Why I Live Here

The day starts out badly, the rude awakening to a dark morning I am not ready for, the coffee lukewarm, the sense of my soul being elsewhere. The day an average toil; ups and downs, frustrations and humor, contempt and appreciation. Nothing out of the ordinary. Ennui.
In the afternoon the mood [...]

Michel Camilo symphony for Tenerife

A horrid week, but capped by an absolutely wonderful night Saturday, though. Michel Camilo revisited the Auditorium, but this time to debut a symphony he has written and entitled “Tenerife”.
A few days ago, confirming arrangements for driving up there with the friend with whom I went, I confessed that when I booked the [...]

Carnaval Chicharrero

An odd thing was happening as I wended my reluctant way to work in the early morning sunshine today. As I prepared to face the working day, pirates, can-can dancers, vampires, ghouls and karate kids were slouching they way back to their beds……it’s Carnaval! In Los Cristianos the deserted streets gave [...]

It’s Raining

You’d be surprised how often I have a yen for rain, or frost, or snow. Most people envy dwellers in places with a subtropical climate, and most of the time I wonder if I could ever survive again farther North. Right now I am fixated by rain trickling down my windowpane. It’s [...]

Él Hierro and La Gomera from Ilfonche

Él Hierro and La Gomera from Ilfonche

Originally uploaded by islandmommacanarias

The year is beginning nicely. The picture is one I took on the brief hike New Year’s Day. I love it when the air is as clear as this. The sky was incredibly blue, and the air was as still as a lazy [...]

Wrongly dated because I clicked save instead of publish!

My week has been unremarkable. Work was frustrating and uplifting by turns. Frustrating because I wanted to yell at so many customers “Get a Life”, and uplifting because of the great rap we have in the office.
Otherwise it has been teaching, which was rewarding, period. I came up to a brick wall with one pupil’s [...]

Summer Nights

Even though we have a year round pretty even temperature, Summer here is special. There is so much going on that at times it makes me dizzy, and far too much to keep track of!
Last night and to night were typical examples!
Last night as I parked up at the end of my street, I heard [...]

Noche de San Juan

I couldn’t quite take in the fact that I had lived her for twenty years and hadn’t taken in the full significance and fun of this festival until last year. That was possibly because it seemed such a spontaneous and friendly festival. Of course I read it all afterwards. In many places [...]

The Foolhardy Fisherman

Happily fishing one minute
Quickly gathering his stuff together!
Making a run for it!
  Almost there!
This guy has often been caught in my snaps of these rocks, which I see from my window, sometimes in conditions which kept most people well away, but the other day even he scared himself! As you can see, [...]

La Lucha Canaria

Tonight I went to la Lucha Canaria again – third time this season.  What I didn’t realize is just how important it was, being the last night of the season.  “My” team, i.e. the one for which our friend, Yamar, fights, didn’t do so well in the junior section in which he fights, but they [...]