Monday, March 30, 2015

Biking through Wine Country

I I love biking. Not cycling, with spandex and sportsbars (although that's fun too), but biking, with a basket and a bell. Yesterday I was wandering about the vineyard. Everyone else was sleeping or occupied, so without any planning I hopped on one of the bikes and rode into the village to have a look around. It being Sunday lots of people were milling about, having a post church coffee, visiting wth their neighbors. I rode up and down every street in Torrelles de Foix. I thought I'd head back after that, but the village on the hill up behind our property caught was beckoning.  Here's a peek back towards Mas Els Igols from up there. 
Our residence is the house off in the distance. 

I started to head home, but every time I did something else would catch my eye and I was drawn on in another direction. It was glorious.  I rode up to the castle above Sant Marti Sarroca, down into the village there, and then far far out along winding country roads. Some of them petered out into muddy ruts at the back of someone's property, where I'd turn around and head off in another direction. There were just enough people to keep it interesting; out working on their houses and fields, half-waving hello as they rode by on their motorbikes. The colours and the textures, random fields of poppies, crumbling stone fences, white walls splashed with shots of deep green trees growing in front of them, gorgeous lemon trees in people's yards and big perfect irises growing by the roadside kept me fascinated. After hours of wandering I remembered the bread that was rising under a teatowel on the counter as I headed out.  I turned the bike around, rode back, and sat at our kitchen table cutting chunks of Camembert and laying them on top of warm slices of perfect country bread. I could not have been more content. It was my last Sunday in Spain. I reflected back on all the thoughts, conversations and adventures I'd had here.  With each passing day now I'm more and more excited to get home, see my friends, family, meld back into the life I left waiting there, but it feels good to know that I've absorbed a little of the Spanish countryside that I'll be carrying with me back home. 

2 comments:

Jeffrey Willius said...

Hola, Sketch -- I love this idyllic scene you've created -- and just in your well-crafted words this time.
And your linocuts in previous posts are wonderful!! Thanks for sharing these stellar points of light from your life!

Unknown said...

Sounds wonderful.

Love the prints in the previous post.