85. Stars in my head…

Lavinia, 26 may 2022

The past few weeks we had very stable weather, as it should be. And as we are used to. This is very welcome after the capricious and damp spring. Also for us. You get used to it really quickly : pull open the curtains and see only blue sky, at the most brightened up with airy clouds on which the play of colouors of the rising sun reflects. Never have to think about taking a jacket with you ‘just in case’, just quickly put on your slippers and go off. Or no, driving a car with slippers is prohibited here. In any case, you don’t have to put on socks, no need to layer-up-to-assemble-that never seem to match when things have to go fast. No, I am happy with this nice Spanish sun.

As a naturist you should of course remember that you have to wear something to go into the city. How often did it happen to me that, sitting on a terrace in Alicante, in the umpteenth hot flush (or vapor as we can say so beautifully in Flanders), I suddenly realize that I can’t just take off my T-shirt to cool down. I’ve pretty much created a trademark when putting on and taking off top clothes. Every mature lady will surely recognize herself in my story. The sudden glow that overtakes you and that you immediately want to leave. Afraid of the sweat odors they might bring with them, but mainly because it feels very uncomfortable. Raging, and almost in panic mode, I MUST free my torso at that moment immediately. Wim already knows this phenomenon very well. As soon as he sees me clumsily trying to drag the thing from my sticky sweaty body, irrevocably hampered in my movements by my limited sore shoulder, he comes to my aid. Then I see the helpless look in his eyes – or am I just imagining it? Often it ends with a fumbling with the two of us because we both know this is an emergency. A life and death situation. And when it finally works, I can breathe again. Heavenly. Only to get dressed less than a minute later because the cold makes me shiver. Well, that’s also being a woman. Fortunately, this is, thanks to our lifestyle, a lot less common than in Belgium 😉.

The evenings and nights are also wonderfully warm. We can dine outside every evening until  23 o’clock without having to put on anything. Wonderful, that Southern lifestyle. Because the temperature also remains nice at night, and drops just a few degrees down to a nice 17 degrees, we have been sleeping outside for more than a week now. Finally we found a nice, sturdy outdoor bed. Firm, because it has to withstand the often strong wind that occasionally rises here. By the way, everything here has to be twice as strong, just because of the wind. Many umbrellas flew over our site. We had been looking for such a bed for months to place on the roof terrace of the new Sensación Penthouse. We weren’t looking for that at all at the time, but in that shop in question, the robust cabana caught our eye. Complete with shade cloth, sturdy curtains, mattresses that were resistant to sun and water, and also very spacious with its 200 cm x 180 cm. Expensive, yes, but in promotion, and there were only two left. Obviously we had to do the numbers, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. Not after all those hours looking for a suitable bed on the internet. Now that I had found this perfect gem, it wouldn’t let me go. What’s more, I suggested to Wim the idea of ​​maybe buying them both. One for the roof terrace, and one for us. If choices have to be made, it is always the choice in function of the guests that makes it. I secretly hoped that Wim’s calculation would be positive. A few days later I carefully asked whether he had had time to figure out the figures, because I was afraid that the two of them would be bought by other interested parties.

A little disappointed, he reported that he had wanted to surprise me, and that he had to reveal it now. He had ordered them both, and they were to be delivered and installed two days later. I was over the moon! While he thought he couldn’t have surprised me, I was so overjoyed. How sweet he is!

In the meantime we have spent the night in our gigantic outdoor bed for a whole week. Just put a mosquito net over it, to avoid trouble. We no longer need an alarm clock : we are awakened earlier by the rising sun and the cheerful morning song of the birds. But I really don’t care. In my opinion, that hour less sleep really does not outweigh the good, pure sleep outdoors. When I wake up at night, I lie like a prince, enjoying the clear night with its millions of stars, and the lights of the city. And because it is far from time to get out of bed when I wake up in the morning, I snooze a little further, and I am surprised by the splendor of the clouds and the play of light of the rising sun on the mountains and the flowers. I can really think of a lot of ways that are less pleasant to wake up… Add to that breakfast with a sea view, while all the guests are still sleeping out, and my day can’t go wrong. I love that morning ritual, where I, with a cup of coffee in my hand, gradually hear our little paradise come to life. I like the familiar sounds around me. Joey, our Dutch golden boy, stepping confidently up the stairs, the sounds of his brush as he clears the paths, his cheerfull “good morning”. I love the coziness of our cat brothers Bollie and Billie snuggling close to us in the sun. I love the smells in the morning, smells that I create myself, the bread baking in the oven, the coffee that drips steaming from the espresso machine into my cup, the toaster that spits out my sandwich. Enjoying breakfast for a while, just Wim and I. Even though I have a hard time sitting there and doing nothing…

Hasta luego,

Annemie ofte Ana