I have taken up running of late and I run on the streets that cross the pine forest. There are many villas there, on each side of each street, but as I run deeper into the forest there are more trees and less houses. It’s quiet, but there is always someone there, either running like me, or walking the dogs; or simply a car passing by. At daytime it’s pleasant to run or simply walk there, the smell …
Tag: beach
Things have changed so much, no wonder we are all saying this is a very different summer from all the others we have lived through. Even though we can go to the beach, and to restaurants (preferably with terraces), and sit outside watching the sunset while sipping a mojito orcaipirinha, something that we’ve been doing for years, there’s always that feeling that something is not quite right, especially when you have to put on your mask to get …
All of a sudden, our daily vocabulary has been invaded by new words or expressions; everywhere you look, whatever you hear, they are there. Such as social distance, respiratory etiquette and others I won’t impose on you as, like me, you must be wishing they would disappear, sooner than later, never to return. One of them is the much talked about “new order”. New order may mean many things, from a very original conspiracy theory I heard …
DAY nineteen, Sunday I woke up crying. In my case, anxiety usually strikes in the morning, when I am awakening, and all sort of thoughts cross my mind. There were times, that seem so distant now, when life was promising, or I was living through a particularly happy phase, and these moments before having to get up were leisurely spent dreaming; rather daydreaming, and looking forward to the day, and weeks, and months ahead. Making plans. For a …
DAY eleven, Saturday It was not the relaxing day I had imagined. In the morning, the lady who helps me with the beach apartment called and said she was cleaning everything, so by the end of the day I would be able to move in. I decided I would leave Lisbon tomorrow. Then a friend called and mentioned the Government will be releasing a new package of restricting measures as from midnight, so I thought I’d better leave today. …
My darling boys I’m writing to say that I miss you. On these first holidays without you, when we won’t be together for a single week, not even for a few days, I have to confess that I miss you. A lot. This doesn’t mean I’m not happy that you are travelling to the places of your dreams. On the contrary. I am thrilled that you have are grown, that you have become adults, that you can …
He looks out of the window of the train that takes him across Europe and feels the bittersweet taste that invariably invades him when he thinks of her. At first, he tries to shake it off – no melancholy thoughts allowed on this much dreamt of trip. He looks at his friend sitting beside him and notices he’s fallen asleep. He turns to the window and, leaning on his chair, closes his eyes. Memories of her instantly overtake him. …
The month is June and she is spending a few days on the Algarve as she has done for almost as long as she can remember. She loves these first days on the beach, even if the wind still blows a little bit more than it should and the water temperature chills her bones when she dives in. She feels the warm sand under her feet and looks at the sea before her, at the waves that softly wash onto …
There are moments in life when painful decisions have to be made and you have to learn to accept them and move on. An example is when, due to circumstances in your life, you have to part with a house or apartment you’re attached to. My first house I experienced this very early in my life when we had to leave our beloved house in Mozambique. We knew we’d be leaving the country anyway, but due to the feeling …
I’m on a plane once again and I close my eyes and look back to the summer that has just ended. I’m a summer person – I suppose due to being born in Mozambique where we had warm weather almost all year long – so I long for Spring and Summer, strongly dislike autumn and really dread the winter months. In April and May I feel that delightful expectation of the summer months to come, and September, even if the …
