September Morn

In the distance a cockerel completes his dawn duties with a final throaty bugle call. There’s almost total silence for a few seconds before two wood pigeons take up the early morning chorus, cooing gently from the top of the pine tree. The jaunty peal of church bells add a sing-song soundtrack to the scene.

On one side of the valley a row of palm trees are silhouetted against the sun which has just risen above the hill; a reminder of how exotic this island is. On the other side of the valley, Mount Teide and the Corona Forestal, their features razor sharp on a typically beautiful September morning, break the intense blue sky. What privilege to be able to enjoy such a vision as we breakfast on the terrace.

The doves are joined by a pair of chiffchaffs who dance and twitter happily beside the orchid tree whilst a cheeky Canarian blue tit mugs a hibiscus flower. A few cold blooded early risers rustle about in the undergrowth, eager to sun themselves as the shadows retreat to be replaced by a reptilian sun deck. Their simple pleasure is interrupted by the shrill shriek of one of a pair of falcons who are king and queen of the sky in our little slice of the universe. The lizards, wary of ending up as breakfast, retreat noisily back into the long grass.

We sit silently for a few moments letting our ears tune in to nature’s soundtrack. The sound of a dozen different birds singing and chattering acts as a wonderfully sweet narcotic. It is one of those paradisical and priceless moments and an essential reminder of how beautiful this world is.