A-Z - DESERT & DANCING

D - I am blogging every day this month for the A-Z Challenge. Today's letter is D for DESERT and for DANCING - - -

But first here is my 100 word story for Friday Fictioneers prompted by this photograph on Rochelle's blog - follow the link on my blog list. I have used the letter D as often as I can!

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DUST

 Dust and destruction rained down on the street as Delilah’s father demolished the fire-escape. When she put his supper on the table he sneered, “That’ll stop you sneaking out at night, girl,” before shovelling food past his rotten teeth.

Delilah choked on bile and hatred. It was his sneaking into her room at night that had to stop. Her fist tightened on a knife, but she didn’t want to spend the dregs of her youth in jail.

When he went out, locking the door behind him, she phoned Darren. “Put a mattress in the pickup tonight – I’m going to jump.”

                                       .................................................................................

DESERT Much of the south of Tenerife, where I live, is DESERT - this patch of land is between the airport and the sea.

The expanse of empty land makes our little car look very lonely

Even Tigger wouldn't eat the Barbed Wire plant

There is very little rainfall, even in winter, so cacti proliferate

and on my terrace the plants that flourish best are succulents.

And another D = DANCING
Many groups of native Canarians keep alive the traditional country dances. Once a month a group with its band and singers dances through the streets of our nearest small town and ends with a wonderful display on the Rambla accompanied by traditional instruments and songs.

As long as the children continue to learn the songs and dances the tradition will continue - and I have seen toddlers in infant schools performing the simpler routines.

If you've got this far down, please leave a comment and thanks for reading.

FELIZ DIA DE CANARIAS!

THESE TWO LITTLE GENTLEMEN WERE ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER A MORNING CELEBRATING DIA DE CANARIAS AT SCHOOL

Their costumes are a modest version of the full oufit, which for men includes a colourful sash and heavy woolen leggings - like leg-warmers knitted by a fisherman's wife  in Guernsey.











We only went to Las Galletas because the cat had eaten all her food, but after a quick coffee I followed to sound of music to the sports hall opposite the school and watched every pupil participating in an annual demonstrartion of national pride.

 Costumes were everywhere - the shops are full of them too - and the stands were full to bursting, Even the old men we usually see sitting by the car park were there, joining in the fun, Today is the actual holiday - so no doubt tonight there will be parties and fireworks and fighting and drunkenness, but yesterday was just music and dancing and lovely.

And on our way back to the car we saw this - an infant school's very creditable attempt at making a Corpus Cristi Carpet, for this is actually the feast ho Corpus Cristi and all over the island temporary carpets will me made out of flowers and coloured volcanic rock  I had to take my photograph upsidedown through the fence, but it looks really weird if I turn it right way up!