Change of habit

The night was just cool enough for comfortable sleep, but by lunchtime it had risen to 32 C, not as hot as some parts of Britain, nor the top of the Sierra de Mijas, which is on fire at the moment, Thousands have been evacuated from homes at the edge of  Alhaurin el Torre and Alhaurin el Grande where I took services in the cemetery chapel when on locum duty in the Costa del Sol East Chaplaincy eight years ago. I wonder if there'll be a service there tomorrow afternoon?

I didn't do very much apart from cook lunch and answer a few messages and talk with Clare on WhatsApp. I didn't go out until gone five when it started cooling down. Determined to get the hang of the town's geography and layout, I walked inland from the Marina on a different road leading out of town, and eventually found the Lidl supermarket at the back of a hill looking inland across the valley to the sierras. 

Google maps was very misleading and took me out of my way. I don't know why. Maybe its geolocation device simply isn't so accurate in streets which are dominated by a mix of tall residential buildings. Everything seems to have been constructed in the past forty years and to my mind is rather characterless, despite efforts made to introduce trees and greenery on odd parcels of land in between buildings. It's like a piece of urban America transplanted to Spain's coast.

The walk involved some hill climbing on hot barren pavements with intermittent shade, demanding but worthwhile exercise as long as you drink plenty to compensate. While I was having supper, Ashley rang, curious to know how I was coping. I watched S4C's coverage of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, and got everything ready for tomorrow, as I must be out of the house by nine. So, early to bed it must be. Glad I watched all BBC Four's Norwegian crimmie on catch-up last week. It's on an hour later here and there'll be no late night telly for me while I'm here.