Up, Up, and Almost Away!!

I joked with Marc that it’s a darn good thing we glued our toupees down and used our Fixadent, otherwise we’d have been quite the sight on the top of São Miguel today!!!!  We nearly blew off the side of the mountain a couple of times the winds were that strong.

Despite the winds we thoroughly enjoyed our hike and the vistas from on high.  It was a crystal clear day and the sun sparkling out over the sea was glorious.

Marc was a good sport about coming today as he really wasn’t “feeling it”.

I ended up overdressed and had to carry my jacket almost the entire trek. When will I learn!

We’ve both commented on the dryness of the earth this year.  Last year at this time the sorrel had grown and all the fields were lush green, the earth of the mountains a golden colour.  Right now, because of the dryer summer, the fields are barren and as you can see, the mountains are very clay like in texture.  In all the many years I’ve been coming  here I’ve never had two years alike in terms of temperatures or weather,  consequently, we haven’t any idea what to expect for the upcoming months.  It’s all a grand surprise.

Also this year we have noticed a huge difference, quantity-wise, in the fruit of the  medronho trees (Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree) and also the acorns from the holly oak or holm oak. (It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly.)  Laden!!

Medronho growing in abundance.

A close-up of the medronho fruit.

The wind was really bending the trees, which made it a challenge to capture a photo.

If we were in Canada and we noticed an abundance of fruit and nuts growing on the trees about now,  we would conclude that it was going to be a terrible winter and Mother Nature was simply providing for the squirrels and other small animals.  Given there aren’t any squirrels here, and we hope it’s not going to be a terrible winter, we haven’t any idea what to conclude.

A grand day it was and now that we’ve settled back in the Quinta for the balance of the afternoon and evening, we’ve lit a fire to provide ambience and a little warmth, Marc is pottering in the kitchen conjuring up dinner and life as we know it is wonderful.