Hello. I wanted to send a message for November, but that month just got away from me with contractors, traveling, entertaining guests, and Portuguese classes.
It’s the end of year, and with that, I admit the joy I had as a child takes a bit more effort to find. It’s almost as if the Grinch stole my inner spark. How could that be? It’s true, in a relative way, that the Grinch is the political monster, squashing and sneering at the world’s hopes for peace and goodwill. Continue reading
I’ve had to mentally rearrange the way I look at life and what I value. Tallying up the recent months, the perpetual negative news has eaten away at me. Continue reading
I did not have any expectations moving to Portugal. I knew it would be an adventure absorbing a new country’s culture, existing without a car, and building new friendships. Continue reading
What do you hear when you listen? Is it joyful noise, or sounds shattering your imagination, solitude, search for peace of mind, and thoughts of future happiness?
I’ve been on a hiatus from writing, because after much contemplation, I sold a home in the city center of Porto, Portugal, to move to a historical fishing village about a 30-minute train ride away. The town, Vila do Conde, situated on the Atlantic Coast, offers a favorable taste and sense of the day-to-day Portuguese life, and, to us expats, a lifestyle far from the Americanization we grew up with. Continue reading
I’ve watched the news broadcasts over the past several weeks, showing fires devouring Los Angeles neighborhoods. Continue reading
I’ve watched an exceptionally, well written/directed, and equally, superbly acted war drama on Netflix, called The Six Triple Eight. A true story scripted from the book, Fighting a Two-Front War, by Kevin M. Hymel.
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I know this is an odd question, but in the scheme of things, it’s relevant.
I’m writing this a short time before the U.S. Elections as two opposing political parties are forcing the other party’s voters to swallow a different diet. Questions swirl: Can a meat eater survive as a vegetarian, and can a vegetarian survive as a meat eater? From what I’ve read and seen televised, the answer is no. In more plain talk, the divide is too large, and cracks are deeper and wider than the San Andreas Fault. And thinking further, should and when an earthquake come, the land masses will forever change. This election, in my opinion, is like an earthquake. Continue reading
Hello there.
I’ve stepped back, needing to drop goals and exchange them for a better continuity centering around the commonality of peace and calm. So much has happened in the world news—-breaking promises of objectivity, rationale, and wellness. Continue reading
Guest blog written by Steve Durham, an author, expat living in Portugal, and an amazing friend
Americans visit Europe and the cobblestone streets, café culture, and exotic cuisine seduce them. Love is inevitable and that is the starting point for all of us who chose to emigrate to Europe. In my case, Portugal. Every expat has a constellation of reasons for leaving the U.S., but we all share one motivator. The poisonous American political climate. Continue reading