Sisyphus and the Almonds

So the last couple weeks the newsstands have been dominated by the Dutchess of Alba's 3rd wedding. She's royalty, and also like, 85. Consanguinity+collagen=consanguinagen? So anyway, this morning we decided to participate in an event in which people are encouraged to hike some trails that run through nearby towns as a way of getting exercise with their families. If this was the U.S. there would have been a lawsuit-the trail we took was like, more muddy than a California calla lily field and at least a seventy-eight percent grade. People, I am just not that serious-I have no idea how folks were doing this trail with their little kids. But the punishing climb was rewarded with some pretty scenerific views.
There was a chapel clinging to the side of the mountain, and the fields were studded with fall-blooming crocus. We took a couple wrong turns and were somewhat concerned about marauding zombie boars, but in the end we made it back alright. There was even plenty of time for some culinary adventures. Namely, carmelized pear tart with coconut milk pastry cream. Why? Because we can. Also the neighbor brought a bucket of almonds back from Burgos. Almonds as in this kind of almonds. After boiling them, shelling them, and roasting them in salt, I have a serious botanical inquiry: how did they ever manage to reproduce? Morever, how the Sam Shizzle did anybody figure out they could eat these things? Whatever you're paying for almonds? Is not enough. Another acquaintance generously gifted us with these squash and beets from her garden. I can assure you that they have already made their congressional testimony emphatically denying 'juicing,' though their account was met with skepticism. That really big one is a subspecies of Cucurbita pepo with which I am unfamiliar, but I am confident can be converted into pie. We also went to Zizurkil (not actually a town in Narnia!) to go to a fair and see gizon proba. "Gizon proba" means "man test" and involves a couple teams of guys who yoke up to a huge rock and see which team can do the most laps in 15 minutes. It hurt my heart just to watch and apparently they also do this sport with oxen. People were really into it. Also there were a lot of signs about Basque prisoners. It's complicated, but the Spanish government has several hundred Basque prisoners scattered around the Spanish state who have been accused of consorting with ETA, which is a militant Basque separatist group. Apparently Ander and Mikel are a couple of prisoners from Zizurkil. Families of these prisoners are strained by the tremendous resources that it takes to travel all the way to, say, Madrid, or even further, which is many hours by train, to see their family members. This sign refers to a demand that Basque prisoners be transferred to prisons in the Basque Country for easier visitation. An anecdote of F's-a visiting Scottish family member couldn't figure out why Basque people were so fixated with laundry-she thought all the signs were urging people to 'presoak' (which actually means 'prisoners' in Basque) their clothes...