A bright sunny start to the day but thunder and cloudbursts forecasted for the afternoon. We drove to Torre de Mar mid-morning intending to drop Ann and Clare off at the beach, while I took Communion to Ian. It all unravelled when I couldn't find my way through the town to get to the beach, and took a wrong turning which left me unable to identify a route to the sea, and where to find the Sanysol care home. Google Maps was unhelpful being too slow to help me find either. My visual memory jigsaw failed me completely, or was running even slower than Google Maps. I found a place to park outside a large Chinese supermarket, and called Ian's carer Steve for help. I had stopped within half a mile of my destination, and Steve knew where to find me, so we weren't too late turning up.
I recall meeting Ian when he was organist at Almunecar eight years ago, but we didn't meet often enough for him to remember me. His daughter Helena was there visiting him, and we video chatted with Elizabeth her younger sister. Ian was pleased to have his daughters with him, and a visit from me, but wasn't on top form and wasn't able to focus on receiving Communion so I read scripture with him, prayed and laid hands on him instead. It was lovely to see his big warm smile at the end.
Meanwhile Ann and Clare waited in a shady place in the garden three floors below. A pity it wasn't quite warm enough for them to appreciate the shade. On the way back we stopped at the Playa Vilches so they could have their swim. It wasn't a success however, as beach shelved steeply with soft sand shifting with the waves, making it hard to remain stable when entering or leaving the water. Huge thunder clouds coming from inland and there were rumbles of thunder. We packed up and returned to the house, and the heavens opened with a brief cloudburst just after we arrived, but it didn't last long, and the sky cleared.
After a light salad lunch, Ann and Clare swam in the house pool. Then we drove into Nerja, as I had to visit San Miguel to check if the Paschal Candle had been extinguished after the Eucharist yesterday, as the packing away of all our church kit was done in haste, because the service was followed by the annual church meeting. As it's Eastertide, I made sure the candle was lit at the start, but wasn't sure if I or someone else had snuffed it before leaving. We were talking last night about the attention to detail required to run services smoothly in a church where you're a guest congregation, and this thought came into my head which I couldn't dismiss - it's a legacy from being responsible for worship for the past 55 years I think, even though I don't have those responsibilities any longer. Anyway the candle was stone cold, which got rid of my snagging anxiety.
Then, I parked the car in the site below Mercadona, beside the main road, and we started to walk to the main shopping area to look at the shops. I took an early wrong turning so circumvented our destination before arriving at it, We stopped at a small restaurant called Sabores del Mundo for a drink, with some nibbles as a tapa with my beer and a cinnamon bun to go with the tea the girls ordered. A lovely touch. After that, there wasn't much time for window shopping, as the others were tired and hungry, so we returned to the car and drove back to the house to get supper ready. As it was Monday, local restaurants were closed. Like this morning, it was all rather unfortunate.
I went for a walk down to the senda litoral as the sun was setting and enjoyed the twilight. There was one motorist who drove up the lay-by, ignored the no entry sign at the tunnel and drove through, to get on to Tamango Hill. Admittedly, at dusk the headlights of an oncoming car would have been visible, and there was clearly nobody around. A few minutes later I saw another motorist turn left into Tamango Hill across white lines, rather than go up hill 300 metres further to the roundabout to turn around and enter in the correct manner. Again, taking advantage of the absence of traffic in both directions. I'm not sure I have the nerve to take risks of that kind any more. Mercifully Clare thinks I'm still driving well, and she is a nervous passenger at the best of times. I just feel I need to be more diligent when driving nowadays when I observe other drivers being careless. Better safe than sorry.
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