On her third birthday our little one gained and lost her first pet. We both gave and (unwittingly) took it from her. She used to ask to see the fish every time my husband took her to town with him so we decided to give her a fish for her birthday. But it was a … Continue reading Daily rhythms of life and death
Category: Life overseas
Squirrels, toucans and confessions
Having once openly ridiculed a Brazilian friend who went nuts when she saw a squirrel in the Rio de Janeiro botanical gardens when I was still fresh off the boat and clinging jealously to a brief glimpse of a toucan as my only brush with tropical wildlife, I have a confession to make. I've harboured … Continue reading Squirrels, toucans and confessions
Writing as worship
I'm coming to realise that writing comes in all forms and for all different purposes and that's one of the wonderful things about it. So writing blog posts is not frivolous if I am training myself to persevere and experimenting with different writing styles and techniques. And what I am unable to capture in a … Continue reading Writing as worship
Third culture Christmas
We are a Brazilian husband, a British wife and a Brazilian-British daughter currently living in Brazil. This year I'm trying to be intentional about choosing meaningful traditions for Advent and Christmas that will point us as a family to Christ. I've written more about the reason for this here. As a third culture family unit … Continue reading Third culture Christmas
Rethinking Christmas
This year my head has been slowly and repeatedly compressed and decompressed. It feels as if my mental capacity has been shrunk and enlarged at different times and perhaps this process has finally made me face up to a few things. Or at least see them in a different light. I'm not good with change. … Continue reading Rethinking Christmas
Writing in Portuguese
At the beginning of lockdown I was still more or less convinced that I would never write poetry again, and that the spoken word poems and songs were long gone, a passing and past phase never to be revisited. I had been grieving my loss of language for a while (more on that in another … Continue reading Writing in Portuguese
Writing – where every step is a step
I took part in an amazingly encouraging workshop on Writing Resilience this morning, organised as part of the Stay-at-home! Fringe Festival and led by Nikki Dudley. The stated aim of the workshop was to "boost your confidence and make you a more resilient writer". And how I needed that! One of the exercises was to … Continue reading Writing – where every step is a step
The very hungry caterpillars
27th March - In the course of our morning foray into my mother-in-law's back garden for chicken inspection purposes, we happened upon a brightly coloured tiger butterfly resting on a leaf. We approached to get a better look, expecting her to fly away as soon as she saw us coming, but she remained resolutely where … Continue reading The very hungry caterpillars
The wait
Rain is both threatened and promisedrespite from this relentlessly heavy heat The air itself is thick and closemixed with smoke rising from still-smouldering wildfiresthe plumes suspended flatly in the valleysThe mountains behind seem to have been painted inunfinished, a soft dove-grey wash, to be inked in later Only the trees in the foreground sharpthe palms … Continue reading The wait
Rain, rain, go away?
I don't know how many times in my life I've heard people say 'Don't you just love a cold/rainy/wintry day when you're tucked up inside all nice and warm/dry/cosy and listening to the weather outside?' (delete as applicable). Actually, I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone say that, I think I've only ever read that … Continue reading Rain, rain, go away?
Brazil from the outside in 