The mighty olive
There is nothing lovelier than an olive tree – this symbol of peace with its silvery leaves and its twisted body. Sometimes the trunk will divide at the root and grow like entangled lovers, Siemese twins or like a couple …
A year in Andalucía
Last November, my husband and I packed a few belongings, left Vancouver B.C. and set out on a new journey. We arrived in Ronda the following night in torrential November rains, not knowing how long we would stay nor where …
When the young buzzard came to town
Ever since my dad took my sister and I to see Disney’s Jungle Book at the World Theatre in my little hometown in the late 1960s, I have had a special affinity for vultures.
Remember the friendly barbershop-quartet in the …
Osuna and the unknown Spain
In a country with an abundance of historical and archeological sites, many places get overlooked and others are left to ruin. There isn’t enough money in the Spanish coffers to restore all and even though some 50 million tourists visit …
The most difficult and circuitous road to a Spanish driving license
My husband got his first driving license in Mexico in 1969. I got mine in Norway in 1981. We both have valid Canadian driving licenses, international driving licenses and official prof of perfect driving record in Canada for the past …
Community gardening Andalucía style – or “Who let the sheep in?”
When my husband and I lived in Vancouver, we loved to stroll along the railroad tracks and admire the Kitsilano Community Gardens. We always wanted a plot, but we never imagined it would be here in Andalucía.
Truth be told, …
How I finally became member of The Ladies of Ronda Dumpster Diving Society
I have to admit, I had become a great disappointment to the ladies of my furniture restoration class. Week after week I would come into the class empty handed. The other students would look at me with lifted plucked eyebrows, …
Locked in the dark with 4000 bats and 30.000 year old human remains
I simply cannot fathom why some people love to repel themselves hundreds of meters into caves and squeeze themselves through even darker cracks into airless underground chambers. Yet, somehow, I found myself voluntary locked into an unlit cave amongst million-year-old …
My Andalucían Fields of Gold
Looking out my window this morning, I see fields of pure gold. Gold and dust. Summer is here.
The Andalucían winter landscape is foggy and mystical, shrouded in dark greens and cool greys. Come February, things start to change. …
The lesson of loss
For the past few weeks I have had the sorrow and also the privilege of spending the last days and indeed hours of my father’s life at his bedside.
I say privilege, because I have so many friends who have …