“To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
A surround sound volley of gun shots split the crisp morning air just as the sun slides over the horizon. Moments before, I have locked eyes with a roe deer (corço), a mere ten metres from me, when Midnight’s body language alerted me to something on the other side of the stone wall. I’m uncertain if she is looking at me or Midnight, who is softly warning her to stay away from us. Her ears scan the landscape before she slowly first moves towards us, and then down the slope of the land to where a little path wend its way into the long dry grass. My heart twists into a heavy knot that eventually slides into the pit of my stomach, where I know it will stay for the next couple of months. Hunting season has officially started in Portugal.*
Notes:
# In a culture where having a shot of alcohol with coffee in the morning is perfectly acceptable, the sound of hunters in the area never sits well with me, and although they are not allowed to hunt closer than 250 metres from houses, for my South African brain that is still shockingly close.
Over the years my body has learned that shots ringing out isn’t an imminent threat to me, but a certain amount of tension still linger as a visceral part of my being. From now until the end of February, every Sunday and Thursday, my heart will contract and my mind will wish safety for the roe deer, red legged partridges, and all the other animals that are allowed to be hunted, and who helps to make my life on the quinta so special.
* Strictly speaking hunting season last much longer, but is for specific species and conditions, and is much less noticable to the ears. My much loved corços are, unlike the other two deer species, typically hunted in spring/early summer (May–July) by stalking, since its rut falls in July–August.
# Michael had a lot of fun on the tractor, doing some much needed tidying up, during his short visit at the beginning of the month.
# He unboxed our new autoclave (essentially a giant pressure cooker), while building work has started on a room that will initially serve as an incubation room for the mushrooms we are planning to grow. More work will be done in October for us to be ready for the growing season in winter. This year will be a steep learning curve, as we hope to start receiving an income from it next year.
# On my way home from Madrid, after dropping Michael off at the airport, I took a different route home to make a brief stop in Àvila.
# Via the rural grapevine we learned that our original Portuguese neighbour who, in the beginning used to graze his sheep on our land and kept an eye on it while we weren’t here, passed away at the beginning of the year. It was because of ill health that him and his wife moved to the city to be close to their son, and I’ve only ever bumped into them a couple of times since moving here. It reminded both of us once again of the fleetingness of life, and that we should make the most of each day.
# On the 12th of August, when a total solar eclipse swept through a section of the Iberian Peninsula, the cats and I enjoyed our partial version in the late afternoon watching the eerie shadows lengthen and shorten, a short while before sunset.
# Yesterday I joined the grape harvest of a friend, who is going to try her hand this year in making a Bordeaux style wine. It was a pleasant day, and with many hands harvesting it took a mere 2 hours before we gathered for lunch, followed by weighing and pressing the grapes.
# In my garden I’ve eaten delicious grapes, zucchinis and green beans, while I’ve frozen all the passion fruit pulp I’ve been collecting to make passion fruit curd and ice cream later. The Hawthorne berries (haws) are busy ripening, and it looks like I will be able to make my first batch soon. The cats joined me in picking a big bowl that I will turn into ketchup later today.
# We’ve had some early rain (24 mm in total), which was wonderful, despite the fact that it was the first time since I moved here that we’ve had any rain in August, as our rainy season usually only starts in September.
A Special Moment(s):
My Spanish niece and her partner, who lives in New Zealand, are currently in Spain. In order for me to see them, my sister organised an apartment in Guimarães for a couple of days. Despite the fact that it coincided with some rain and cool weather, it was an absolute delight, and a memory I will treasure.
Portuguese Traditions:
August is informally known as Mês dos Emigrantes, the month when the Portuguese diaspora comes home. As it coincides with a variety of festivals taking place during the month, small towns can feel especially busy and lively.
In the past, Portuguese emigration happened in several major waves, each with different destinations depending on the era. The biggest wave is still the one that took place between 1950 and 1974. Driven by poverty, lack of opportunity, and, for many men, the desire to avoid being drafted into the colonial wars in Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau) during the Estado Novo dictatorship, large numbers left for France, Germany, the United States and Canada. The Carnation Revolution in 1974 paused this flow when it ended not only the dictatorship, but also the colonial wars.
Since then, various other events prompted emigration, like when Portugal becoming an EU member, and the years directly after the 2008 financial crisis. Where in the 1800s Brazil, a Portuguese colony at the time, was the most popular destination for emigrants, it is Spain, France and Switzerland that now top the list.
Portugal’s relationship with emigration is remarkable in scale, as it is the European country that, proportionally, has the largest number of emigrants, and the eighth largest in the world. Over the last 20 years alone, more than 1.5 million citizens have left the country. (A statistic I find ironic and interesting, as that is the almost exact number of immigrants currently living in Portugal.)
Many of these emigrants and their children, especially from the France/Switzerland generation, return every summer to reconnect with family and hometowns. It is certainly true for our area, when French suddenly becomes the language one hears most after Portuguese.
Written by: Jolandi
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The sound of gun is fortunately something of a rarity where I live and the places where I grew up. However, I understand why the sound of hunters still gives you tension. On a lighter note, I love that photo of Michael on the bright red tractor. And how fun that you’re building a room dedicated to growing mushrooms! I would love that. It’s really interesting to learn about the large number of emigrants from Portugal (and the equal number of immigrants currently live in the country).
I believe your Uzbekistan trip is on the horizon. Have a safe trip and have a great time exploring this Central Asian country, Jolandi!
We are knee deep in “mushroom planning”, Bama, and Michael’s trip in October will be dedicated to prepare for that.
Yes, I’m leaving next week Thursday. I cannot tell you how excited I am. It’s been in the making for a while now. The last time I did a big trip like this (visiting so many different places in the same trip) was in 2017 to Myanmar.
I still have heaps to do before I can hand over to my quinta sitter . . .
I also get a sick feeling in my stomach when it is hunting season. Luckily I no longer live where this is an integral part of life, so I rarely hear those gunshots on a regular basis. It will be fascinating to hear about your mushroom venture; I have literally no clue what that will involve! And I just saw the exchange with Bama about Uzbekistan … wow!! … I definitely have trip envy! Hope you have a fantastic time and I look forward to hearing about it.
I love the almost impressionistic photos of the roe deer and partridges, and the immigration/emigration stats are fascinating.
Thanks, Lexie. This trip has been a while in the making, so I am quite excited. I’ve done a staggering amount of reading and research. 😆
I’m glad to hear that you no longer have to be confronted with the sounds of hunting. I doubt I will ever not feel unnerved by it.
We are quite excited about embarking on our mushroom adventure. Michael has already experimented with it in our 8th floor apartment in Abu Dhabi, so it is about time we transfer those skills to the quinta. His trip in October will be taken up with building a growing room. And of course I will document and report on our progress.
You have certainly stayed busy. It looks like the months ahead will be the same. Like you, I would find hunting season unsettling.
Yip, there is always something to do on the quinta, Peggy. When I can do what needs to get done at a manageable and relaxed pace, I enjoy it.
Have a wonderful trip to Uzbekistan, Jolandi. I am sure you will immerse yourself in the experience.
Some years ago we stayed in a farm cottage in the south of France. I woke on the first morning to the sound of rifle fire. My husband, who’d never heard such a thing, thought it was a car backfiring. “Oh no,” says I, who once had a bullet fly past my ear, closer than I ever want to hear it again. ‘That’s a rifle’.
Even now, more than fifty years later, I still jump at short, sharp clap sounds. I can imagine why the hunters unnerve you – apart from the thought of what they may be shooting.
Thanks, Gwen!
A friend of a friend nearly got killed in France on the highway, when a stray bullet from a hunter went through his shoulder. He got really lucky.
Sounds like you also had a very narrow escape, and I can definitely not blame you for being on edge hearing that specific sound.
I can never get my head around hunting in this day and age. We often hear gunshots during our photography trips around Europe, and it breaks my heart knowing those animals are being targeted for all the wrong reasons.
I love your photos of the Quinta, it really does capture how peaceful it is and thank you for sharing the background on the diaspora and those population statistics; the contrast between immigrants and citizens is ironic indeed. The photos of the cats are always my favorite, but I loved the roe deer in the field too, very artistic.
Enjoy Uzbekistan! I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time, and I can’t wait to see your updates and photos.
Thanks, Sarah. I am really looking forward to this trip.
The roe deer have been a constant joy this summer, as there have been so many sightings of them. I love knowing that they are never far away. I’ve never been a fan of hunting, but I can understand that there is a time and a place where it makes sense. In our area the wild boar can be a big problem for instance, and hunting them to shrink the population makes sense. For the rest . . . well . . .
Jolandi, you will leave on your trip any minute. So very exciting. I am reminded of the book you also read, Turn Left at Lenin’s Statue, and wonder if this trip has been brewing since you read it. I am also surprised to see you were in Myanmar a year before I was – how did I forget this? I am happy to hear that you received an early rain, and happy the weather did not spoil your fun time with friends. Like Bama, I really like the photo of Michael on the tractor. It will be so interesting to learn what you learn about growing mushrooms as income-generation. I feel some relief, actually, to know that there might be a way to make money from the Quinta. It has stressed me out that Michael has had to keep working longer than expected, due to the expenses you encountered. I just want things to work out for you both. <3
Your low-light photos during the partial eclipse remind me of those I took when we had an eclipse here in 2017. It is a wonderful, awe-inspiring phenomena that I am glad to have had a chance to see. I'm glad your photos reminded me.
Thanks, Crystal. I really appreciate your kind wishes. Yes, Michael and I are definitely ready for the quinta to start producing some income, and although we still need to throw some money at it, at least we are moving in the right direction, so we should get there at some point.
I think you will love Uzbekistan if that is a place you’ve been contemplating to visit. I’ve been wanting to visit even before reading about Fabrizio’s travels in Central Asia, but it definitely helped to reinforce it for me. It is sometimes difficult to pinpoint an exact moment, but I think just the name ‘Samarkand’, like Zanzibar, for instance, has always invoked some sort of yearning within me that is not quite possible to explain.
Jolandi, you have such a rich reflection that balances the pleasures of quinta life with its difficulties. Coming from a family of hunters, I understand their life/thinking quite a bit, but also fully understand and appreciate how closely your life at the quinta is tied to the creatures around you. I’m seeing the same in Czechina these days with deer season—I have to drive carefully, as I’ve been out three times and had four moments where flustered deer race across the narrow road I drive.
On a positive note, I loved the mix of seasonal abundance, family time, wine harvest, and the promising new mushroom project, too. These are the moments of yours that always bring a smile and make me reflect on “the good life” and the effort it takes to create it. Well done. I do have to say, though, Portuguese emigration would not be at the top of my enjoyment/gratefulness list 😊. Wishing you a great finish to the summer season.
I also come from a family and a culture where hunting is part of life, but it happens on game farms, where animals need to be hunted to keep the populations in check, and the owner earns an income from it. How it is done in Europe is very different. Daily life on the quinta is a blessing though.