Spanish Secrets: Village Characters
Craig Briggs introduces us to some of the characters in the Galician village where he lives, creating a longing to go and see them.
Canabal is quite a small village but has no lack of characters. Melanie and I have affectionately given nicknames to some of them - names which best suit their appearance.
Take Phil Cool for example. Surprisingly he's called Phil, well Phillipe actually. It's always difficult to guess someone's age, but I'd say he's somewhere between 75 and 85. He got his nickname during the summer.
Phil doesn't really walk. He shuffles along. At the top of his back, his shoulders arch forward and his head tilts upward slightly, allowing all his features to be clearly visible. On his head he wears a French-style black beret and in the summer he also wears very dark, round-rimmed sunglasses, similar to those made famous by the late John Lennon.
This figure, seen shuffling up and down the street, looks to me like an old saxophonist in some thirties Jazz band, or a pianist for a New Orleans Blues band, hence Phil Cool.
Then we have Tom Thumb. Unsurprisingly he's quite a small chap - tiny to be exact. I suppose a more topical name might have been Bilbo. Everyday, come rain or shine, he walks past our house with a spring in his step and a smile from ear to ear. Without fail he wishes us good day and more often than not he waves goodbye.
Then there's the Sheep Lady who frequently walks past the house guiding her small flock of sheep to graze on nearby pasture. There's never more than a dozen sheep, even with new lambs. Each new born lamb is carried to and from the pasture, but only on its first journey. After that they are expected to follow the rest of the flock, and to date they always have.
In the summer she sits at the side of the road knitting whilst the sheep graze. It's almost as if the wool is being woven straight off the sheep's back, but of course it isn't.
Vince who's real name is Jose and used to be called Terry, until I found out that was his wife's name, is the village landowner, or so we think. He and is wife Theresa, stroll up and down the village lanes as if surveying their estate.
He does have a private fishing lake - well a very big pond to be more precise. He also owns several of the old clay pits in the area and can occasionally be seen landscaping them with his digger, when he feels in the mood.
Finally we have Mr and Mrs Wiggy. So named because of their amazing hair styles, Mrs Wiggy has a well-groomed bird's nest stuck to her head. Mr Wiggys' hair looks like it's been painted on. On the rare occasion that we get a stiff breeze, one thing is for sure. Neither Mr nor Mrs Wiggy, will have one hair out of place.
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