing on the newspaper her mother had finished reading. Once in a while she would look up from her art and check the scenery as it slipped by. At the sight of a plane flying low, parallel to the train, she smiled and said 'Mama, mira!' (Mom, look!) Her mom was too busy talking with her friend to even look at her daughter or out the window. The little girl, with her arm propped up on the armrest, put her freckled face in her hand and slumped back into her seat... her smile completely covered by a small frown as she watched the plane fly out of sight. Don't forget to watch the planes come in for landings... apparently, they're still a sight to be held valuable!

Open eyes, open heart, open mind - wonderful world!