Ode to Açores

The time has almost come to leave this amazing place, Açores and our little house next to the sea. As with Matedeiro, we didn't like it at first and couldn't wait for it to be over and now we hate to leave. We have loved this house. The big windows where we watched the sun and the moon rise and saw dolphins swimming and monkeys climbing. It will feel empty to leave the constant sound of the sea and lose this intimacy with the tide and the waves. We will miss walking to the little town across the bay, with the salty fishermen mending their nets and dogs napping in the shade of wet boats. We did not have enough time to uncover all of the secrets in the rocks here, the art, the coral, the sacred things. We didn't lie in the hammocks enough, or take enough walks by moonlight, or swim enough in the sea. There wasn't enough time to take it all in and there never could be. Maybe the thing I will cherish most about Açores will be the comfort that this house, and this beach, and this ocean brough me while Carol was away. I'm sad that she missed out on a month here. I'm glad she is coming back tomorrow and that she will get to spend one last night in this little blue and white house, on the corner, by the sea.