The weather has been crazy in Seville of late. For a while it was so hot that I was convinced summer had already arrived, but then one day it was right back to winter again: brisk winds and heavy rains. Then more sun. Then more rain. Then sun. Now it's freezing again. It's near impossible to know what to put on in the morning—and given the nature of my work (out all day, all over town, on buses and bikes, teaching English in offices, schools, and business parks) I have to carry a ridiculous amount of gear with me to be prepared. Still, I somehow manage get caught without my umbrella pretty much every time it rains and usually can't find my shades and have to squint my way through the afternoon when the brilliant sun returns.
I'd always considered it a mere coincidence that the word in Spanish for "weather" is the same as the word for "time"—tiempo. Lately, however, student errors have brought my attention to ways in which the two concepts are related. Just last week I explained to one class that "time of year" was a close match for "season." Perhaps all this is obvious. The earth spins on its axis but also rotates around the sun; there are patterns and rhythms of all sorts—tides, food chains, season, and life cycles.
When I got the records together to record this mix I was just hoping to convey in a vague way the idea of springtime, of rain and the social rebirth that follows the storm. Still, there seems to be a subtle sort of meditation on the other tiempo running through the mix, starting with the very first record and apparent just from a quick look at the tracklist. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? |
