... roses have the look of flowers that are looked at.' ~t.s. eliot

best layed plans...

lena, the birthday girl had an itinerary for her birthday celebrations in mallorca. i did not mind at all marching to her orders. hopping a flight to mallorca. friday night party at her home for the weekend with homemade food, and drinks. drifting out into the night for live jazz in the center of town. i must admit, as we headed out at 1am for live jazz i was ready to find the nearest bed for a nap. spain is like that. dinner is at 10 and who knows what will happen after that. and as i've said before, if one has to work the next day, to bad. but not this party weekend. we had reserved 4-5 days exclusively for lena's birthday celebrations and for mallorca to have its way with us.

saturday night was reserved for a beach party. all planned out. hop a bus to the outskirts of town to a more secluded beach. the bus ride was about an hour's ride. as i love to eat, i munched on chips and nuts all the way out while chatting with one of my best friends, h. tumbling off the bus we walked a bit through sand and tiny hills 'till we found a spot we liked. laying out our towels and blankets and picnic food took no time. it's night time. someone at some other time asked someone else 'in power' if we are allowed to make a fire on the beach(?). nope. but kids will be kids. it seems they had made up their minds to do so anyway. quiet inside, i wondered if this is okay. i'm such a city girl. i know nothing about beach fires.

some folks trotted off gathering wood and twigs and paper. created a space in the sand to start the fire. i watched sipping on a glass of wine, bare foot and quite content. slowly the fire got started. how do they do that? it's like something you read about, a fire going... just like that.

believe it or not, rain drops started softly falling. i have no idea how it's possible. the skies were abolutely clear a minute ago, i promise. all of a sudden, the drops were no longer sprinkles. it's raining!! we quickly gathered up our stuff and headed for the straw roofed shelters that align the beach. i think these shelters are for protection from the spanish sun, which is intense, not heavy duty rain fall. but thankfully they were there.

separately in groups and in shock we stood under these little roofs and watched in disbelief as the rain poured down. i was mesmerized not only by the fire that had been created, but by the fact that it was still going. how is it possible for a fire to continue in the rain?

there under our little shelters we could do nothing but laugh. we had plans for a nice beach party picnic, but the powers that be said otherwise. or, maybe not...

standing there we began to munch on food and pass around wine and champagne... what else could we do? we laughed and told little stories. it was quite sweet and cozy. we really were huddled together trying not to get soaked by the rain. so close that only in intimate circumstances, or a new york city crowded subway train should persons who are not lovers be so close. ...and drinking from the same champagne 'bottles.' (how's that for class)

the rain stopped after almost and hour. we did get wet. we fumbled from under our shelters, laid out our beach blankets again anyway. all was wet and sticky with sand. but it was a beautiful night, the illegal fire was going, and we had one another... and we were really enjoying.

we sat by the fire for hours that night & played in the mediterreanean sea. the birthday girl said that 'she could not have planned it better.'

when the rain washed away all our plans and intentions, social insecurities, and who and what we think we are... standing there wet and sticky with sand, no pretentions. we had each other just as we are and i liked so much who we were in that moment. i think it was one of the best moments of my life...

welche sprache sie sprechen?

i took advantage of walks around the old town of palma, as well as strolls along the sea. beautiful afternoons. this is along the route to mallorca's stunning cathedral. when i arrived the gates were closed and locked. we all know what it means when we see locks on the gates, but we don't want to believe that our destined place is... closed. we try and have a peek around a corner to see if there is another entrance. we pull on the gates to see if they are actually locked... in hope...

i've a fondness for older alchoholic men. not to romantisize alchoholism at all. it is just that my grandfather, who has passed on many years ago was an alchoholic. and i think that i learned that though his situation was unfortunate, he was a really good man. so when i see someone who is drunk i'm not so afraid, though i know it depends on the person how they will act.

well the point of mentioning this is that sitting right in front of the locked cathedral was a drunk man and his friend. as we 'tourist' stood in dissapointment at the locked gates, this man bagan speaking to us in catalan, the language of mallorca. as he saw we could not understand, he switched to spanish. though i could understand, by facial expressions it was clear to him that not all understood. and then he switched to german and then to english, to relay the information that although the cathedral is closed now. don't worry, if you can come back at six this evening it will be open. to this bit of information there were sighs of relief and thank yous. and our informative friend returned to giggles with his companion on the cathedral steps...

magenta pink purples?

this is the purple flowering tree i mentioned that i could not get out of my mind. after a bit of research i've learned that it is called cercis siliquastrum. it turns out the flowers are actually a magenta pink. a friend of mine celebrated her birthday with 25 persons. the instructions were that we were to hop a flight to palma de mallorca for her birthday party. the flight out of madrid costs about 40 euro, and it takes about an hour or so to get there. it was a sweet journey. i took a bit of a nap on the flight, got off and asked instructions to my destination in spanish.

it worked. my spanish is not broken, it still works. it seems the guy in the airport could understand me & i could understand him. there we stood standing over a map as he gave me directions on how best to get to my friend's party.

the party was sweet with lots of homemade food, and drinks flowed well into the night...

next day i ventured off for a walk. a little quiet time. i roamed through the old city, popped in a small museum, as well as an exhibit space that had a nice exhibit on some of the works of dali.

while wandering around i passed this lovely tree flowering in what seemed like a kind of violet, but it seems it's magenta... hmmm all these fancy names for shades of pink, violet, lavender, purplish... all just spell lovely. and i was so happy to be taking my little steps through the streets of mallorca. what a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of a friend...

i'll tell next of our night time beach party that got rained out. i think i'll put it on the list of one of the best moments of my life...

i'm back

do forgive me for being away for so long. i came back to insightful messages and well wishes. thank you! during my stay in madrid i encountered, re-encountered, felt and experienced so much more than i had anticipated. as stated i met with old friends, i even made some new aquaintances, but most surprisingly, and dare i say importantly, i met myself. sometimes when we think our lives are boring and so much of the same, it takes a small difference, whether it be a change of place, a new experience or even old friends for us to see objectively ourselves and our lives. over and over i was asked by friends if i think 'they' have changed. i wondered so much if they asked because they have seen changes in me and are wondering if changes within themselves are evident. or perhaps like us all, as we cannot really see ourselves clearly, we wonder what can others see that we are unable to tell about ourselves.

there is much to tell and over the next days i will share with you what i have learned. i'll even tell about a gorgeous and luscious tree that i saw which had violet flowers. i've never seen anything like it in my life. there it was tall and beautiful, flowering in purple...

i do hope that your days have been sweet these last spring days with a flowering of love and smiles. and may the coming summer days bring continued warmth...

mucha mucha

life goes on here in madrid. it is wonderful to come back and see the city through new eyes. not only have my friend's and their lives changed, the city itself has changed in many ways... and i see even more clearly i have too. i am overwhelmed by memories that i forgot i had until i walk by a building, cross a foot bridge, see a longtime friend... i am reminded of the girl i was when i lived here, the girl i seem to be now, and it's wonderful to imagine who i hope to be... when i left new york the sun was hight in the sky and warmth was in the air. here in madrid it is cool, rainy and breezy. i like the heat, so i must wait until the powers that be say that the sun can shine on this side of the pond. while walking in the rain the other day, i found my way to the first 'mucha' exhibit in spain. i've seen the art work before, but i've not had the opportunity to study the artist, or take a moment to ponder his creations. beautiful women in the midst of nature. i am moved and excited about having the time to roam around the city while my mind reflects upon what moves me externally as well as internally... oh, i got my luggage back after a few days. i was happy to see my stuff... creature comforts you know. and i'm working out the living arrangements with the help of friends. poco a poco...