“It takes solitude, under the stars, for us to be reminded of our eternal origin and our far destiny.”– Archibald Rutledge After two flights, and too many hours spent at airports, I had another three hours in Lisbon airport, before I could catch the bus taking me close to home. I bought a coffee, and […]
“Most of us are moving through such an undergrowth of excess that we cannot sense the shape of ourselves anymore.” – John O’Donohue October has been an exceptionally busy month, as a lot had to get done before I handed the quinta over to our house sitter on the 16th, and join Michael in South Africa […]
“The fact of things passing was not a cause for grief so much as a summons to attention. All the light or beauty we could find, we had to find right now. The fact that nothing lasts is the reason why everything matters.”– Pico Iyer September marked the arrival of autumn on the quinta, and […]
“To paraphrase John Muir: when one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it hitched to the rest of the world. Tug hard enough, and we risk the whole beautiful tapestry coming undone.” – Cal Flyn from Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape As I write these words, a cool breeze […]
“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”― Richard Rohr Although a lot has happened, July felt like a slower month, and although it started out extremely hot there has been enough cooler days to make it feel milder and more pleasant than June. Each […]
“We find beauty not in the thing itself, but in the patterns of shadows, the light and darkness that one thing against another creates.”– Junichiro Tanizaki The beginning and end of June on the quinta had little in common with one another. Most of the photos in this post reflect the lush green of the […]
“Em Castelo Branco existem apenas três estações: verão, inverno e estação de comboios.”“There are only three seasons in Castelo Branco: summer, winter, and the train station.”– a Portuguese saying paraphrased by me In Portuguese the word ‘estação’ refers both to the seasons and stations, which makes the saying funny, and although there are certainly four […]
“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.” – Leo Tolstoy Progress on the quinta at times feels like a long, drawn-out and never-ending process, but at times the amount of work can leave me out of breath. Whenever […]
“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 […]
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