Relative Something

I am preparing to travel to Portugal with Cyndie in a few days. It was back in January of 2010 that we began plotting this adventure and now we are packing our bags. It is a very exciting time. This trip is special for us in that it is not just a random touristy jaunt to a foreign country. The seeds for this magical adventure were planted almost 8 years ago in an online discussion on the topic of trees.

I have mentioned in my posts here in the past about my activity with the virtual community of Brainstorms. It is there that I first met our connection in Portugal. He shares an affinity for trees, and my interactions with him in that online community started with discussions on the planting of new trees and expanded over the years to include stories about our children and details about the rest of our lives.

For years I read about the work going on to maintain the place he referred to as, “the farm.” He admitted that no real farming occurs there, but the 22 acre property includes forested areas, some with cultivated stands of pine trees, a variety of terraces that have grape vines, olive trees, peaches, dates, and oranges. There is a greenhouse and a good variety of flowering plants, especially one of our host’s prizes, the camellia.

After he wrote about the completed renovations of one of the old original buildings, which he described as a “writer’s cottage,” (complete with pictures of the new roof going up on the structure of hand-cut granite blocks) I wanted to offer my services as ‘farm-hand’ in the biggest way. Then he went and added horses, an addition that I knew would appeal to Cyndie.

Last January, we offered up the idea of our visiting Portugal to help with chores on the farm. I asked how long a stay would be appropriate. We couldn’t have been more pleased with his reply… A minimum of a week, preferably a month. We were able to make it 2 weeks. It becomes a reality in a few days.