🌥️ Well today ended up better than I feared weather wise. No rain, some sun, though cool…especially this evening.
A hotel lobby greeting.
🏙️ In the big city, Lisbon. Rain is threatening and it feels unseasonably cold.
The Story Behind The Photograph: Two Boys Playing Cricket
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Two boys playing cricket just off the Karakoram Highway While traveling the Karakoram Highway through Pakistan I stopped in Passu for three nights. My memory of Passu in July of 1989 was it just being made up of a small collection of houses. Nothing else. One of those was the guest house that I stayed in. This was run by a lovely man who use to be in the Pakistan army.
Looking north from Arrábida Natural Park.
Man with goat in the Hunza Valley, Pakistan in 1989
🛩️ I just took a look at a live flight map of aircraft over Europe right now. In Central Europe it was barely possible to see the map underneath all of the airplane symbols. I don't know how the Air Traffic Controllers keep their sanity with that level of responsibility?
😋 Marmite peanut butter for breakfast. I haven't eaten that for a while, Amazon deliveries in the US turned out a mess. So I bought a couple of jars while in Britain and opened one this morning. Delicious.
🧓 I had a senior moment just then. I was staring at the computer unable to remember the web address that I wanted to go to. I could 'see' the site in my mind, but could not for the life of me remember its URL.
My wife’s family arrive today for a week. I am looking forward to seeing them. I’m sure that we will have a good time, we always do…And my quiet, HSP nervous system will probably have to find some way to pace myself, to find some quiet, recharge time, and right now I don’t know how or what that will look like? I’ll probably be the main chauffeur for the week. Along with coping with my hayfever, from here it looks as though it will be a challenging week.
🌧️ An unexpected brief shower of rain just happened. Last night it looked as though the heavens were going to open up upon us, but nothing happened. This morning it was overcast, but nothing threatening, and it rained. I’ll never make a good weather forecaster.
Thank you to @xxxx (Jacoby) for linking to this article about a 1,200-foot ti leaf lei draped across Pololū Valley to symbolize protection from overdevelopment. What a beautiful gesture.
Monday May 13, 2024 Newsletter letter
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Monday May 13, 2024 Dear Friends, Greetings from an overcast Alcácer do Sal. The weather has been beautiful this last week. Very hot in fact. It is cooling down this week as the overcast weather might suggest. The fields around Alcácer have been ploughed and in preparation for this year’s rice crop. Some of the fields have already been flooded. We are expecting to see the fresh green shoots soon. We have also been warned that during the rice season the mosquitoes come out in swarms around dusk.
Passing the car ferry heading to Setúbal as we are on the other ferry heading to Comporta. A very small boat with a couple of people fishing from it, sits between us.
In Odeceixe
Sunday, May 12, 2024
We visited the town of Odeceixe just over a week ago. I was tasked with finding the destination for the day, somewhere where we had not visited and not far or on the coast. So I picked Odeceixe at random. At first glance there appeared nothing special or unique about the town. When we arrived it seemed very quiet. Situated about 3km from the coast there were few people around. We skirted the edge of town, and after two hours of driving I parked by what looked like some fields on one side which stretched to the coast, although out of view.
🐍 I saw my first snake here in Portugal a couple of days ago. It was making a quick dash, or quick sliver across the road.
Some more paintings from artist Veronika Blyzniuchenko. The stars in the lower left are sponsored by visitors, a percentage of the sponsorship going towards the restoration of the Basilica.
These three men came by to play for us (those eating) while we ate lunch. They had been making their way along the restaurants and coffee shops by the river here in Alcácer. I do not know what the occasion was? Unfortunately there is no singing in this video, though I am fascinated by the instrument the musician on the left is playing.
I returned last night exhausted from a day in Lisbon. After a late dinner I could barely keep my eyes on and ended up turning in early, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I have not been so tired for a long time, and this morning was thinking back over the day. I think that it was my hayfever that tired me out. Although I took some medicine to help myself through the day, at best they dial down the symptoms a smidgen.
I think that my exhaustion came from my body having to deal with this constant attack from unseen elements - the seasonal pollen and dust in the air. All the while I’m also trying to function normally in the world.
I’m fortunate living in Maui in that hayfever is not an issue. I don’t get it there. Visiting Northern American towns or Europe in the summer reminds me that it is not far away.
The Beauty is a Choice - A Lisbon Art Exhibition
Friday, May 10, 2024
My wife and I were in Lisbon yesterday and met up with an old Portland friend who had been living Portugal for eight years. After lunch she took us to an art exhibition at the Estrela Basilica, by a young Ukrainian artist, Veronika Blizniuchenko. It is not an easily found exhibition, situated as it is in the former convent behind the Basilica. While visiting the Basilica, Bluzniuchenko noticed the convent from its rooftop gallery.