‘Nil Manel 2’

Around here, everything stems from the springtime. After the relaxation of the winter, as the sun rises higher and the snows melt and the fresh winds come in from the south, doors throughout our valley spring open, and out pour streams of people, all laughing and shouting and heading up into the hills carrying wicker baskets and plastic bags and bedsheets all tied together in big knots – whatever they can find to gather the bounty that is about to be unveiled.

Schoolchildren are given two weeks off during this important period, and working-age adults are given a week off each, paid leave. The elderly are to bring out lemon-and-mint water at noontime. This is mandatory, state policy, as it has been for as long as anyone can remember. Around here, tending to the flowers is an important ritual, though the only ones that really take it seriously are the government accountants and the state-run flower presses. Everyone else just makes up a big picnic lunch as the sun comes up and hightails it out into the hills.