Heading Back

Tomorrow morning we take the train from San Sebastian to Madrid; we fly home to North Carolina Monday morning. We are eager to see our dogs as we have missed them a great deal.

This proved a busy trip to Spain, with the highpoint being the purchase of an old apartment in San Sebastian. Lots of negotiating; lots of paperwork; lots of bureaucracy; some minor glitches, but in the end all ended well. My sister-in-law will be supervising renovation on the place, mainly ripping out old wall-to-wall carpeting and trying to save the original wood floor. The building was built in 1941, with bomb-proof concrete, so the thought of moving walls is out. Floors and paint will have to be the core of the renovation. The apartment has a story which I want to believe is true, so I will. The owner told us that her father, some sort of local Franco regime official, hosted Randolph Churchill, son of Winston, at a lunch in 1946, at the dinner table being left behind. I did some rudimentary research and found that, indeed, Randolph Churchill came through San Sebastian in 1946, and that local officials hosted him and the British military attache for lunch. I have decided to believe the story told me by the ex-owner of my apartment, to wit, that that lunch took place in the flat and at the table now in my possession. I refuse to consider any research that shows otherwise. Period. End of story. A velvet rope is being put up around the table and guided tours will soon be offered.

Spain, a great place to visit and live in, is facing the same ravages that the rest of the West faces, and the same threat to its history, culture, and long traditions from the same sort of leftist loons now infecting all of our Civilization. We had a lunch with a close friend of my wife's in Madrid; she is a British-trained chemist working for a large US multinational drug company. She knows the US very well and was saddened to see what is happening there as wokeness goes ever stronger. She sadly noted that the same process is underway in Spain. She said that her son, about ten years old, came home from an expensive Catholic school and lectured her on her "homophobia." She told her son and the school that she does not consider homosexuality a fit topic for discussion with a ten-year-old, and, in addition, that nothing would convince her that that lifestyle is "normal." Exasperated, she told us, "I had this discussion with nuns!" At work she said her American company is constantly lecturing the employees on "diversity" and "inclusivity." It all sounded so very familiar and sad.

Should have mentioned, the San Sebastian Film Festival has begun. It's showing a bunch of films I will never watch. They are competing for the Most Woke title, I guess.

I should also have mentioned that Spaniards are being bombarded daily with Green nonsense and are facing monstrous energy bills. It has begun to destroy the local farmers who now face restrictions on grazing, use of chemical fertilizers, and diesel. It's insanity.

Well, I will be heading back soon. My son is already telling me I must watch Tucker Carlson who, per my son, has been nailing it every night. OK. I will give his show a try.