Carnaval.

Doctor's appointment in Es Mercadal today to check BP, following the last one where I was prescribed new additional meds which I haven't taken, not once. Surprisingly the levels were actually lower! On the way back to the car I heard drums and the sound of a marching band, so went to investigate. It was the local municipality's children's carnival, and consisted of an excellent drum ensemble, and a band with children playing saxophones, clarinets and other wind instruments surprisingly well, and with evident pride. The rest of the procession, from tots to teens, consisted of groups of cowboys/girls, punks, hippies and "rock bands", flanked by proud parents wielding smartphones and ipads to record the event. The exuberance and happiness on the faces brought a tear to my cynical old eye. This is a wonderful place to grow up. There is always a fiesta or a workshop happening, and if not the kids "play out" with their friends in the square in perfect safety during the evening. I remember playing out in the street with the neighbours' kids many decades ago, and even going on expeditions through the fields and woodland where we constructed "dens" and tin tray slides on grassy slopes. All this is ancient history in the safety-fearful, overstressed and over-school-tested UK, but here for the moment a simpler way of life exists. Long may it continue.