Life in the Time of Corona Part 15 - A New Beginning

Finally, the sun is shining, the winds have died down and the clouds have disappeared. As Spain’s lockdown restrictions are relaxed, there is a sense of renewed optimism. It seems that the weather is now getting back in line and has decided to play ball, given that a large part of the weeks since 14th March have been accompanied by climatic obduracy.

There is a strange sense that nature decided that we had been naughty so shoved us in a pen, rather as we would do with Alfie when he gets over-excited! Having taken a little time to regroup, nature has now allowed us out of the pen but only on the condition that we behave, otherwise we’ll find ourselves back in there as quick as a flash. So, it is with tentative steps that we approach the outside world. Little has changed, although why would we expect there to be any radical differences. Wandering around Granada now is not that different from wandering around Granada in August, when a quiet descends on the city as the locals flee to the mountains and the coast to escape the fierce heat. There are, though, reminders that life is not back to anything like normal, with many shops and bars still closed, but this doesn’t seem to faze many people who are just enjoying the new-found freedom.

We met up with our lovely friends, David and Lorna, on Friday, for lunch in Granada. This was the first time we have been able to get out, book a table and enjoy a meal on a terrace, and it was as if nothing had happened over the past 3 months. We walked through Granada wearing our fetching face masks but once we were at our table on the terrace outside Restaurante Oliver, we could set these aside. The food and wine, as always, were delicious; there are no menus to handle, but aside from that the atmosphere was perfect.

We have had our first official bed and breakfast guests, now that we are armed with our official tourism licence, and we are lucky enough to have more reservations this month and beyond. The Spanish are very keen to get out and about into the beautiful countryside once again, to take a moment to forget about the longer term implications of this wretched virus. Covid-19 has not gone away, but the general feeling seems to be that we will all do what it takes to resist any new peaks while still enjoying the freedom that nature is prepared to allow us, for the time being! As I sit here, writing this, I can hear the familiar babble of voices from visitors to the village about to embark on the Ruta del Gollizno hiking route, and there is great comfort in that sound.

Talking of visitors to the village, our Ayuntamiento has filmed a new promotional video to invite people back to this beautiful area. We managed to get a starring role…or rather, I stood outside the house and muttered the immortal words “En Moclín, te acogemos con brazos abiertos” into the camera. That said, I haven’t yet seen the final cut of the video so I may have been removed!

We have exciting plans, and we have had the time to get many things in order. Our creative and cultural holidays are all set for 2021, and one of these courses is already almost full, which is both a surprise and a delight. The arrival of guests has prompted us to get jobs finished around the house, so last week saw a flurry of painting, picture hanging and cleaning. The dust that accumulates during weeks of lockdown defies belief! We have decided that a cleaner may well be something on the cards for the very near future. New bedding was ordered, sheets were laundered and garden furniture put in place. Our builders finally returned, delayed by the outbreak of Coronavirus, to repair and finish the outstanding items on the snagging list. As a result, the studio has taken on a new lease of life, not that it was in a terminal condition. However, due to the rushed finish almost one year ago, it did have the appearance of something rather distressed and unloved. Now, we have been able to give it our much-needed attention and create a space in which we can work and relax.

The garden is taking shape, but we know that our plans will not materialise overnight, no matter how much money we throw at garden centre staff. Alfie has not, it has to be said, helped that much, try as he might. We did have three promising-looking peaches on our recently planted peach tree and then, one evening, we witnessed the ghastly pup plucking the fruit for use as chew toys. Holes mysteriously appear where plants were once placed with loving care. We have discovered that the garden hose, set to ‘jet’, is a powerful deterrent.

We now have a pergola on our terrace, to provide some much-needed shade, and a grapevine is being trained to rush up one of the timber uprights to further enhance our atmospheric chill-out corner.

We have not been idle. Our #MyTravelPledge campaign still trundles along with an average of 1,000 website visitors each week. We have received pledges of financial support to cover the costs of more breaks for healthcare and frontline staff as travel restrictions are gradually eased. We hope this continues as many of the accommodation providers who joined the campaign are in serious financial trouble. For many, a year’s worth of income has been cancelled out, and it will take some time for them to recover. This applies not only to Spain, but in many other countries where we have been able to offer accommodation to our nominees. We look on in despair at what has been going on in the UK this past week, and it disappoints and enrages on so many levels, not least because the original reasons for any protest have been completely lost in a mire of unapologetic and shameful hooliganism that has diverted attention away from the work still being done by frontline workers. As we said above, Covid-19 has not gone anywhere and just because the population has decided that a weekly round of applause may no longer have the impact it once had, does not mean that healthcare workers are not still contracting this disease and dying from it.

The sun is shining, the birds are chirruping, the bees are sawing away behind me. The view beyond our terrace remains unchanged and spectacularly beautiful. It is we who have had to change and adapt. Andrew and I have been lucky and we have managed to find productive and fulfilling ways to get through this dark period. My nights are still troubled by thoughts of the gaps that now exist and that I can’t yet see. Here in our beautiful bubble, my mother and brother are still very much alive waiting for our next visit to the UK. We have flights booked for that visit, so we fervently hope that any quarantine restrictions will be lifted by that time. It will be then that we can finally say goodbye and accept that the deep personal wounds of the past 3 months are real and will take some time to heal.

But optimism, like our grapevine, is gradually making its presence felt, providing welcome protection from nature’s summer intensity. We have so much to look forward to: welcoming friends, family and all our guests to the home we have created here. We look forward to developing new ideas, and implementing new plans. It will not be too long, either, before Andrew and I say hello to our first grandchild! We are beside ourselves with excitement at the prospect of becoming grandparents and seeing our family grow.