Spring Hits Valencia
The clocks have changed and spring is now official, but in Valencia there are many natural signs that the seasons are changing.
Those of us lucky enough to live outside the city are currently being bombarded by the intoxicating scent of orange blossom; a sure sign that spring is here, whether they change the clocks or not.
There are other indications; the fig trees are producing green shoots and the persimmon trees have also sprung to life after a short, mild winter.
Persimmon Shoots
The green buds of the medlars are now turning yellow, and there is a feeling in the air that life is good after the unbearably long Valencian winter of, what was it; about two weeks this year? is over.
Furthermore, if more were further required, the poppies inundate the fertile earth of Valencia, puncturing the greens and browns with Flanderesque flashes of scarlet.
But one of the clearest signs that spring is clearly here is that the swallows have arrived from Africa, a sure sign of hot weather to come and that lots of yummy insects will soon be breeding in my kitchen.
This notion of associating swallows with the arrival of summer goes back quite away.
Aristotle, who did not exactly spring off this mortal coil in the recent past, was one of many who made a note of the old Greek proverb “one swallow does not make a spring”. Maybe Greek springs were more like our summers, which might account for all that naked wrestling they seemed so fond of.
I love to watch the swallows gliding up and down my street; they seem to actually enjoy flying, and of course their open mouths permit them to trawl a vast quantity of insect life in this way.
I had hoped in fact that they had been named ‘swallows’ for this very reason; but it doesn’t seem to be the case. There is a Scandinavian tradition that says that swallows hovered over the cross at Calvary singing “Svala! Svala!” ‘Console! Console!’ and got their name in this way. Console by the way refers to ‘comfort’, not to a video game.
Mind you, the fact that a nice theory has been disproved doesn’t stop it from being a nice theory; something to be wheel-chaired out at cocktail parties and stated as irrefutable truth when the conversation falters and the drinks waiter is otherwise detained.
The fact of the matter is that I find swallows alluring; not that I’m planning on long term relationships involving the patter of tiny feathers I assure you; it’s just that it’s occasionally nice to just watch an animal without succumbing to the irresistible desire to eat it.
Of course the word ‘alluring’ actually refers to birds; a ‘lure’ was used to entice a hawk or falcon to return to its master during training.
The spring weather in Valencia is inevitably alluring to tourists, who flock here like swallows and revive the hibernating economy, much like the swallows flock here to keep the mosquito population under control, thank God.
Recent Comments