DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. 
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First up this week: Madrid …

Second up this week, Macaronesia …
When I first saw this word (just last week) I thought I was looking at a misspelling of Micronesia. But the context was all wrong. And that’s because Macaronesia isn’t Micronesia. Macaronesia is four volcanic archipelagos off the European and African coasts. From north to south, we’re talking about these Atlantic islands and island groups: Azores, Madeira, Canary, and Cape Verde. The Azores and Madeira belong to Portugal. The Canary Islands belong to Spain, and Cape Verde is an independent country. My first awareness of these island places was thanks to my mother’s old friend Lizzie, who visited Tenerife (from her home in England). She showed us photos and fascinated young DAH. 

Third up this week, Melilla …
This place name I remember from college (grad school in European history), but I’d forgotten it in a dark and dusty corner of my memory. Until I read some news analysis about the 2022 immigrant massacre there. Now I remember Spain has several non-contiguous remnants of colonial empire. The Spanish cities of Melilla and Ceuta, both claimed by Morocco, particularly interested me. I am also fascinated by Gibraltar (belonging to Britain). The old colonial countries are loath to give up every scrap of empire. So, there are these curious bits that are kept long after the practicality of hanging on is gone. 

Revisiting this famous book decades after my first reading … 
Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman
Edith Grossman’s translation (published in 2003) of Don Quixote is regarded as the definitive English translation of this Spanish masterpiece. This is not what I read when I first experienced the book. Now I’m reading this newer translation. I usually wait until I’m well-into or finished with a book before including it here. But in honor of Edith Grossman (who died this week) and because the book is long, I’m mentioning it now. The next classic I’ll tackle is Moby Dick. 
“Ms. Grossman…has provided a Quixote that is agile, playful, formal and wry…. What she renders splendidly is the book’s very heart.” (New York Times)

And a bit more … 
"Let's Make a Deal" by Mario Benedetti 

Partner
you know
you can count
on me
not up to two
or up to ten
but count
on me

if some time
shows
that I look into your eyes
and you recognize
a streak of love
coming from mine
don't alert your rifles
nor think it’s delirium
in spite of the streak
or perhaps because it exists
you can count
on me

if other times
you find me
shy without motive
don’t think it's feebleness
you can count on me
the same

but let's make a deal
I would like to count
on you

it's very beautiful
to know that you exist
one feels alive
and when I say this
I mean counting
even if it's up to two
even if it's up to five
not just so that you respond
hastily to my aid
but to know
for certain
that you know that you can
count on me.


And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"