Sun, snow and chocolate

Imagine a sunny day in the Sierra de Guadarrama, north of Madrid, early in the summer so the stream we picnic by is still rushing the melt water from the snow further up in the hills to the river below. Imagine jumping into a pool in the water - too shallow to dive - and splashing around like children, trying to catch the trout around our feet. Then before the cold of the water chills us to the bone, climbing out onto the bank and stretching out on a smooth rock in the sun to bake dry. Repeat several times, and it is a taste of heaven.

But the real taste of heaven came later, after the sun went down. At that time of year in the mountains, once the sun goes in the air grows chilly as it drifts down from the snowline. So we drifted down too, in the car, to an inn at the roadside where we sat under the pine trees drinking cups of steaming chocolate, rough woollen blankets supplied by the inn around our shoulders.

Whenever I see stars through pine branches, it takes me back to that night. Rough blankets, hot chocolate, stars and my love... Heaven indeed.