Mirador del cementiri

“Back in the village, I had to double-kiss a whole row of male and female cheeks, and tears were shed as at my departure. Though I had meanwhile acquired a wife and three small children, it seemed as if I had been absent only a few weeks, except for the immensity of the tangerine bushes in the garden, and loquat-pits. Of course, children had grown up, and a few old people had died; but families remained intact. […] Everything I had left behind had been booked after –linen, silver, books and documents- though the moths had got into my socks; and if I felt so inclined, could have sat down at my table, taken a sheet of paper from the drawer and started work again straight away. Deià certainly rolled out the red carpet for me; my return made everyone hope that prosperity was once again around the corner.”