David Johnson

Monday June 10, 2024

Dear Friends,

I write this on Portugal Day, a national holiday, celebrated every 10th June. I did not know what Portugal Day actually celebrated and so I headed over to Wikipedia. According to the Free Encyclopedia’s entry for Portugal Day,

It commemorates the death on 10 June 1580 of Luís de Camões, a poet and national literary icon.

Wikipedia’s page for Luís de Camões states that,

Luís Vaz de Camões … is considered Portugal’s and the Portuguese language’s greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Milton, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante.

So this was my morning’s learning. Outside all is quiet as the town awakes slowly on this holiday.

This last week has been a mixed bag. Returning from the Algarve, a meeting, a couple of appointments, all bringing in a lot of driving. By the weekend I was exhausted. I felt like a deflated balloon. Sleep just was not cutting it. I needed to rest. Deep rest. And sometimes I find that hard to get, even in a family situation. A couple of decades ago I suffered from chronic fatigue. A long treatment of acupuncture and Chinese herbs saw me through it. Still I can succumb at times to a deep need for rest. Sadly if I am around family and there is a lot going on, it is difficult to find time out to take that rest. This weekend I stole time where I could to lie down, be quiet and close my eyes. Today, Portugal Day, I feel much more rested…though a quiet day would not go amiss. Time will tell what the day brings.

Our current stay in Portugal is nearing an end. A little under a week to go. Though it will be a little longer before we are home (I feel a little unsure where home is right now?!). More next week…

This week’s posts are a mixture of photos, a video of scuttling crabs, and some written reflections.

Thank you, as always, for reading.

David.