Hello and I hope this finds you living your best possible life. Right now, it is just 8:30 and the air is still cool, a mere 72 F. By midafternoon it will be 87. According to the weather forecast between now and 1 am tomorrow there is a chance of a thunderstorm and possibly hail. Looking at the map I think any weather will pass north.
Me, I have been up for about 45 minutes. Before I even started in on my morning feed, I started a load of laundry. Will get that out on the drying rack well before noon. By the point I am sitting before my computer I have had my cereal and rinsed out my bowl. My reheated decaf with thick cream sits at my left side. I have opened up the shades and windows. Need to get a breeze going. Still, when the sun moves to high noon and leans west, I will shut up a number of these windows and shades to keep the heat out.
The weekend was low key. Saw my niece on Friday. Fun times. Hard to believe it had been forty years. On Saturday we did little shopping. Also, there was a little poking around neighborhoods we did not know. Ate a couple of meals out. Hit a “Mexican” place on Friday. While I enjoy various takes on veal and pork, I do get a hankering for a taco or a burrito now and then. That being said most of the “Mexican” places just don’t get it right. However, this place had pork belly tacos. They were amazing. Obviously with the high fat content these will not be on my menu often, but damn were they tasty.
Bought a carpet and a towel warmer on Sunday. The carpet was the first stab at furnishing the living area. There is a little store down the block that sells furniture. When we poked our heads in, they had a loveseat on deep discount. If it is still there, we may well pick it up today. Getting it up to our first-floor apartment may take some doing but these merchants are clever at such things.
I made my reservations yesterday for a quick trip back to the US to finish up my visa. Don’t really want to come back but in that the visa issuing folks demand our passports be mailed to them from a US address and then returned to that US address and that the passport shows an entry into Portugal after the visa issuance date, I really don’t have any other choice.
One good thing about writing at this hour is that the world is still moving slow. Business cranks up about 10 am and continues until midafternoon. Then there is a short lunch break at which time the traditional shops close for an hour. Then they reopen until 8 pm. The subway will be alive about 9:30 teeming with salesclerks dressed in their particular business’s uniform.
When I talk about the early hours of the morning moving slow, I am not really talking about subways and businesses. I am talking about dogs and children. The Portuguese love their dogs. There are dogs of every size but small dogs abound. The other day Francie opined it was amazing that we didn’t hear a cacophony of dogs at night being in a walled city of residences. The next night the howling began. Apparently, a family returned home late from their August vacation and their solitary hound came back with them. It must be a midsized to large dog because its howl is deep and resonates echoing around these pastel buildings. It doesn’t howl all night but it howls midevening. Thus, while I am washing the dishes I can hear, “OOOOwwooooll.”
The child is for the most part happy and inquisitive. I hear lots of question sounding phrases and lots of laughter. But yesterday the child must have set a record for stamina, volume and duration of crying. Probably 45 minutes straight the bellowing, the caterwauling, went on. In reality it didn’t bother me much but I felt sorry for all involved, the child and the parents. But as they say, “Been there and done that.” Like I said the mornings are quiet, well until the jets get going.
Below you will find a picture of me in my favorite park. The aqueduct rises overhead and a 200 plus year old church is wedged in beneath. The shot was taken at dusk. People were drinking beers by the kiosk and watching futbol. Me I was just relaxing on a park bench. Enjoy the day.
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