I’m sitting on a beige sofa, in a softly dim room, on a top floor of the white villa. Smiling when I write those words, we are in Portugal, for three weeks, starting today.
The weather has been mild and warm during the day, it feels like spring, there have been so many kinds of birds I’ve never seen in my life. They utter their lovely sounds, they are happy, so light, so graceful as only the birds can be. I love them with all my heart.
Coming here has been an adventure, but I’m here, I’m here, and this is what is important. There is a coffee maker on the ground floor of the villa, it has coffee pads, Delta coffee which is not that great, but making coffee in the morning brings the feeling of safety.
I’m drinking Ruby port from a beautiful wine glass, and feel a small pang of joy. Even yesterday, when we arrived here, I didn’t feel well, as I do in uncertain situations, but I’m here, on the other side, and it feels so great, I feel happy, as I allowed myself to stay here, in this lovely villa.
The Ruby Port is delicious and it warms my heart, embraces it with its warmth, like a safety blanket. I know Faro well, I was waiting for the orange tress, the calm of Ria de Formosa, the storks nests. They are here, on the lamp posts, on the chimneys, so many of them. I got tearful, I was so waiting to see the storks, to see if they still come to Algarve during the winter time, but they still do, they do.
The mild climate is just lovely, it feels like spring, spring in the winter time. If I have a chance, I would love to spend the winters in the sun. I’m here, at last, to feel the joy, to see the storks, to feel the spring, so happy, so joyful, that I am allowed those three weeks in the spring.