It’s been a while.

Well, folks, a bit of time has past since my last post, hasn’t it? When we returned from Morocco more than a year ago, our social life picked up dramatically. Every week brought introductions to new faces and most days were spent living my dream of gathering with friends at cafes, restaurants, and pastry shops for leisurely conversation. Our progress learning Portuguese was slow, but steady. We entertained a little and we worked on sprucing up our living space, which now looks more like a mid-range hotel than a dorm room in a mediocre college.

And then came the Scourge! Covid-19 arrived in Portugal a few days before my birthday, crushing my plans to spend the day in a nearby mom and pop cafe, holding court for friends who wanted to stop by an share a bite ( or a sip). Tim and I went inside our apartment, and stayed there. We’d venture out with our masks and backpacks to bring in some groceries, occasionally relying on food delivery services for salads or pizza. Our Portuguese lessons became video chats with our tutor, and video chats with family and friends in the States became our lifeline to sanity. You know, pretty much what you and the rest of the world were doing during the early weeks of the Covid Era.

Here we are, nearly a year later, and Portugal has become a hotbed for the virus. The government has put a tight lid on movement of the population. Driving or walking within one’s own municipality is curtailed to only essential business. Leaving one’s municipality is forbidden, except for rare exceptions. We’ve been instructed to carry ID with us if we’re walking outside. People can be stopped by the police at random, and if their identification shows they’ve strayed too far from home for no good reason, they are fined on the spot. There doesn’t seem to be too much push back on these restrictions, but I’m not sure I have a complete picture of the situation. The reality here is that our public health system is good, but small, and easily overwhelmed. Like much of Europe, vaccines are in critically short supply. Remediation of the killer virus is still a long way off, so folks seem to be taking these government enforced avoidance tactics very seriously.

So, how do we pass our days? Well, friends, like most unemployed/retired people, we’ve found our groove. I am reading a long, detailed book about the plight of Central American migrants. As they endure their grueling trek across miles of inhospitable landscape in blazing temperatures, confronting all manor of danger and degradation, I’m able to get some perspective on how much worse my life could be. Although I haven’t set foot outside our apartment in nearly six weeks, I take comfort in the fact that, if it ever stops raining, I can sit on a balcony and watch the world stand still. I play a little mental game as I gaze out over our city world from my 10th floor perch. Not counting the ever-present sea gulls, I like to see how many moving objects I can count in one minute. Cars, trains, people walking their dogs – the variety is admittedly limited. But once, the count came pretty close to double digits!

There was one day that provided an unexpected bit of excitement for us both. There’s a high rise building just across the traffic rotary by our place. Very high up on the side of that building, the local McDonalds franchise displays a six-story tall banner touting the delectable treats and easy convenience of their local eateries. Imagine our thrill when on a recent day, we chanced to see a small crew of workers in the process of switching out the sign! We each grabbed a hot beverage and stood, rapt and eager, as the crew removed the signage we’d grown accustomed to and replaced it with a brand new message! Now, this process is no small feat. The guys must lower themselves over the edge of the rooftop terrace, suspended on tiny ropes. They carefully detach the mammoth banner from the building and gently, safely lower this half acre of vinyl signage to the sidewalk several stories below. Then two for the guys rappel down the wall and wrestle the behemoth into a tidy roll and haul it away, while their teammate dangles from his precarious seat. Eventually, he is rejoined by the two others and the real excitement begins. They attach the new sign to the top of the building and proceed to s-l-o-w-l-y unroll it down the building, attaching the sides to some kind of fasteners as they go. The excitement meter really spikes when a gust of wind catches the vinyl sheet and the men swing way out over the pavement as they attempt to tame the billowing mass. Why hasn’t somebody made an action movie about this? Meanwhile, our hot beverages having long since gone cold, we stand in itching suspense wondering what the new sign will reveal about the wonders that await us at McDonalds.

But lest you think we rely solely on strangers to provide all of our entertainment, let me share a story that happened this week, involving just the two of us. A few days ago, my beloved announced that he might just take the trash and recyclables to the dumpsters across the plaza from our building! For a moment, I thought I might go with him and break my long stretch of “house-boundedness.” I came to my senses and decided I’d have more enjoyment watching him from our kitchen window as he ventured out into the real world. That way, we could compare his street view of the adventure to my aerial view. It gave us something to ponder and anticipate for a couple of days until the aroma emanating from the kitchen trash bin told us it was time. As luck would have it, the timing of the trip removed all chance of adventure. It turns out nothing much happens at 1:10 AM on a Tuesday in the plaza outside our building during a pandemic.

Another game I like to play is trying to find something to watch on the six TV channels that provide English language programming. Limited choice eventually led me to start watching a National Geographic program called “Live Free or Die.” It’s a long-running show about stalwart individuals who strike out into the varied wilderness of the United States and build a life off the grid. Believe me when I tell you it is riveting! These people fear nothing – poisonous snakes, deadly accidents, fiercely inclement weather, griping loneliness, near starvation, hostile wild boars, and dirt. Lots of dirt. Not only is their determination and innovative spirit inspirational, I’m certain I burn calories and build muscle just watching them chop down trees, and haul heavy jugs of water up a mountain ridge!