Chani's Creative Space

Fall is almost here, and that is good. I love the shorter days, the prospect of getting back to standard time (even if it not the time that corresponds to our meridian), eating chestnuts, taking longer walks without dying of the heat. Finding some chestnut trees on the path from Pampaneira to Bubión (province of Granada, Spain)

I wish I could step out of this world and live in a more peaceful place where greed, arrogance, injustice, hate and lies do not exist. Then I could grow some vegetables, adopt one or two more dogs. I would live without a smartphone, or at least check it only once a week. I would have a PC for the sole purpose of connecting with some friends, but not every day, and I would still not have a TV (I never owned one). In a place like this, maybe, but on another planet. Idyllic spot in Bubión (province of Granada, Spain)

It is summer, it is too hot, but we went back to a place that we love, the "Casa forestal" in Alhaurín el Grande (near Málaga, Spain), and we could chill there a bit (forgetting for a short moment all pictures and reports of destroying, killing, suffering etc. we had seen about Gaza, when there is so little we can do).  Two years ago, a huge forest fire destroyed a lot in this area, but this place has been preserved (the flame stopped just above it). Enjoy! The "Casa Forestal" of Alhaurín el Grande View of the valley from above, near the Casa forestal On the way to the Casa forestal

Even in crowded places you can find places where you can be alone, even if it is difficult. I wish I could do something about overtourism, how to convince all those masses not to travel together or not at all, because not only the others are part of the problem.  Yes, living a fulfilling life without traveling much is possible by focusing on small things that bring joy! (As always, prints and other stuff are available through my website). Oxalis in Torremuelle (Benalmádena, province of Málaga, Spain)

At home, on the coast, the only sound of water is the waves, at least we still have the beautiful sea. If we hear water elsewhere at the moment, it is probably being used illegally, and it makes you feel bad to hear how your neighbors are wasting the water that we will need so much later and will not have then. In Pampaneira and the whole Apujarra region, water is omnipresent (the Sierra Nevada is near): fountains, small and large streams... The vegetation is lush, we forgot that it could be so green.   Enjoy the pictures and the video of the río Poqueira!

I love this place where I can be myself, where I can still draw or write with pencil and paper without people laughing at me, where no one steals the silence I need to exist. I wish I could live there all year round; it might be hard in the winter, but 3/4 of the year would make up for it... Of course, when you grow old, you need a certain infrastructure, it is not a good idea to move to a village without proper medical care, shops, buses, etc. At least we can always go back there. A house will wait patiently for us. Oh, Pampaneira, I cannot wait to see you again! A view of some typical roofs of Pampaneira (province of Granada, Spain) A street in Pampaneira, early in the morning (a village without cars!)