december at last!
long walks, guests, volunteering, traveling north, spending time with the family… a bit of everything thrown in the mix. :)
about me
december at last!
long walks, guests, volunteering, traveling north, spending time with the family… a bit of everything thrown in the mix. :)
– christmas at last! we spent it with my parents & brother and the boy and his parents, in a bubble of 7 with lots of covid tests. we might not have seen as many relatives as we normally would, but codfish and sweets were consumed, and lots of presents were unwrapped. :)
– i got the beautiful kissa by kissa book, a guide book to taiwan (forever on our bucket list), fluffy peanuts-themed loungewear, and a bunch of yellow ffp2 masks! i had bemoaned the fact that there weren’t any yellow masks in pharmacies, and santa went out of its way to find some for me — they look like a bird’s beak and i love it! :D
– like a weird alien structure, the tallest christmas tree in the country landed in the town where my parents live. it’s 55 meters high and defies description.

– the sunset at my grandma’s place. despite the threatening weather, it didn’t rain that much over christmas, which was a small miracle in itself.
so much, so little.
– the most exciting thing about these past 2 weeks was that we finally did the marathon walk! omg, we did it. 42kms, lots of bakeries, birds and blisters too. more on that later.

– a local non-profit cooked a warm meal for their neighbourhood and i volunteered to help serve. it was a nice event, filled with music, laughing kids running around, and lots of elderly neighbours chatting and getting to know each other. i think strengthening the bonds within these small communities is super important especially in times of need, and events like these help that happen.
– we packed and left for the north, where we’ll be for the next 2 weeks. on the surface, i’m ready for christmas, as we did all the shopping in advance… but i feel tired and impatient. though i love family and seeing friends, it feels like this whole year has just been stretching me thin, pulling in different directions and not leaving me much room to process. i want some weeks to call my own, to recharge and recalibrate.
– plus, it’s cold here. :( my toes and fingertips are frozen and it makes me supremely grumpy. as an adult, i have very little patience for this kind of endurance sport that the portuguese turn winter into. sigh.
ah… november. a month of longer and longer walks, knitting, migrating downstairs to huddle by the fireplace, volunteering and piquena staying over. a bit all over the place, and more sunny days than rainy ones.