Olá, meus caros amigos! // Hi dear friends! Ufa! Há muito tempo. // Whew! It has been a long time. Eu sei! E sinto-me bastante mal por isso. // I know! And I feel pretty badly about it. But right out of the starting gate, I need to say one thing. I, just like you, …
Geez, with all that going on in the world, it can be hard to figure out what is life giving let alone to choose life. It takes work. It takes time. Read more…
After almost three years of lockdowns. After numerous cancelled holidays and postponed celebrations. Well, Tavira roared back to life with its twin celebrations of City Day and the Feast of São João. A grand, week-long celebration leading into all the festivities of summer. Read more…
There is a lot going on in Tavira. Things are really jumping. Welcome summer! As things have heated up, I have been thinking about some of the lessons I have learned here. One lesson has been creating the balance between doing and being. I have been thinking a lot about this. All that has made me take some time to reconsider what I am doing. Read more…
Meeting new people here in Santa Luzia is teaching me new lessons. Not just about Portuguese and Portuguese customs and traditions. But about me and about the good life. Read more.
What defines a good life? We are all looking for that answer. The secret that Santa Luzia reveals to me is that the good life comes in small moments. The more important lesson has been, do not ignore these small moments. Read more…
Place can make all the difference in the world. It might allow you to come to terms with what’s in your heart as well as with what might be missing. Place can reintroduce to what’s important, to love. Portugal has done all of this for me. Read more…
The Portuguese language has a fluidity and an expressiveness that may seem weird and wild to English speakers and as well as to others. This “weird and wild”, however, has enabled me to see the world with a bit more clarity. That is, how I understand the connection between my past and future. Read more…
Life here in Santa Luzia is really fantastic. But generally the greeting we get from the native Portuguese here is just “day” or “afternoon”. What happened to the “good”? To find out, read more…
My great-nephews say something is “crazy-stupid” when they mean it is really good. The Portuguese lean into life as few other cultures do, and for good reason. The food, the wine and the desserts form just a small part of all the good stuff — the crazy stupid — of life here. Read more…
