Almond hunt

Never heard of hunting for almonds? It’s an excellent pastime.

A burst of almond blossom stands out amongst the olive groves

It’s true that almonds don’t dodge around like animals do, but then you don’t have to stalk them for hours, you don’t have to carry a gun, and there’s no killing involved. Which I feel more than makes up for the lack of suspense a wilier and more evasive quarry might provide.

Besides, to be strictly accurate, we weren’t hunting almonds, but almond blossom. ’Tis the season. Nearly the end of it, in fact, since global warming has brought the season forward a bit. 

I know, I know. I keep being assured by authorities as authoritative, or at least authoritarian, as the White House, that no such warming is happening. But hey, I’m a bit old fashioned, and stick with theories I’ve come to be familiar with, even if that does mean disagreeing with that fine Mr Trump.

Sunlight strikes through the clouds on the almond groves
at Famorca, in the hills above Alicante

We travelled down from Valencia, where we live, to near Alicante, a couple of hours by car. Which would have been tedious alone, but fortunately we had two American friends with us, and they were – are – excellent company, so there was no boredom. We even had the dogs, who made us proud by quietly lying on the back seat, each with her head in the lap of one of the passengers (one of them being me).

The higher we climbed into the hills, the better the display of almond blossom became: the non-existent global warming phenomenon may have advanced the season in the plains, but in the hills the it was still in full swing.

Almond tree near the village of Quatretondeta

We even found a bee visiting one blossom-laden tree. A sight, sadly, that is becoming increasingly imbued with nostalgia these days. Oh, to see the bees come back…

Bee at work among the almond blossom
Bottom right if you can't spot it.
I tried to get it pose for me so I could focus properly but it was too busy
(or do I mean buzzy?)

By way of a change from looking at blossom, we also had fun looking around the village of Millena, which had kindly crocheted winter coverings for some of its trees. I’ve seen that before in other places in Spain, but it always makes me smile when I see it again.

Keeping the trees wrapped up warm

The same town had a sculpture at its entrance, as do many around this region. In most cases, they’re pretty unprepossessing, but at Millena it was rather better than most. It seemed to be concerned with trees, though quite what's going on in it I can’t work out: it looks like villagers are trying to set up a tree without its roots. Commendable to want to put trees back up again but, hey, guys, without its roots, I wouldn't bank on its longevity.

Villagers raising a (rootless) tree at Millena

Still, the sculpture’s also quite curious for the way it echoes the iconic photo of US marines raising a flag on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima.

Marines raising the US flag on Iwo Jima

Eventually, we became hungry. One of the pleasures of driving around the Spanish countryside is that every little town has its little local restaurant where you can get a set lunch – ‘set’ in the sense that the choices for each course are highly limited: two, perhaps three options at most. It goes for a song and usually the cooking is anything between acceptable and good.

We decided to have lunch in Millena, the village with the pampered trees. The set mean was certainly more than acceptable, and we enjoyed it. Especially in the company which was, as I said, excellent. In an unnecessary move, but one that was as kind as it was unexpected, our friends even insisted on covering our lunch.

Of course, we then had the two-hour trip back home, but the conversation was as good as ever. All in all, it had been a great day. We’d seen some attractive places and some lovely blossom. And enjoyed the company.

Which is what I regard as a successful almond hunt.