Saudades

Thank-you so very much for all your comments on my newborn photo yesterday, felt quite overwhelmed, and will definitely post more sometime. Looking at the old photos, and reading your comments and thinking afresh about my early life kept me awake for ages... very grateful for this special place to write things down and be listened to.

We'd arranged to meet Ermelinda today on the "Island", which lies between here and the bridge, for a walk and I wanted to hear her memories of this place. Really pleased when Cecílio (and Duda) appeared as well, and together we had enough food for quite a decent picnic, totally unplanned. Found out it was actually a national holiday today, celebrating independence from Spain (in 1640).

Here they are sitting on what used to be the main road into Mourão. Just a little further down the road to the left was the paper recycling factory that Ermelinda's Dad managed for most of her growing up years - at its height, it employed more than a thousand workers from all over the place, and had a good restaurant, offices, warehouses, lorries coming and going constantly. There was a small community of nine houses that felt like a big family, she said. And the chapel where she and Cecílio got married, thirty years ago tomorrow.

The sadness of seeing it all destroyed, and so many having to leave Mourão for work, including her brother, has lessened over the years, but she still sometimes has dreams where she is back living there.

Gratefuls:
- seeing that the Lake has risen a fair bit since we walked there three days ago (that's the same no overtaking arrow in both photos) - we have had a lot of rain
- an unexpected lovely walk and picnic with C and E
- washing our bedding and getting it mostly dry in the sun, and putting our winter quilt on the bed - cozy!