I get up and check my weather app. It seems to be more accurate if I use it as a short-term weather forecaster rather than a long-term one. The app tells me that there is one hour until the next bout of rain, and that the rain will be light. I can live with that. It gives me time for a short walk.
I open the front door and have a look outside. I see blue sky and sun. Bonus!
I pull on my walking boots, slip on my hat and sunnies, pick up my umbrella (yes, I’m not that stupid) and head off out.
I wander up through the town, noticing that there’s a westerly wind, and that there are dark clouds to my left and right, but that up ahead it’s clear. That’s good!
Ten minutes in, and I notice that the extremely dark cloud to the north (I’m walking west) is getting closer. What the…? The wind is coming from the west, but this cloud is coming from the north. ‘I must be imagining it,’ I think.
But no, I’m not. I feel the first spots of rain. The bloody thing is ambushing me! Broadsiding me! Noooo!
A blast of wind comes through from the north – weird – just as I’m putting up my brolly, and then… whoosh!!! The proverbial bucket of water hits me. Luckily, I have my brolly up just in time, and luckily, it’s a strong one. I point it into the oncoming tempest and hold on for dear life, cowering behind it.
The road is immediately flooded with what look like grenade-sized raindrops exploding everywhere. Straight away, my boots, socks and shorts are soaked. I hold on to my brolly for grim death (yes, it’s now a battle between dear life and grim death) against the buffeting elements, desperate to keep at least some of myself dry.
I shortly find myself in a river, with water pouring down the hill. I have a decision to make: carry on or turn around and go home? To be honest, there doesn’t seem to be much point in going home. The bits of me that are wet are wet though. There is no benefit to throwing the towel in now (a towel I wish I’d brought with me) and heading back. I might as well carry on and go further than I’d originally intended.
I pass a couple of people cowering in a bush, desperately trying to stay dry, but they are out of luck obviously. They´re both wearing t-shirts and standing there with their cabin-sized bags – drenched. If I had to guess, they are tourists heading for the train station. If that’s the case, I bet this weather wasn’t on the cards when they booked their holiday!
Seconds later, the wind drops and the rain ceases. The sun breaks out, and I watch this particular black cloud disappear out to sea. The gentle westerly breeze returns, and it’s as if nothing has happened – apart from the fact that I seem to be walking through an inch of water. Oh well, I carry on regardless.
I think about my weather app, and wonder why the hell I ever look at it. It rarely gets things right. In fact, I can honestly say, it’s led to a few soakings over the years.
‘Never trust it again!’ I think, but of course, I will. I’ll look at it in the future for guidance. I pause for a moment and ruminate:
‘Isn’t that the definition of madness? Or something like it, anyway? To keep on doing the same thing, yet expecting a different result. Oh well, maybe I am mad.’
I continue on my walk in the sun, and half-an-hour later or so, I turn for home.
The way ahead is still clear, but like yesterday, I notice dark, ominous clouds to both my left and right. At one point, out to sea, to my right, I see what looks like a water spout. I watch it for a bit, thinking: ‘No, it can’t be!’
And indeed, after a few seconds, I surmise that it isn’t. It now looks more like a very narrow cloudburst to me, and my guess is proved right, as I see the clouds to its left and right open up and drop their loads in sympathy. From where I stand, the rain looks like a fine grey mist, but I know that, in reality, it’s probably the squall from hell.
I carry on heading home, and before I get there, I’m hit by another barrage of rain that crept up behind me. My brolly comes into play once more. I’m so glad I brought it with me.
Five minutes later, the rain stops, giving me time to breathe and think.
So, what do I think? Well, I think:
‘My God, haven’t we had enough?!’
I came to Portugal looking for sun and warmth. I appreciated that there would be times of drought, and that I would need to be careful with my water consumption, and that I should be glad when it rained.
Of course, I knew that there would be plenty of water around, and in fact, that was why I came here, but the water I’m talking about here is sea-water. I certainly didn’t expect this deluge from the heavens. In the six or seven years I’ve been here, we’ve always needed more rain. People are always saying that we need more. Bloody hell, if I hear anyone say that this year…
And now we need the rain to stop. The barragens (dams) are full, well, at least eighty per cent full, even here in the Algarve. There are rumours that the authorities may even have to open the sluice gates to stop the barragens from overflowing.
Another issue is the storm water flowing into the sea. I’ll be honest, at the moment, I don’t feel like doing my regular swim. Instead, I stand there wondering what’s swirling around in those murky depths. What on earth happened to the wonderfully clear waters that I so love to immerse myself in?
To sum up, it would be good if the wind and rain stopped now and the sun returned. We honestly have more than enough water for the time being, and to be honest?
I’ve now had enough!
*
Having said that, I swam five times this week. Yes, maybe I am a little bit mad, but I bloody love it!
I get up and check my weather app. It seems to be more accurate if I use it as a short-term weather forecaster rather than a long-term one. The app tells me…
I was sitting on the platform at Fuseta-A train station, waiting for the train. I was engrossed in my phone, checking for messages and emails – as you do…
All I wanted to do was pick up some beer. Then I thought, maybe some punnets of fruit, too: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries… you know…
