Sheltering in a pub courtyard as the heavens open. A deluge of monsoon proportions. A Polish market trader joins two of us (the other an Australian man sipping a bottle of ale). Conversation turns to the Pole’s wares. Sheepskins. A bad year having just got worse. A brief overview of the operation (flocks grazing in Slovenia and Italy). Eventually the breakout point – the Australian = coffee shop opposite, the Polish trader = home, with goods in suitcases, and I back to work. Adverse conditions as an antidote to social media.