So far I seem to be losing the war against the gulls. And I admit they had me a little unnerved, as for a few days they seemed to single me out for dive bombing attacks as I left the building. Oh well. Then I found out that they've got a nest with eggs two stories below us, so we negotiated a ceasefire. That's not fair play on their part, using the young and innocent as shields. In any case, minor distractions during a busy week. Plenty of visits, work, etc. Cristina left for England last night and the other day I sent her an interesting essay I had read in Harper's, a lament for the loss of civility in English life. The author, Theodore Dalrymple, a physician, may come across as somewhat of a sourpuss, but he makes some good points. He writes about a great loss of decorum in contemporary society. How right! As I read I found myself heartily agreeing: we must always act with the proper decorum. Then I remembered my most recent blog entries! Yes, I am a model of decorum! So, where are we? Public life in Malaga is curious. The general kindness of people here is hard to match; I find there are large doses of generosity, patience, and good will. Yet, there is also a great of deal of uncivil behavior, manifested most often as widespread disregard for the impact of individual acts on others. In short, selfish inconsideration (noise, litter, etc.)Yesterday I drove Murphy and Mark Steele out to Frigiliana, where Rosalind prepared a wonderful paella. There were too many big, wonderful dinners this past week and we must put an end to it. Before the paella we had some splendid razor clams, in the photo.
