Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Bull Sighting


Occasionally, as I go about my daily life, I am suddenly struck by the thought of all the twists and turns my life has taken to get me to that moment in time, that specific spot, this life. Yesterday morning was one such moment.

There I was, heading north through Castilla y Leon en route to a construction site awaiting my watchful presence, when over the horizon rose a giant set of black horns. Then came the head and the hulking body of an enormous black bull. Anyone who has spent much time on the Spanish highways will not be surprised by such an occurrence, but this was my first bull. Not the first I’d seen, but the first I, myself, had driven towards. And for some reason it spoke to me like no other such bull had.

In the few seconds it took for the bull to fully appear on the hillside, the events in the past few years that conspired to bring me to that place – to Spain, to Madrid, to the A-1 freeway north of Madrid, to a solo business trip to a construction site hidden away in the folds of southern Pais Vasco – flashed through my mind. And it overwhelmed me.


The wonderful part is that it thrilled me. I was not struck by a bout of homesickness, nor was I not flooded with nostalgia for Alligator Alley. I was instead exhilarated by the sight of something so Spanish and the thought of how perfectly it fits into the life that I can call mine.

2 comments:

Mike said...

Hi Amy,

OK, I am jealous. Whew, now that is out of the way.
You seem to be enjoying your new life in Spain.

I had the luxury of living there in the mid 80's while in the Air Force at Torrejon.

Even to this day I still cook Paella, tortilla de patata, patata bravas etc. etc...

In fact it will be 20 years since I left this coming May 20th. My how time flys. Fyi, I lived in Cobena, Alcala, Meco, Eurovillas and on the the Base at TJ...

Oh, and for the "Trunk", as a single guy that was one of the better "parts" of ESPANA during my four and half year stay.

I hope all is well and look forward to reading your next adventure.

One more thing, what type of construction are you in?

Mike

Amy said...

Hi, Mike! Thanks for reading!! I can understand your jealousy! I really missed Madrid when I was back in the States! I work for the engineering subsidiary of one of the big Spanish electrical companies. I basically do the civil engineering work for power plant construction. Again, thanks for following along and even more for commenting!!