The dentist and the tree

Today we bicycled to a village a few miles inland so Andy could pay a visit to a dentist. Yesterday whilst having lunch yesterday part of a tooth fell off so he needed it to be filled. I waited in a cafe under a big plane tree in the village square. This is the cushion on the bench at which I sat - I was rather taken with it.

The dental treatment went smoothly and apparently the room Andy was in looked out over the tree under which I sat. The dentist had worked from this room for the last eighteen years. She stayed as she loved the view - over the tree in the summer and when the leaves were gone in winter - out over the sea. She had even seen a cat give birth in the tree and then carry her kittens to safety.

Whilst I sat elderly ladies enjoyed a chat under the tree and a younger lady brought them a bag of fresh vegetables from the local shop. Then the children came out of school and ran up to the ladies - I assume their grandmothers - and there was hugging and more talking.

After 40 minutes of quietly sipping peppermint tea, reading my book and watching all the happenings in the square, I I was pleased to see Andy walking back to me with a smile on his face and ready to bicycle back for lunch.

We read for much of the afternoon before talking a walk up one of the nearby hills. The landscape seemed almost lunar (barren and rocky) with only a few plants adapted to withstand the heat and dry, growing amongst the rocks. We stopped and looked from a-high over the miles of glistening sea in front of us and towards the next hilltop on which a little white chapel sat, also glistening in the bright light.