the beauty of it all

 Poetry (written on a painting that clung to the web inside my head ever since Elouan weaved it on our kitchen table last July, this poem by Shel Silverstein, who I discovered in the process of ordering books on Amazon), trees, walks in and around Ouro Preto, the story of Marianne North in Brazil and her botanical paintings, and embroidery, are among the things that have been blowing my hair back lately.

It is time for an account on the weather, isn't it? Given that last year at the same time of the year Ouro Preto ended up isolated from the rest of the world due to heavy rain falls, and the year before we spent three consecutive wet months from our arrival in October until Christmas, I expected, and announced that rain season was officially open. Well, as it happens, this year has seen very little rain fall and much higher temperatures than the previous two. I just hope that there will be enough water for who needs it. Around here it is very green, and the weather has made Christmas holidays very enjoyable, in particular since the girls now allow us to spend the day outside, so we are not sorry for ourselves. They say, the later it comes, the harder it comes. I'll just stick to the idea that the weather is unpredictable and keep carrying an umbrella.

Don't we live in (another) beautiful corner of the world?!