Le Canigou

Another beautifully sunny day. The sky seems so blue these last couple of days. Particularly uplifting at the moment is the combination of rich autumn colours and the white cap of Canigou which seems to poke out from behind each corner and with each change of direction. It is often described as the sacred mountain of the Catalans and its omnipresence is beguiling. It is hard to describe its subtle influence but in much the same way that weeks of mist and cloud can be lowering to the spirits, so, by contrast, the ever changing vista of Canigou and its associated weather is heartening and uplifting. Do not be fooled, however. Like the sea, it is no tame friend. Several die on its slopes each year, those insufficiently wary of its dangers and sudden caprices. But it enters into the soul and the imagination, its bulk and grandeur, seeming isolated from the Pyrenean chain, reminding us of our own place in the scheme of things, less important or less powerful or less influential than we might have thought. This is both corrective and humbling and something I welcome.