Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

 Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . . .

• There was another aspect of Saturday that I forgot to mention. Perhaps because it wasn’t really an irritation. Arrival time for the lunch guests was 1 to 2pm but the Spanish contingent - current and ex neighbours - arrived at 3. I’d expected this, of course, and wasn’t put out by it, having planned to serve up at that time . . .
• The good news is that my Kindle has been found, in my regular bar. And the duff filter machine still gives me coffee if I pour boiled water into the cone. And today might see the arrival of my daughter's Amazon package**. And the sun is still shining brightly. And the view over Pontevedra city from my large lounge window is still spectacular.
• The pastor of one of our nearby gypsy settlements has again insisted that they've all reformed and won't be selling any more drugs. These are the gypsies of Upper Vao, who distinguish themselves from the gypsies of nearby Lower Vao, who - they say - are the real drug traffickers. I imagine many readers of the Diario de Pontevedra will be sceptical. BTW . .  . I suspect the Lower Vao gypsies are the ones - it's said - who came originally from Portugal. 
• Here's María's Day 28 of our Adjusted normal. St Christopher processions. Or, rather, the absence of them. Is he the same as San Benito, I wonder. Or do they have adjacent feast days?
• Finally . . . News that you've all been waiting for . . . In yesterday's elections, the conservative Popular Party (PP) won its 4th consecutive majority, while the leftist Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) more than tripled its parliamentary presence to win 19 seats and become the region’s second-biggest force. The group overtook the Socialists(PSOE), who maintained their 14 seats. The left-wing Galicia en Común alliance, which is led by the far-left Podemos party and has been riven by infighting, was left without representation.

The Way of the World

• Twitter promises to police language and warns its users to avoid gendered pronouns. Another good reason for staying away from it. As if this were really necessary.

Quote of the Weekend

• According to a new book by a sociology professor: A failure by parents and schools to enforce boundaries has spawned a generation of “infantilised” millennials and fuelled identity politics. "Why Borders Matter" will probably appeal to a fair share of despairing older folk.

English

• New Word of the Week: 'To onboard': To take onboard. Another of those American neologisms which you initially hate, as being ugly, and then gradually get inured to. Like sentences ending with a proposition,

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:- 

- Let's get things clear: Las cuentas claras hacen los buenos amigos.

- Lightning never strikes twice in the same place: No hay tempestad que mucho dure.

- Little strokes fell great oaks: Con paciencia y saliva, un elefante se tiró a una hormiga.

Finally 

• Said view . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

** No. The current tracking advice is dated 6 July, advising of delay due to 'bad weather or natural disaster'.  A call to the number I cited the other day elicited copious apologies and the information that 'the carrier' accidentally lost the parcel'. Impressive. Not. This, of course, is the same company which initially tried 3 times in the same hour to deliver it and said it'd be returned to the UK. Possibly a euphemism.