For the last 16 months I have known and loved Rita - lovely Rita. Rita is German – and quite simply lovely. Everybody says so.

When we met at the the Ronda Fair, Feria de Pedro Romero, in September 2008, I immediately nicknamed her after the Beatles’ song, although, curiously, she did not know the record. She couldn’t understand why I was calling her “a kind of female traffic police officer who hands out parking tickets”, which was how her dictionary defined a Meter Maid. Popular music was and remains a no-go area for this unique lady.

Nevertheless, nearly a year and a half later, we’re still going strong. Money is a bit tight: we have to think twice or three times before we buy anything; the car is 10 years old; and she has no income source until she can draw her pension at 63. But we are both very happy together in our little pueblo blanco in the Serranía de Ronda. Life is largely stress-free, we have lots of good friends and neighbours and the sun shines a lot (though not at the moment!!!).

“Lovely Rita, Meter Maid,
May I inquire discreetly,
When are you free,
To take some tea with me?”

© Paul Whitelock, January 2010