Ruffled Feathers

The storm has nearly cleared today, with a blue-skied chilliness in the air. When we (my boys and I) ran this morning, I didn’t heat up enough to take my polyprop top off. It was surreal looking at the sea with a backdrop of snow-dusted mountains. We did warm up on the ergomet though – A, B, C exercises (two minutes each) and then twenty minutes rowing.
I caught the taxi van to Tucepi to meet a cousin for coffee to talk about work opportunities. His eyes widened when I suggested that I would be happy working as a sobarica (room maid) and then widened again when said that I would walk back to Makarska.
Sitting in a café in the trg, there are a few pigeons with ruffled feathers (from the wind??). My neighbour (let’s call him Grumpy Old man – GOG) has ruffled feathers too. Here’s the thing.

I have a lovely terrace which is recessed one meter below the road (Exhibit A).

The road is a public road (Antuna Gustava Matosa) but the GOG built the metal fence between the road and the terrace and says that I must not use it to leave my terrace. He motions for me to go around to the other door and scowls. Seriously. Unfortunately (for him) I am immune to scowls. Branka has had trouble with this issue before, so we are ignoring him.

Did I mention my Mountaineering Club experience? Last Sunday, at the kind suggestion of Branka, I got up at 6.30, lunch packed¸ to go on a tramp with the local Mountaineering Club. It was easy to spot the members of the Mountaineering Club as they made their way to the meeting place – tramping boots, checked shirts, trousers with lots of handy pockets and zips, back packs and those alpine stick things (have you got the visuals??). I was feeling slightly nervous by now….
I introduced myself to the leader of the pack (Drago) and he looked me up and down in my running shoes and shorts and said……’no’.
Boots are needed – no rolled ankles.
Long trousers are needed – snakes.
I skulked away like a child sent home from a school outing.

Never mind – I’m determined. I’m looking out for a shop that sells tramping boots (or someone my size that looks like an ex-mountaineer), I’ve just bought trousers (with pockets for Africa) and longer socks. But goodness knows where I will find those alpine stick things!