“My grandmother used to say, ‘Into everyone’s life a little rain must fall – rain, assholes, and assorted bullshit.’ I’m paraphrasing. But she was right. We all get our share of tragedy or insanity or drama, but what we do with that horror is what makes all the difference.” – Jenny Lawson It is difficult for […]
“I envy those who have a singular focus, whose work clearly revolves around one central point. I feel that this is one of my fatal flaws, juggling too many things and not having a laser-sharp focus on one.”– Jeremy Bassetti I relate to the above quote. My interests often feel too many and diverse. Almost […]
“How we choose to organize our memories is in part how we choose to imbue meaning in the present moment.”– Rolf Pots When we bought the land, and decided to document our journey, I never once thought that more than 7 years later it would still feel like a building site. Ignorant of the amount […]
“One cat won’t fix all of your problems.But three might.Or they might just cause enough problems for you to forget all about your old problems.So get four.”– Unknown Years ago, when we had to put our first rescue cat in the UAE down, we were heartbroken. When Michael, not long after, came home one day […]
The new season of Threshold entitled Hark, an award-winning podcast concentrating on environmental journalism, starts with Amy Martin asking listeners to hit the pause button and listen to all the sounds they can hear. Perhaps do the same as what she suggests, and close your eyes for a moment to listen to what you can […]
When, last year in March I went to visit a friend in the Algarve, the only thing I insisted on doing while there, was hiking the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail. Luckily she was up for it, and we tackled it on what turned out to be our only day without rain. The trail takes one […]
“Do I have a single identity – based on nationality, ethnicity, religion, class, gender or geography? Or am I essentially a mixture of multiple belongings, cultural allegiances and diverse inheritances, backgrounds and trajectories?”– Elif Shafak In her book How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division, Elif Shafak urges the reader to ask the […]
Portugal abounds with castles. Some could have been lifted from fairy tales, others have been used in fantasy films to create the otherworldly, and then there are those which were essential for security when the border between Portugal and Spain were not as clearly defined as it is today. Vila do Touro castle falls under […]
“We are all driven to belong. To be part of the tribe, but not everybody fits in the same way. We want a life rich with purpose and meaning. That too is in our DNA, but that meaning can’t be prescribed. It must be sought, and found, and sometimes wrestled with, and fought for.”– Aaron […]
What I would consider one of the most beautiful gardens in Portugal can be found in one of the most untouristy places in the country. Built by the Bishop of Guarda, João de Mendonça around 1720, the Episcopal Palace Garden or Jardim do Paço Episcopal in Castelo Branco, was part of a large agricultural complex […]
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