Pablo & Judi Kauffman

Towns in Spain are special for their long history, quaintness and picturesque settings, but mostly for their people. Our friend, Connie Clark (if you haven’t noticed by now, the captions for this blog appear on the top of the picture so your eyes don’t have to bounce up and down as you scroll through)

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Lives in a little town about an hour from Granada.

We went out to help clean her garden, "as good friends should and do."

There are lots of grapes in and around these little towns. Harvest will begin in October.

These friends of Connie's not only help govern the town of 250 people or so.

They also own some vineyards

That make fine quality wine. These wooden barrels store wine from 2006 that will be marketed and sold next year. What did Jesus say about new wine in old wineskins? They probably didn’t have wooden barrels back then. The quality of wood affects the taste of the wine. How would animal skins have affected the taste?

The finished product.

Outside the town is a pasture with “toros bravos,” the bulls that will, sooner or later, meet their fate in a bullring. They didn’t look particularly friendly or pleased that we came by.

Several days later my weekly hike with friends took us to this town called Quentar

On the way we passed this dam and reservoir. Carlos, my friend, is a big Barcelona fan. You’ll have to blow up the picture to see the Barcelona logo on his hat and shorts.

This dog didn't seem too friendly when we first passed him behind a fence in an out-of-the-way place. But he got out and joined us on this hike, turning out to be a friend, though somewhat unwanted. He was probably bored.

For our hunting friends, blow this picture of a mountain goat up, print it and use it for target practice!

We finally got to the town. The white paint helps reflect the sun, keeping the houses cooler.

The narrow streets also help keep things cooler by providing more shade during the day and serving as a kind of wind tunnel.

Towns and cities are nice but it's the people in them who become our friends that bring them alive. Cesar and Christina are friends of Kevin & Wendy.

Cesar is an expert at barbecuing? How about ribs, steak and chicken?

Our little friends, Evan & Ellie, are also experts at inventing grown-up games.

Sometimes our friends celebrate birthdays with parties

And lots of food, not only these shrimp, but blood sausage, spiced sausage, un-spiced sausage, salad, bread, etc. The food is placed on plates in the middle of the table. You have only a fork and no plate, so dig in!

Dominoes is a fun thing to do with friends.

Seeing these ants together move a piece of potato chip, we’re reminded through nature how God designed us to have friends and be friends. Many hands make light work, and can help move mountains (or chips).

We’re fortunate to have friends in and around Granada, and are looking forward to having lots more!