When I asked, he whispered, "Slushee used cloudy language."
He pondered a moment and then said, "Wait. That doesn't sound right."
"Did you mean colorful language?" I asked.
Slushee passed by again and said, "Yes. Blue."
Red and Yellow
While we're on the subject of colors, there's been talk lately — to our dismay — of red alerts and yellow alerts here on the Costa del Sol. The alerts are to warn of strong winds.
The reason for San Geraldo's dismay? He has a catastrophic imagination.
The reason for my dismay? I have to live with San Geraldo.
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| A NUMBER OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ENJOYING THE WINDS. (CLICK THE IMAGES FOR THE BIG PICTURE.) |
Last week was filled with sunshine and beach days. The winds came and went, but they were not powerful enough to impress Linda and Tom. The last couple of days have been different. After more than 48 hours of strong winds, the sky is finally calm (at least for now).
Saturday night, Elena just happened to mention a red alert that occurred more than a year ago. It amounted to nothing, she told us. Schools were closed and the kids came home and swam in the pool all afternoon. Elena is from the north coast of Spain where the surf can be monstrous. She finds high surf warnings here on the calm Mediterranean to be comical. High surf here is a lazy day at the beach in Bilbao. And that was the point of her story.
But San Geraldo missed the point. The entire time Elena spoke, San Geraldo kept jumping in and demanding, "Red alert?!? We have alerts?!?"
I calmed him down... after finally telling Elena to just stop talking. She summarized by saying, "But, Jerry, that was more than a year ago."
Well, this morning, Slushee just happened to mention that there was a yellow alert today. San Geraldo snapped, "Yellow alert?!? I thought we never get alerts! What does a yellow alert mean?!?" [Note: It means high winds of up to 80 kms/hr (49 mph).]
Not knowing about Saturday's conversation, Slushee said, "Oh, we get alerts all the time. We've had six in the past month."
"What?!? Six?!?"
"Slushee, would you please stop!" I laughed. She laughed and headed behind the bar.
"Cloudy language."
ReplyDeletei'm gonna start using that one!
Bob:
DeleteBe careful. Carlos might starting using it, too.
Great photos here Mitchell!
ReplyDeleteNow to 'All alert Jerry'!! He would be an asset to any evacuation team so along as he didn't cause outright panic to the masses!! Happy you calmed him down and 'shut up' Slushie! l;ol
Jim:
DeleteInterestingly, Jerry is the first one to step up in an emergency. If anyone is in panic mode, he calms them down. It's fascinating. He's only a basket case at the "thought" of a catastrophe.
That kind of makes sense....doesn't it?
DeleteI also like the phrase "cloudy language." Must find a way to use it.
ReplyDeleteStephen:
DeleteIt could be related to fuzzy logic.
Whew! Alerts!
ReplyDeleteNow... I probably missed something... are Tom and Linda friends of yours who are visiting, or new neighbors?
Judy:
DeleteSorry! I should include reminders. Linda is Jerry's [saintly] sister and Tom is her husband -- who should definitely be called Saint Thomas. They're here in town for the month of March... and they're our neighbors; they rented the apartment next door.
Cool!
DeleteCloudy language? With a chance of meatballs?
ReplyDeleteIn some ways I'm the opposite of San G...I don't panic beforehand, I plan and organise. Nor do I panic during; far too busy for that. Afterward? I fall to pieces.
Jacquelineand....
DeleteI'm like you... somewhat. If I'm going to have a meltdown, it's after everything is done.
If S.G. is of an apocalyptic mentality what does he think happened to the Malaysian aeroplane? Abducted in entirety by aliens? (No laughing matter, I know.)
ReplyDeleteRaybeard:
DeleteInteresting to think about. Although SG has a catastrophic imagination, he isn't apocalyptic. He's only irrational when it comes to himself (and then, thankfully, not all the time).
This made me smile. We often get blizzards with 70 mph winds in the Winter. I don't have yucca trees, but maybe they are sort of fragile? I can tell you that I nearly killed our little jade tree last year. I put all my inside plants outside in May every year. Well, I jumped the gun a little as we had a sudden freak snow storm in early May (mind you this was after nearly a month of temps in the high 60's!) and when I went outside in the morning to rescue all of my plants, my poor jade was nearly bent double from the wind and had frostbite on several of its leaves. I babied it all Summer, but to this day, it only stand upright because it is held with a yardstick. But, the wind can be fierce on the prairie...
ReplyDeleteMaria:
DeleteThe yuccas are unbelievably hardy -- proven by the fact that this one has been blown over four times and hasn't been damaged. Our mistake was we planted them in plastic pots, which are too light to support the weight of the tree against the weight of the winds. In Southern California, we had jade trees outside (planted in the ground) that grew huge. I'd love to get one here for the terrace... but then there's that wind. Maybe outside the front door. I love them.
I like a good storm, but too much and I'll sit on the patio with San Geraldo and watch it all from a safe place.
ReplyDeleteSharon:
DeleteSan Geraldo doesn't even like to WATCH. But I do.