Richard's Rendezvous Oh For a Lovely Day!

“Oi que gana tengo de que venga ya el tiemp bueno pa la playa.”

Oh, how I yearn for summer, we often hear declared at about this time, around these weeks coming up now.

Others will come up with the usual repeat of “Que llueva, que llueva, let it rain, que we need it.” And so we really have been getting that rain – an understatement – because this year it’s been, so far, more than usual because of the unusual, nasty storms we’ve been experiencing just recently.

I don’t remember it raining continuously for two, three or four days non-stop, even if just a minor drizzle at times.

We’re not used to that much continuous rain, although yes, it can rain hard at times here during most winters but not accompanied by those high winds causing some damage as they blew uncaringly by. They were very noisy and unpleasant and certainly not umbrellas’ best friends: lots of broken ones could be seen abandoned by the rubbish bins, useless, as they were blown inside out in the strong wind, never to return to their rightful shape.

Other damage so far, at the time of writing, has been limited, as it normally is for us during bad weather.

We do get some flooding at times, bits of mainly terrace and balcony plastic furniture flying around, the odd plant pot being knocked over, trees and lamp posts swaying, even “enthusiastically” in the strong gusts of wind, and we have to look out for those unsecured shutters incessantly banging and, hopefully, not becoming unattached and dropping on someone’s head.

And then we do have the rockfalls that occur at times with our Rock’s limestone bits coming loose and dropping onto the road.

Luckily, apart from one occasion that comes to mind, and the odd dented car embedding a large rock on its bonnet or roof, I don’t think we’ve had any really serious accidents as a result from rockfalls, and there have been many over the years.

However, during those heavy strong windy rain storms, I often think of those individuals owning leisure and fishing boats in our packed small boat marinas.

Despite the raging storm – however strong – small boat owners must be naturally forced to pop down to make doubly sure their property is safe and securely tied up.

Yacht, pleasure craft and cabin cruiser owners must also feel a little uneasy hoping their expensive investments are protected, safe and sound or well sheltered, if not alongside, in a yacht marina.

We, in this part of the world, experience or enjoy what’s called, a Mediterranean climate, and I prefer it to what so many others like, as you sometimes hear them say they prefer summer all year round, like in the Caribbean: hanging around in shorts and flip-flops right through the year.

Isn’t it better to experience a change after a few months of heat and stickiness or cold and rain, with spring and autumn bridging the two main seasons preparing you for a welcomed change?
Yes, hot and dry summers and mild, wet winters is the description of the climate we live in.

It’s also beneficial to your wardrobe, allowing your clothes to breathe a little, taking them out and making use of your plentiful (no doubt) variety of garments you otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to wear if we had summer all year round.

When all is said and done, we don’t have it so bad regarding the weather compared to other places.

Even our neighbours in Southern Andalucia have experienced flooding and, no doubt, damage.

La Linea however, like the Netherlands, is below sea level, but it doesn’t seem it’s been too bad for them either. Good for them.

But if we go further afield, I’ve been thinking how lucky we really are compared to other places where the elements have sometimes not been so kind: on the west coast of the USA, lying on the San Andreas Fault where they’re prone to earthquakes and huge fires causing massive damage forcing residents from their homes and losing their property.

On the east coast, the Florida area and southern coast too, hurricanes, typhoons and flooding causing untold damage there also.

Southeast Asia suffers from monsoons, cyclones and, lest we forget, the shocking and devastating tsunami some years ago, where many lives were lost.

We, on this Rock of ours, should be thankful our squally, stormy, foul weather patterns don’t reach anywhere near the unfortunate levels experienced elsewhere.

The rains have been plentiful and the winds strong and blowy over the past couple of weeks and there has been building damage requiring residents to vacate their flats, and other problems, but thankfully not as serious as others have, on occasions, had to live through in other places.

So we, on the Rock, have to be aware and batten down the hatches whenever severe bad weather in particular, is forecast.

Observations. Bakers Passage, 10 rubbish bins – two or three labelled for cardboard. Great, so why not label one or two for bottles?

If you’re pushing a pram or you’re on a mobility scooter, get off the pavement and continue your journey on a busy Line Wall Road: clearly that’s the message from selfish, uncaring, careless individuals.