Stories Inspired by Life in Rural Brazil
Aren’t memories grand? Life is made of both the big milestones and the tiny pebbles under our feet.
I’ve joined a writing class. In Portuguese. Yeah, it’s going as you’d expect: it’s a lesson in humility. Take action or stop complaining The thing is, you can complain about something or you can go learn to do better. I’m good enough at Portuguese these days that I know I have my failings and where …
How to stumble your way through the humble and humiliatingRead More
Yesterday I had a life lesson served up to me by a little tree frog. We’ve all been in his shoes…He was just minding his business, having a day, and he decided to sit down on a bench to rest. And then it started to rain. And then someone went and pulled the bench out from …
Ever have one of those days where it feels like you just can’t do anything right? That you have to scrap everything and just start from zero again? Yeah. Me too. Today was one of those days. I pulled my car to the curb and sighed one of those sighs that wheeze out of your …
The dogs were barking up a racket last night. It was clear that there was something in the yard–they don’t bark like that when discussing territorial politics with the neighbor dogs–so we went out on the veranda with flashlights to investigate. We were so glad that we did! We had a late night visitor, and …
I poured my morning cuppa today and looked down and realized this old boy was looking a little worse for wear. And this is the best one of the lot. Ceramic floors are really unforgiving. Nothing makes me long for the architecture (and hardwood floors) of my native New England than one more shattered coffee …
Faith and family. That’s about it for a Brazilian. And a good time. But faith and family usually come first. So it’s not surprising that this is a pretty typical Brazilian rear view mirror decoration. Keep what’s important in sight.
The ants were swarming all over the gate. Why? Who knows? They’d never done this before, but tonight, there they were. I paused a moment to size up their black motions in the shadows from the car headlights. There was no way to unlock that gate without standing right in the middle of them. Without …
Saturdays are tough, man. It’s the day where our week SHOULD be ended, but we both drag ourselves through one.more.day. In our little town, it’s the day that all the folks come in from the hills to sell their vegetables at the market and run their errands. So Mr. Crônicas has to open the store, come hell …
Two painful losses in one week Goddamn you, world. You just gotta kick a gal when she’s down. Leonard Cohen died this week, one of my favorite poets. This loss coming on the heels of Trump winning the election in the USA, and the Republicans taking both the House and Senate. Seriously, life just isn’t fair sometimes. …
Broken Hallelujah: on losing Leonard Cohen and the ElectionsRead More
