Never Take Where You Live For Granted

August 31, 2010 by IslandMomma 5 Comments

I learned some things on Sunday, and one of them was that I didn’t know Tenerife as well as I thought I did.  It is clearly over 18 years since I visited Punta Hidalgo, and I am still trying to come to terms with that realization!  Acknowledging the rapid passing of time, however, is better than the alternative – which would be that the last time I was there I had failed to notice this beautiful building – which is the lighthouse which guards that rocky bit of coast.

I find, however, that it was constructed in 1992, phew, so my powers of observation weren’t as bad as all that.  I did have a couple or more very adventurous young guys in tow at that time (my two boys plus a couple of of their friends), so I might just have been excused, but no, it was before 1992.

Looking at the pictures, isn’t this quite breathtaking?  I had a “thing” about lighthouses for a while.  It happened after a visit to the Outer Banks, a region famous for its lighthouses, and where there are so many legends surrounding them, and the sinking or the washing up on the shores of boats, from pirate ships to the battle ships of WW2, that I became totally infatuated.  Shortly after that Austin bought me a book of photos by Philip Plisson, for my money the best photographer of all things maritime, and my passion was confirmed, but it waned – as so many do!  Maria and I talked about touring the Canary Islands, just to photograph the lighthouses.  So – if you read this, Maria – I’ve made a start!

Never  have I seen one quite like this before, and  a quick glance at Google hasn’t come up with any architectural information, but I will continue to delve.  It’s elegant and almost ethereal, and I thought the light would be far too lousy for a decent photo, and yet, it seems to be that’s just the qualities the photos show, despite the excessive light.

Lesson learned two, is that places are constantly growing and changing.  I talk about “knowing” Cologne in Germany, for instance,  which I did at one time, but, let me see that’s something like 40 years ago…..so how much that city must have changed!  I really shouldn’t claim to “know” Cologne.  I “knew” it back then.  So never take for granted that we know, well, anywhere.  On a scale of things Tenerife is a blip in the ocean, but even here I constantly find new delights and ideas.  The trouble with the 9 to 5 is that it leaves you with little enthusiasm for moving around on the weekend, that is once the shopping, banking, car cleaning and house cleaning is done, and sometimes we might know our favorite vacation destinations better than we know places just up the road!