A
SEXI BEACH BAR IN SPAIN
Mentor Huebner (c) 1962
Oil on European Painter's Board 22" X 26"
SEXI
BEACH BAR
BY
After the
twins were born in Paris, Mentor and I and the kids lived for
many months in Almunecar, an ancient city that goes back to
the days of the Phoenicians. Its original name was "Sexi".
Once it had been a port town, under Moorish control. It's still
speckled with Moorish Fortresses, now used for other purposes.
Occasionally, a romantic rendezvous. Now this beach city is
also the Poetry capital of Spain. Each summer, inspired tourists,
mostly from Madrid, arrive in droves to participate in the national
award ceremonies.
Every afternoon we had coffee in a Sexi beach bar and watched
for Dolphins, while our baby twins, Jessica and Gregory napped
and our first born son, little Mentor, searched for sea shells
with his buddies, a gang of other little guys, little Spaniards
who spoke no English, and who affectionately called him, "Rubio".
On the day of this painting, a hot day in August, a magnificent
pair of dolphins, mates, swam the length of the Sexi coast line,
five miles or more, and gave us a spectacular show.
United in love, in sleek shimmering silvery beauty, they leaped
twenty feet into the air, flew above the water for thirty yards,
dove straight into the deep blue, only to surface again, within
seconds, after traveling under water, out of sight, for another
thirty yards. They continued this performance rhythmically in
a romantic aquatic ballet, until they became specks of light
on the horizon.
Although we and the other inhabitants of Sexi, the tourists,
gypsies, fishermen, and blase year long residents, had all cheered
boisterously for each and every graceful leap, at the end every
one of us was silent and couldn't bring ourselves to leave the
water's edge.
Some tourists had tears in their eyes. We all stood transfixed,
and stared into the Mediterranean for a long time. Every single
person on this beach had been emotionally subdued by these beautiful
creatures and the display or innocent ecstasy.
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