Home Alone

Sue leaves for Spain tomorrow. She has a five-month contract at a school in Cordoba in Andalucía. We’ve both been doing stints away from home since I took a four-month contract in London in 2008. We actually both seem to enjoy this lifestyle, where we are together at home for about half our time, with one of us working away and the other at home for the rest of the time. I plan to stay home for most of the five months, doing work on the house and our land, with perhaps four weeks in Spain, where Sue will rent an apartment.

Meanwhile the winter is fast approaching here. A couple of nights ago we had our first cold snap and the evening air is now full of the smell of wood smoke. Most restaurants have given up completely on their outside terraces and have retreated indoors. One still sees the occasional tourist in shorts and sandals, which always makes me smile, as they wander around seemingly unconscious of the fact that they are surrounded by people wearing overcoats and quilted jackets. In Locorotondo market there are now stalls displaying great heaps of dark brown and shiny chestnuts and artichokes are beginning to appear. Also, the first local oranges are now on sale. I find it hard to get used to the idea that oranges are a winter fruit as I associate cool freshly squeezed orange juice with the summer. Soon I will be able to make my favourite winter salad – finely sliced raw fennel and orange, dressed with olives, olive oil, salt and pepper. But I will have to eat it alone while Sue begins her adventure in Al Andalus.

I will spend most of my time on my own, apart from the occasional meal out or visit to friends. Erminia will also look in every couple of days to make sure I’m still alive and not living in total squalor. She is a far less frequent visitor when Sue is not at home. Much as I like to see her that is fine by me. It’s not that I don’t like people, but when Sue was in Qatar for ten months, I actually found I was quite happy in my own company and enjoyed having so much headspace. After a while one gets very used to pleasing oneself, which does have its drawbacks when you return to living in company. Shortly after Sue returned from the Middle East we were eating lunch together at home when she pointed out that noisily licking your fingers and smacking your lips was not the sort of thing you should do when others were present – “Ah, yes, sorry about that” I said, reddening slightly.