Relative Something

It was now Monday and Ian’s wife and daughters had stretched out their weekend as long as possible, staying the extra night, even though they all needed to get back to Porto. It created a special atmosphere to have them prolong their stay for our benefit. Our morning activities hovered a bit as they prepared to leave us for the week. I brought my guitar with me to the main house and played on the porch swing as Cyndie was making a peach crumble in the kitchen.

When an opportunity presented itself, Cyndie and I asked Stephanie if she thought her mother would mind if we washed the windshield of her car for her before they left. We had noticed how the film that builds up on the inside over time was obscuring the view when the car was facing into the sun. I was a little concerned that the gesture, or our intent, could be misinterpreted, but Victoria only objected briefly when she saw us expanding the task and moving to the side windows, as well.  I tried to disrupt her thinking by using a little humor. I informed her that our cleaning her windshield was in no way intended to enable her to drive faster.

We said our good-byes and sent them on their way. It would be our last opportunity to be with Patricia on this trip, as she was planning to leave for India the following weekend.

After they were gone, there was a brief pause where we caught our breath and considered our next agenda. There would be a different rhythm to things for a few days now, as it would be just the three of us: Ian, Cyndie and me. Cyndie volunteered to make meals. Ian told her that he could never ask her to do that, and we understood completely. It is a contribution that she does well, and seemed like a pretty good way to go, but I’m a very biased judge. Ian and I benefited greatly from her generous willingness to claim that task. We decided to go grocery shopping and to fill LP gas tanks. On the way to the supermarket, we stopped off at a garden in town to see some beautiful plants, and trees, and an overall great public space. Ian drove to Mondim to offer us what he thought was a better supermarket. Cyndie shopped from her list and bought mainly vegetables, some things to bake bread, some pasta, rice, and then meat to make a pot roast. As she was going through the process of paying, the credit card machine went blank after she entered her PIN and it took a bit of time for the clerk and others to fix things. The clerk was very concerned to not charge us twice. She was very, very nice about it, and Cyndie wanted to have Ian translate our sincere thanks. The clerk was working equally to thank us for being patient. A wonderful exchange of pleasantness.

While swapping LP gas tanks, Ian considered checking in with Carlos, but decided to come back later when Cyndie hesitated over the idea. Back at the farm, Cyndie heated up left-overs for our lunch, and after eating, we walked the horses down to the lower field by the river. Seeing so many ripe figs on the tree behind the shade house, we got the idea to pick them for drying in the sun. Cyndie took up that project while Ian drove me to meet Carlos. That part of my day is a story for another time…