May 23 - A Perfectly Miserable Day

 How can you describe a miserable day as being perfect, you might ask.  It was the kind of day where everyone stays home because it is so miserable out.  All the shops are closed with signs on their doors saying "closed due to the awful weather."  For some strange unknown reason, of all of the many different ethnic restaurants that line the seacoast, only the Italian and Indian restaurants are open.

I got woken up at 1:30am by a large clap of thunder and the winds shaking the metal door that covers my sliding glass door.  The wind was once again whistling in through some opening at the top of my windows.  But I was warm and cozy in my bed.

At five am I was woken again by the banging of the metal doors from the wind.  I ran to the bathroom before returning to my warm bed.  I finally go out of bed at 8:30am.  Michael had already opened the metal doors from the windows in the dining/living area.  Looking out the windows the day was grey and wet.  You could hardly tell where the sea left off and the sky began.

Michael and I talked briefly about going to the museum in Alicante by tram if the weather did not get any worse.  I went to take my shower.

When I was dressed and back looking out the window - the scene had changed dramatically.  

The sandy area that led to the beach and the sea was almost covered in water - but not quite to the sea.  Cars in the parking lot seemed stranded on high spots of ground.  No one was walking about. 

 The rain was coming down in torrents.  

A short hour later I noticed the cars going by on the road in front of our gate were driving on the wrong side of the street to avoid the deepening water puddles.

Now when you look down to the sea - the water from the parking lot and through the sandy area leading to the beach and sea are all one now!  Where was all that water coming from?  

I looked out the side windows and saw that the walking paths on that side were flooded with water.  And just like the dry arroyos in New Mexico, the water in them was now pouring downhill towards the sea.  If you look at the top of the photo above you can see the tunnel under the road.  That leads to the parking lot on the other side - and eventually to the sea.  But this water is now very muddy.

Now when you look out to the harbor you can see the muddy water making its way out to the sea.  The Mediterranean is no long the beautiful turquoise green - now it is muddy brown.

The muddy water kept spreading out further and further.  Eventually it got diluted with the sea water and stopped spreading.  As the day wore on, the water in the parking lot dissipated and the owners were able to move their cars at last.  The rain never stopped, but it now came down sporadically in large gentle drops.  People started emerging from cars and apartments heading some where - with their umbrellas held high.  We finally left the apartment to get something to eat around 4:30pm.  That is when we discovered that the only restaurants open were Italian or Indian.  We were in the mood for pizza so that was fine with us.  After eating our fill, we took a walk along the board walk.  All of the entrances to the beach were tied closed with rope.  There were deep ravines cut into the sand on the beach with many of the wood platforms that led to the sea broken up.  The waves were pretty high, but not as much as yesterday afternoon.

Monday was a gray day as well - but there was no rain and very little wind in the morning.  All the usual suspects gathered in the sea for their lessons.

Even this "pirate" ship graced the harbor.

We have seen many scenes like this.  It looks to us (from the tenth floor) like the speed boat will run over all those people on the water.

But somehow they always miss.

Between 12 and 2pm, everyone leaves the water.  Lunch is served from 2-4pm.  By that time the winds had picked up dramatically.  That is when the kite surfers show up.  The wind is their friend.  We love to watch them fly across the water in dizzying patterns from our tenth floor windows.  I have already posted too many of those photos so I won't bore you again.

                                  

I am including this last photo, as Michael and I have been trying to figure out what it is.  The thing in the middle shows up most all the time.  The two outside stripes come and go.  Michael's theory was that they are floating garbage or some kind of permeant nets for fishing as the fishing boats always head out this way.  At first we guessed that the thing in the middle was a boat - but then it never moved.  My guess was that all three are spits of land.  The one in the middle is just taller, so more of it shows - or maybe something is built on it.  The other two I guessed show up or disappear depending on the tides.  Any guesses anyone!