(texto em portugues na proxima pagina)
On my desk I have only one picture, that of my Dad right around the time he retired. He had the most beautiful handwritting, that kind we don’t see anymore. Perfect, almost like a drawing. He did not live to the point of getting a computer with internet connections, but I know he would have a blast with all the possibilities. He was curious about many things and loved to learn. I like to think he would enjoy my blog.
He would be 92 today. There would be a phone call, and the excitement in his voice when talking to me would warm my soul. No phone calls anymore, only memories and the realization, stronger as each year goes by, that we have a lot in common. I hope he was aware of it.
One of my favorite photos of him, dancing with my beautiful niece Fernanda…
One of my favorite photos the three of us, taken by Phil years ago…
For an extra trip down memory lane…. Memories of Pasteis
ONE YEAR AGO: A must-make veggie puree
TWO YEARS AGO: Vegetarian Lasagna
THREE YEARS AGO: Brazilian Pao de Queijo: Love at First Bite!
Na escrivaninha do meu escritorio eu tenho apenas uma foto. Ela mostra meu pai na epoca em que se aposentou. Ele tinha uma caligrafia incrivel, dessas que nao se ve mais, quase como um desenho. Ele nao chegou a comprar um computador e conecta-lo a internet, o que de certa forma e’ uma pena, sei que ele teria curtido demais. Ele tinha uma mente curiosa e adorava aprender coisas novas. Gosto de imaginar que ele seria fa do meu blog.
Hoje ele completaria 92 anos. Certamente nos falariamos pelo telefone e a empolgacao dele ao ouvir minha voz vindo de tao longe no planeta como sempre me daria uma calorzinho por dentro. Telefonemas nao acontecem mais, no lugar deles apenas lembrancas e a constatacao, mais forte a cada ano que passa, que temos muito em comum. Espero que ele tenha sentido o mesmo.
After many days struggling with this….
Followed by evenings like this…
finally… our lab is starting to shape up!
I promise a more detailed post about our lab move soon… for now let’s say we see the light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully in one more week we can resume our experiments… yeah!!!! 😉
Big lunch celebration in Sao Paulo, a few friends and family members. We are missing all the fun, but they framed Mom’s favorite photo of our recent trip to Hawaii, so in a way, we are there!
FELIZ ANIVERSARIO, MAMAE!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DONA FILOCA! 😉
It was a trip that started with this sunset on the beach behind our backyard, at the North Shore of Oahu…
Can it get any better… ? We awakened the next morning to the great news that my stepson and his girlfriend were engaged! He invited her that morning (her birthday!) for a walk on the beach, and when they reached a beautiful spot near some rocks overlooking the ocean, he popped the question! How cool is that, folks? We were thrilled!
Phil made margaritas at sunset to celebrate the double happy event: the birthday and the engagement… Afterwards we kept our momentum with a nice dinner at the Turtle Bay Resort. Yeap, the one from that movie, remember? 😉
So the festivities began!
The beautiful house we were fortunate to find (VRBO) and the incredible beach in our backyard….
The owners of the house have two gorgeous Golden Retrievers, quite likely the happiest dogs in the known universe! They often dropped by the beach in the morning, hung out the whole day with the regulars for occasional quick swims, then came back to lay on the sand or the cool grass in the backyard. Tough life! One of them assumed the “belly rub” position at the sight of any willing human being, and stayed like that forever. Patiently waiting…
Who could resist that belly? None of us did!
We went for long walks, marveled at nature, relaxed on the beach, and took stand-up paddleboard lessons (harder than I anticipated, folks!). The strong swimmers followed sea turtles underwater.
We were impressed by the little Go Pro camera my other stepson had. The tiny thing is a workhorse! You can take it under water, clip it to helmets, to surfboards, to bikes, and make videos or serial time frames that are amazing! Take a look at this one, of the chase of a sea turtle under water (make sure to watch to the point the turtle goes up for air, it’s beautiful). He also made several time lapses of sunsets, like this one, while some other folks were preparing to camp for the night on the beach, and lit a fire at sunset.
To close the week we had a farewell dinner at Tiki’s Grill on Waikiki, with the best Mai Tais, great food and wonderful ambiance, particularly if you arrive before sunset, as we made sure we did! 😉
UNTIL NEXT TIME, ALOHA OAHU, and MAHALO!
ONE YEAR AGO: Feijoada, the Ultimate Brazilian Feast
TWO YEARS AGO: Vegetable Milhojas
THREE YEARS AGO: Italian Bread
Bewitching Kitchen 