Soft, saturated, and nourished by the tears of Mother Earth, the blades of turf that adorn the steep slopes of Hilly Fields still shine viridescent against the wintry gloom. Gathered within the stones, my merry band of companions huddle together, cloaks and fringes dusted with fine droplets. We share out portions of dark nectar into enamel vessels, the vapours rising and sowing their invigorating aromatics in the air. Life Orb breaches the horizon behind a bastion of fog, its light diffuse, its arrival heralded by an assurance from the Met Office rather than the naked eye. Yet still, we stand in reverence, facing Eastward. Some raise their hands to embrace the dawn, others share a silent moment of reflection, shoulder to shoulder. The wheel of the year arrives at its zenith and rolls dutifullly over. Days henceforth grow in length and light triumphs over darkness once more! Winter Solstice blessings upon ye, dear friends! May your days be filled with mirth, curiosity, and companionship ✨
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A rutilant Andalusian sunrise casts a long shadow before me: a fuse that, if left to burn, would surely lead to my demise at the hands of the furnace that each day bakes this land, leaving not a drop in its wake, but dust, scrub, and brittle grasses. That is, if it weren't for the aqueducts that weave across the mountainside and feed the fortress that lies ahead.
Scaling the switchbacks to Sacromonte, a church bell tolls from across the valley: a harbinger of the heat‘s relentless march, a gentle prompt to keep moving. Much longer out on these winding, exposed trails would see me roasted, immobilised and sapped of all vitality - rendered helpless vulture fodder: a paralysed, pale, parched human crisp splayed out in the dust and gasping for a few drops of water.
These are the trails that put the pump to work, fueling the legs and honing the mind's sharp edge as scree and rubble give way underfoot, tumbling down sheer cliffs to the Darro river below. Granada rises from the valley, cloaked in the brilliant gold of the morning light and with it, the menacing battlements of the Moorish citadel rear up in all their domineering splendour.
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