Sensations, Observations, Meditations

One morning I sat in a sunny sheltered spot overlooking the river and did nothing except enjoy the sun and soak up the warmth. The sky was blue, blue, cloudless blue. The water of the river was blue, too. Where the river met the ocean, the whitecaps shone. I saw unexpected, unfamiliar flowers on large spikey succulents. Beige sand beaches stretched left and right on both sides of the river. With my eyes closed and a small contented smile on my lips, I saw the red of the inside of my eyelids. I could hear the distant roar of he ocean waves and the gentle lapping of the river water against the shore. Birds chirped, seagulls squawked and there was sweet birdsong near and far. I felt the warmth of the sun on my face. It was like a gentle massage of the molecules of my skin. I felt a few curls of hair moving in the breeze. This church at the end of my lane rings the daytime hours. I have a slow pace here and an empty dance card. It is a blessing and a challenge. 

This monument honours three men from Vila Nova de Milfontes who flew from Lisbon to Macau in 1924.

         

Random observations:            

- Almost no men dress like a 12 year old (baseball cap, tshirt, jeans, sneakers)

- It is a coffee society. There are  many  cafes. In general, women gather, chat, and drink cappuccino. Men stand at the counter and drink an espresso in 3 sips and leave. 

- Smoking is common at the outside cafe tables and cigarette vending machines are available inside the cafe. A pack of ciggies costs E4.70 ($7).

-I haven't seen an obese person.

-People greet each other (and me!) as they pass .

- I haven't heard the f-word in 3 weeks.

I have too much time here and don't know how to fill it. I am at the beginning of week 3 out of 5. I am starting to realize and understand that I am here to live, not do. Doing a load of laundry the other day was comforting and I really enjoyed sweeping the floor of my apartment. Life seemed more normal. I thought of my daughter and my young co-workers who have very busy, demanding lives, as I did when my children were young. I would have loved to have all this endless time. As we get past parenting and working, we have more time but less health. Would I trade one for another? No. To every time there is a season. Everything is perfect the way it is. I have time to feel the sun on my eyelids and the life experience to appreciate it. 

Bom dia

The weather has been lovely since I've been here, cool in the morning and evening, around 10*C, and 20* +/- 2 through the afternoon. I'm having wonderful sleeps in my fairytale 4-poster bed with mattress warmer to cosy it up before I climb in. I think I must get a mattress warmer for home and Linda, you must get one too. I find that I am becoming one of THOSE, old people who are cold at silly temperatures.

I slept so well, I looked like this today. Nice hair!

Once I'm ready to leave the apartment, I walk up the street past the little church with a real bell on top that rings the hours from 0900 - 2100. Everyone I pass smiles and says "Bom dia". When I get to my cafe, I ask for a cappuccino and croissant simple. It's huge!

    

A few days ago, I took a longish walk out of town, over the bridge across the river, and along the edge of a farmer's field. The many, many birds were singing and the sun was shining. I walked past cork oak trees; one very old giant had died and fallen across the path. These trees are grown in this region for their bark which is harvested every 9 years and made into products like purses, shoes, hats, ties, coasters, and wine bottle stoppers.

After a bit, I came out of the tree area and could see the farmer's field and a big old building of some mystery purpose. And it looked like this!:

Who did that and why there???

I had a charming homemade supper here....

And the day ended like this.....

My little sunny home

The Snowbird has landed

Hi all,

Here in Vila Nova de Milfontes the sky is blue and cloudless. There are beaches for miles and miles up and down the coast and my town is at the mouth of the Mira River where the water is still and perfect for kayaking.

Getting here takes a bit of time...Kenora to Winnipeg to Toronto to Frankfurt to Lisbon. That took a total of 16.5 hours from start to finish. Portugal is in the same time zone as Great Britain so here I am 6 hrs ahead of Winnipeg (until today when CST became CDT). This morning I wondered if Portugal had switch to Daylight Savings Time too but the church bell at the end of my lane tells me that I needn't change my watch yet.

My biggest excitement getting to Portugal was meeting the dour German security official and serious young Aryan Polizei who "detected" explosives in my backpack. At 2AM and with a tight connection onward, they unpacked and examined my gear. I hope I'm not on a persona non grata list now.
In Lisbon I paused overnight to catch up on sleep. Lisbon is a very interesting place and the hostel where I stayed (same one I used after my Camino trip) was perfectly located, quiet (unlike last time), and a great place to meet people. I ate custard tarts and wandered with a woman from India and a man from Denmark. Tha accommodation was $24 and a home cooked group meal of soup, pasta, cheesecake, and wine was $15.

The next day at 4 PM, I took a modern bus 2.5 hrs south to this idyllic town of 5,500 people. My apartment is movie-worthy cute, well-appointed, and in immaculate condition. There is a fully equipped kitchen with teeny walled patio, living room with wood stove and tv, bathroom with washing machine. Upstairs is a bedroom with luxurious four-poster bed, full ensuite bathroom and tiny balcony with views of beach. Up the small wooden circular stairs is a larger rooftop terrace with marvellous views of beach and river/Atlantic Ocean waves.

With 5 weeks to relax here I am taking it one day at a time. Today is my 5th day here. The weather is exactly what I wished for, sunny and 20ish. There are miles of beaches but the water is cold (like Lake of the Woods in May/June). There are famous hiking trails in 3 directions. English books are available for borrow!!! Wine is $2-3/ big glass and less by the bottle in the supermarcado. My $12 home cooked Portuguese cafe dinner will feed me for 2 days.

I'm signing off to make my lunch and then walk about 5 km down the sand dune cliff trail toward Porto Covo. Starting easy!

I hope my home people are hanging on through the last fierce month of winter.