We minimize time with family and friends, often just hunkering down with a movie and a fire in the stove as the wind and rains pound our Casa Da Sonhos. But when we wake to a Sunday with Sun (actually sunshine in Praia, although the Serra da Cume mountain ridge behind is is still shrouded in clouds) it’s time to embrace our “minimal contact” while Europe battles yet more strains of the virus.
So we wash the bedding and hang it to dry. It’s Sunday, so it’s time to teach me to make my favorite Portuguese dish…Sopa da Cenoura (Carrot Soup). It was the first dish I ever ate on the island (Rhonda took me to Restaurante Atlanico by the Aeroporto in 1990 the night I arrived at Lajes) and I’ve been a fan ever since. No one makes it better than Sofia’s mother and now Sofia (she pays me to say that:)) and now I’m learning how to make it…hopefully with just the right “bite” of Massa Malagueta (great homemade spicy stuff:))
After lunch, I’ll be going for my walk on the shore and then enjoy a nice steak dinner, with soup and rice, red wine, and a pleasant move with my darling, after a call or message to check on daughters in the states. At one point (or many) during the day, we’ll turn to each other, hug and smile, and remark…”if you have to survive a worldwide pandemic, this is the best way to do it!” So far, knock on wood, we’re surviving well.
Take care and be safe!