Winds of Advent

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of neighbours in the apartment above returning somewhat noisily. The walls and floors are so thin that the sound of high heels, laughter, gas boilers switching on and water running penetrated into what has been my haven of silence over the past month. Until now, upstairs has been unoccupied. Then the wind picked up in high gusts, rattling doors and windows and howling through the gap between apartment blocks. I lost a couple of hours sleep I really needed as a result. But the wind did seem to blow the clouds away.

So, it was another bright blue sky Sunday for my early visit to Benalmádena to celebrate the first Eucharist of Advent. I was given a couple of bags with five kilos worth of oranges to take back to St Andrew's for marmalade making. The season is upon us once more! At the little social gathering following Friday evening's Patronal Eucharist, I was given some bitter orange chutney to taste - it was superb! Something to try back home, if suitable oranges can be acquired from Cardiff Market.

It's interesting that congregation numbers in both churches have stayed roughly the same during my stay. It's around twenty at Benalmádena, and mid thirties at Los Boliches, but the faces change. Some have returned (mostly) to Britain for Christmas, while others are arriving here to over-winter. In honour of my departure for the month, we finished the Eucharist at Los Boliches with an enthusiastic rendering of Cwm Rhondda. I am certainly looking forwards to a family month at home, but also looking forward to returning here in January for another spell of locum duty.

Jim and Della invited me to their house for lunch. We sat out on their top floor balcony in the sun, so bright I had to borrow a hat to avoid roasting on top. It was lovely to hear about their recent coach and train trip to Morocco. It's not that far by ferry. One tends to forget quite how near Africa is from here.