Off to Madrid

No, not us, some Spanish guy.

Helpful Partner was on dog walking duty today as it was too windy for me. Dust in contact lenses and all that.

Anyway as he's wandering down the track he meets a woman who was busy emptying half the contents of her house into one of the communal rubbish skips.

Sitting on the back seat of the car was a motocross helmet.

Apparently her son had cleared off to Madrid and didn't want it any more, or the bike, or the quad (she'd sold those).

"Well, do you want it?" she said.

"Of course," says he.

The son had got himself a new life in Madrid and wasn't coming back so she was getting rid of everything. She'd probably bought it all for him anyway as Spanish children rarely seem to have to put their hand in their pocket.

"There's nothing here for young ones," says Helpful Partner, chattily as she drove down the hill slowly, and he proudly clutched his new helmet in one hand and the dog lead in the other.

"No money, no jobs, only sun," he added.

"That's right," she said. "He's got no friends here either, and he's enjoying life in Madrid. But it's all right for the likes of us, because we're older."

She didn't have the local accent, and she was pretty pleasant. She didn't speak English, only Spanish, French and Italian.

"Where did you live before?" he asked.

"Madrid."