The usual after-coffee walk

Sometimes nothing comes out, not even a walk I've been able to do properly. I do, however, have a few extenuating circumstances to excuse this lack of activity. Such as some health issues I'm not used to but someone, who seems to be coordinating our lives, decided it was time for me to experience something new and very unpleasant. I don't want to mention this again except to justify the fact that today I have to relate a walk that happened some time ago, last summer.

I remember a walk I took by the seaside in the rain. I chose walk-in rainy weather because it resonates better with my current state of mind. A walk starting from a small terrace where I used to have coffee whenever I arrived in Balchik, a small town in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. My favorite place to spend my holidays when I can't go to my favorite and only island I visited in Greece, namely Thassos!

So, every morning, we go down to a fancy terrace. Cappuccino and the sea, the pleasure of watching the sea with a cup of coffee in front of us.

Coffee is a beverage I drink slowly, I like to enjoy it. I extend the time as long as I can, at least an hour to sit on comfortable sofas and watch the sea, smell the sea. That day, the too-long coffee gave the clouds time to take hold of the sky before we went for a walk. The usual after-coffee walk.

The rain started suddenly, as only happens at the seaside. Now it's sunny and in five minutes it gets dark and the rain starts.

Summer rains have an advantage. They are usually short, even if they come in several waves, they are short and intense...

... but they go out quickly. Even if the clouds remain, the rain has stopped. Tourists immediately appear from their sheltered spots.

The walk begins, even if late.

I have to say that I love the rain, I also love it right after the rain, when everything is washed and smells nice. I like it when there are few people around.

The beach, of course, is deserted...

Almost deserted!

The sun appears and then quickly disappears behind the clouds. This makes it sometimes brighter, sometimes greyer, but no rain.

The walk is very pleasant!

The clouds over the sea are impressive. They change shape quickly and steal our gaze.

When I was younger and used to spend a lot of time at sea, I had time and no worries, I loved fishing. In fact, it was not only a pleasure, it was also a necessity, because it was also a source of food, after the little money ran out. I knew, from experience, that it catches more fish after the rain.

Now, on my walk, I saw the fishermen and remembered the times of my youth.

It reminded me of my youth and the long holidays at the Black Sea, at Vama Veche, in Romania, my country. Back then I couldn't, I wasn't allowed to go to Bulgaria. I remembered fishing and I remembered that for a long time I used to feed myself with the fish I caught, with the clams I picked, and with shrimps. The sea was full of some shrimps, smaller than the ones I find in the shop now.
I realize how much time has passed since then, decades because now there are no more shrimps in the Black Sea. They disappeared in less than fifty years! Sad situation...

Now it's March. In our countries, both Romania and Bulgaria, it is a springtime custom, on March 1st the boys give the girls some silk string, in two colours, white and red, as a symbol of spring, rebirth and love. It's called "Martisor"(this in Romanian language), I don't know how to say it in Bulgarian!

At the end of the walk, we saw this tree to whose branches "martisoare" were tied. Bulgarian custom. I don't know the significance but I think it's something to help maintain love.

I'll say it again and again, I've found that my main activity lately is... walking. Like all of you, I love to walk, but only now I have realized that walking has become my main mode of relaxation. Slowly, slowly overtaking the other pleasures I still have.

For #WednesdayWalk by @tattoodjay