Memories of the past, dreams for the future. Part 2

Under Way

Argentina:  places mentioned in these posts

On a fresh spring morning in early November, Michèle and I set forth in a westerly direction from Carlos Casares, the village 260 km south west of Buenos Aires where she lives, on a four hour drive to Santa Rosa, provincial capital of La Pampa, where a friend was to meet and drive me the remainder of the journey to Río Colorado – a further 280 km, or three hours.  The few days in Buenos Aires had been exciting and nostalgic, and I tried not to think about the unaccustomed quantities of food I had consumed. 

However, the distractions were powerful:  driving with Michèle at the wheel is a unique experience, replete with an excitement all its own.  She leads a very busy life as a farmer’s wife and devoted mother of five children aged between thirty and fourteen, and still manages to fit in garden design and run several households.  Her husband, two daughters and three sons keep in touch by texting or talking to her on her mobile several times a day, as do contractors, fitters, workmen and various members of staff.  There were 8 tolls along the way, and I saw the greatest example of multitasking I’m ever likely to come across. 

Michèle aged 13

She took calls and read texts, organised meals remotely, negotiated toll booths and supplied the right change, chatted animatedly to me as she puffed on a cigarette, balancing on the dashboard one of the medialunas we had bought at the last service station, deftly manoeuvring the steering wheel with an elbow when necessary, and taking sips from the cup of hot coffee in the cubbyhole by the handbrake.  Her capacious handbag was reluctantly relinquished by her to avoid being surgically removed from her lap by me, as I watched her, alternately laughing in disbelief and reflecting that though all of this was thoroughly illegal in England, we were now in the Wild West in road terms.

Aged 18

We have known each other since we were thirteen and at the same school, and we’ve always been buddies.  It was fun, albeit death-defying, to be part of her world for a while.

Aged 40

Friendship between women – what makes it so special?  History shared, mutual respect, a common approach to life, a special indefinable affinity?  Definitely, but male friendships have that too.  How about the reassurance of being yourself, even at your worst, and being able to share clinical issues without self-consciousness, not to mention the pure delight of shared weaknesses? … or just the ability to giggle like idiots and set each other off?  Perhaps a combination of all these things.  There are many bonds between us, not least that I’m privileged to be godmother to her older daughter.

Today

-oOo-

Río Colorado is an attractive town by the slow, deep flowing river of the same name...

 ...with tree-lined streets and, typically for Argentina, the entire network of cables required for everyday life hovering overhead...

...as you can see from the picture below of the prolifically flowering ceibo (the cockspur coral tree, or Erythrina crysta-galli, national flower of Argentina and Uruguay).

The following morning was another early start, with a journey 300 km south east to Viedma, the provincial capital of Río Negro.   No matter where you are in Patagonia, whether city or steppe, you’re always aware of the wind, which tears fiendishly round corners trying to lift you off your feet.  The silence and solitude are for earlier in the year - in winter and spring you can still enjoy the solitude, but it’s nearly always noisy, the wind screaming across the vast open spaces and clattering relentlessly through the houses by day and night.  Photography is one of my passions, though I make no claims of artistry or expertise, and here I tried to capture… well, dust.

Hope you haven't drifted off...  Next time I'll write about Viedma.

-oOo-

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