PHOTO-A-DAY-CHALLENGE

Work Projects, Daily Walks, and Gloomy Days

Week 2 of my life in photos

After taking the first week of the year off, I went back to receiving and completing work projects this past week. Knowing the load will be lighter through probably the end of January, I’m staying in Madrid for a few more days. Even after almost 4 years of remote work, I still can’t believe that I’m now able to do this — spend as much time with my sister and nephews, helping out with what I can, while maintaining my work schedule.

This truly is a gift I don’t take for granted.

That’s not to say the setup is without its challenges, but I get to be here and that’s all that matters.

On Monday, fog and gray gloom greeted us outside. My weather app had already warned me that, with a few exceptions, I should mostly be expecting rainy, gray days in the coming weeks, so though I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t thrilled, either.

I’m fine with snow or rain, but if it’s just gray gloom outside, not a fan.

My work days while in Madrid pretty much follow the same schedule. Because of my nephews being young still — and thus demanding all adult attention at all times — unless absolutely necessary (for live meetings and such), I try not to work when both are present and awake.

Normally, I focus on work projects 9 am-2 pm while my older nephew is in kindergarten and then from 9 pm onwards, after they both have gone to bed. I’m lucky that a lot of my work right now is asynchronous, which makes it easier to manage my time and work assignments.

I enjoy starting my days with a walk, so I volunteer to take my nephew to kindergarten. It’s a pretty short walk, but I get to be outside. Not to mention, his school starts the day by playing upbeat music, and as all students line up in the yard, fits of dancing and jumping ensue. It’s exactly the kind of energy I need to pump me up for the work part of the day.

All of us enjoy a longer walk once my nephew comes back in the afternoon. The dreary outside weighed a bit too heavy on me, but I do love trees in winter attires, and as my nephews played in one of the 136 playgrounds (only a slight exaggeration!) in the neighborhood, I looked up and captured the myriad of naked branches criss-crossing the gray sky.

Tuesday was another gray day with no rain, but on our afternoon walk, I spotted a patch of green with a bit of yellow, and it did brighten my mood.

One of our favorite paths crosses a bridge over the train tracks, and that’s where we headed on Tuesday. My older nephew loves all manner of transportation and we can often be found standing on this bridge, watching the cars and buses pass us by on one side while paying attention not to miss the trains coming up or down the tracks.

Needless to say, I had plenty of time to snap a few photos.

On Wednesday: rain — yes! I love walking in the rain. Sure, the day’s still gray and gloomy, but somehow more alive and refreshing.

Unfortunately, my sister had caught a cold and decided to stay in with the boys, so I ventured outside on my own in the evening. Daily walks are essential to my sanity, so whatever the weather, I try to make it out for at least an hour, longer if possible. On Wednesday, it’s what got me ready for 4 more hours of work, a bit past midnight.

The streets were empty, and I was deep in my thoughts when the bright red and green reflection of the pharmacy sign brought me back to reality.

On Thursday, the sun made an appearance, but as it often happens this time of year, the sun also meant much colder temperatures. The highest that day was 7C (41F), but with real feel of much colder, courtesy of the wind. Craving the sun, we made sure to stick to the sunny side of streets.

My baby nephew loves sleeping in the stroller when it’s cold outside, which gave me the opportunity to enjoy a much longer walk after the rest of the family sought out the warmth of the apartment.

A benefit to colder days is that I feel way more motivated to stay in and work. I’d managed to finish most of my projects in the morning, so after the boys went to bed, I was able to catch up on some reading. I didn’t reach my reading goal last year, so trying to do better this year.

More sun and even colder temperatures welcomed us on Friday, and though my photo is from a train station, I went no where.

You see, as I mentioned before, my older nephew loves trains (and cars and buses and the metro), and it just so happens that the train station is right next to his school.

So after I pick him up from school, guess where we go first?

To the train station, of course. To watch a train or ten pass by before we head back home for lunch.

The gray gloom was back on Saturday. Though I sometimes catch up on work in the evenings on weekends, the days are for family activities. After a morning of trying to invent games in an effort to entertain the one-year-old and the four-year-old, we had lunch and immediately went out for a walk.

Let the kids spend their boundless energy outdoors!

One of the streets in the neighborhood doubles as an open-air sculpture museum and features 16 concrete artworks made by Carlos Armiño. Many of them are right next to Parque de los Castillos, and at this time of year, its main attraction. I haven’t found individual titles for the sculptures, but the one in the photo above is my favorite.

Speaking of sculptures and art in general, another fun aspect of the neighborhood where my sister lives is all the roundabouts. Each one boasts a piece of art or some other quirky feature.

The one above grabbed my attention the first time I passed by it because the plant in the middle looks like an octopus to me. I later found that there is a large swimming complex nearby, so I wonder if that’s what inspired the green work. I may never know.

As I walked by this past Saturday, I realized I’d never taken a photo of it and immediately remedied the oversight.

The sunrise on Sunday was glorious. My sister’s living room window faces east, so I’ve enjoyed my fair share of fiery sunrises in Madrid, but this one seemed to color the entire sky. I’m glad it did because it ended up being the brightest aspect of that day.

The rain came soon after, so our daily walk took us to the Tres Aguas shopping complex, where my nephews could play at the indoor playground.

And I got myself a chocolate treat.

This was week two of my weekly photo essay, inspired by the works of Dennett and Anne Bonfert. Anyone can join the challenge, and I highly recommend it! I already know this is something I’ll be sticking to in the new year :)