Ok, so we had a baby over here! That’s my rock-solid excuse for not blogging for most of December and January: lost in baby-land. (For those that are curious, it’s a girl, 3,78 kilos/8 lbs. 5 oz., healthy, and adorable–see right) Relatives and friends have arrived in droves to coo over the new little one. …
Fotocrônica: The Newest Adventure
This little gal has been sitting neglected at the farm ever since we arrived. She has seen a lot of kids in her lifetime. According to legend, this is the crib that held my husband as well as most of our nieces and nephews. Since we arrived she’s been serving humbly as an impromptu shoe …
How Many Ways to Say I Love You
The meat was sizzling on the grill. The men huddled round puffing at the flames and performing arcane rituals to minimize the smoke and maximize the heat. The women were in our kitchen pulling together some side dishes. Carrots were being grated. Collard greens were being chopped. Community news (i.e., gossip) was being shared. I …
Invisible Woman
I have stumbled across a Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy here at the farm. Case in point: I have cleared by hand over two acres of land, built a garden, pruned fruit trees, scraped the corral clean of manure, trimmed the shrubs by hand with a machete, repaired and laid water lines, cleaned the cistern …
On Winning
Brazilian Portuguese has an odd linguistic confusion: the words to win, to earn, to receive are all the same. Ganhar. “Ganhei a loteria.” I won the lottery.“Ganhei um vidrio de geleia.” Someone gave me a jar of jelly. And my favorite: “Ganhei meu filho no ano pasado.” I had my son last year. This language charms and enchants me. This is a …
Autumn Road
Old Man McLeod leaned back in his metal folding chair and sighed. He sipped slowly from his coffee mug and gazed through the steam at the explosions of colors in the trees. From the wooden patio in front of his trailer he could see down the road. Orange and gold trees arched over the road and …
Merry-Go-Round
Remember that post from last week where I talked about connecting with your loved ones because who knows if they’ll be around tomorrow? Sometimes the universe sends you a comment back so fast that it makes your head spin. We lost two loved ones this week. First a darling aunt of my husband, whom I …
Fotocrônica: Tractor Eggs
Mom says these eggs will hatch into baby tractors. Wonder if I could get one through customs?
Common Ground
This place is magic. When I was young, the road rippled like a Willy-Wonka roller-coaster and my dad–despite the oppressive fair traffic–would turn the car around at the fairgrounds and drive the whole distance again just to give me another chance to go: “WhEEEE!!”. Today the walk from the parking lot to the fair is …
