So C and I finally went up to our land in the mountains last Sat. It's about a 2 hour drive from the city. We spent the night in a pousada and came back Sunday evening. So good to be there. It's SO beautiful. Even more so than I remember. The little village is so mystical at night. Foggy, and so quiet. It is very high in the mountains and all the little wet cobbled streets wind around up and down steep hills between the old houses and two little churches (one built for whitey, and one for the slaves -- I actually think the slave chapel is prettier.) And the stars are so bright.
Our land needs some serious tending to. It is so lush and overgrown, we had to cut our way into it from the road. C bought a brush cutter before we left at homedepot and I'd been making fun of him trying to use it ever since. I though for sure this little gasoline powered mickey mouse contraption would be no match for the verdant wilds of vegetation, but he actually managed to do a pretty good job with it. But in two hours we only managed to clear the immediate area right around the little unfinished house. And there are acres and acres that need to be mowed down. It's pertinent that we do otherwise the park officials won't let us cut anything that gets over a certain height -- be it a weed or not.. Large parts of the land – probably at least 3/4 of it is forested and we aren't touching it. But the parts that are cleared we want to keep that way so we have room to plant, and build and maybe even get a cow...
After C finished making a racket with the machine we stood behind the house where it is so ripe and fecund you can actually feel the plants growing around you. There are thick thatches of banana trees, sour orange trees, raspberry bushes everywhere, tons of impatiens growing wild and these amazing red lilies. So quiet but so noisy at the same time -- hundreds of birds singing, the monkeys way off in the distance hooting and hollering and buzzing insects. This enormous blue and yellow butterfly drifted by (big as my face) and then out of nowhere a tiny scarlet humming bird shot in front of us, zipped here and there and the was gone. We just stood there, eyes wide, jaws dropped, in awe of the whole scene.
Now I remember why I moved here!
Here's two pictures. The one of C is taken by the little spring that scrabbles it's way across the property. That enormous prehistoric looking plant sprang up out of nowhere. C swears it was not there when he last visited back in January. Feed me Seymour.. The one of me is behind the little house where we saw the hummingbird.
(you can click on the pictures to see them larger)
Our land needs some serious tending to. It is so lush and overgrown, we had to cut our way into it from the road. C bought a brush cutter before we left at homedepot and I'd been making fun of him trying to use it ever since. I though for sure this little gasoline powered mickey mouse contraption would be no match for the verdant wilds of vegetation, but he actually managed to do a pretty good job with it. But in two hours we only managed to clear the immediate area right around the little unfinished house. And there are acres and acres that need to be mowed down. It's pertinent that we do otherwise the park officials won't let us cut anything that gets over a certain height -- be it a weed or not.. Large parts of the land – probably at least 3/4 of it is forested and we aren't touching it. But the parts that are cleared we want to keep that way so we have room to plant, and build and maybe even get a cow...
After C finished making a racket with the machine we stood behind the house where it is so ripe and fecund you can actually feel the plants growing around you. There are thick thatches of banana trees, sour orange trees, raspberry bushes everywhere, tons of impatiens growing wild and these amazing red lilies. So quiet but so noisy at the same time -- hundreds of birds singing, the monkeys way off in the distance hooting and hollering and buzzing insects. This enormous blue and yellow butterfly drifted by (big as my face) and then out of nowhere a tiny scarlet humming bird shot in front of us, zipped here and there and the was gone. We just stood there, eyes wide, jaws dropped, in awe of the whole scene.
Now I remember why I moved here!
Here's two pictures. The one of C is taken by the little spring that scrabbles it's way across the property. That enormous prehistoric looking plant sprang up out of nowhere. C swears it was not there when he last visited back in January. Feed me Seymour.. The one of me is behind the little house where we saw the hummingbird.
(you can click on the pictures to see them larger)
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