Almond Petals

The almond tree across the lane, in our neighbour's field, has more blossom every day; ours haven't begun yet. Went out in the drizzle, collecting flowers for a Blip, and then got distracted and forgot.

Not a terribly productive day for me, stayed up too late finishing Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea; the story of a medic, from his youth during the Spanish civil war, as a refugee in France, then taken to Chile in a ship organised by Neruda, and then as a refugee again to Venezuela after Pinochet took power and finally, back, via Barcelona for six months, to Chile. Thoroughly enjoyed the story, maybe because I identify with what Allende says in her forward: I have been a foreigner all my life... Maybe that's why a sense of place is so important in all my writing. Where do I belong? Where are my roots? Is my heart divided or has it just grown bigger? These are the questions faced by my protagonist...

Portugal is in a bad way with Covid at the moment, worst in world for rate of infection and percentage of deaths; no idea why it's so bad...

Gratefuls:
- however, another record today in Portugal is for the number who have recovered from the virus: 13,728, highest daily number yet; plus, over 255,700 now vaccinated
- and, Mourão is one of the few municipalities where the rate of infection has gone down
- a delicious lunch of Atlantic salmon fried with bacon and garlic, couscous with vegetables, and salad leaves