Spring has Sprung

Playground Earth | Azores | Fruits

On Friday, April 3rd. the government of the Azores issued an updated SIP order for the entire island of Sao Miguel. This new announcement came out of an “abundance of caution” and will remain in place until Friday, April 17th. So for now we are not allowed to leave the property until further notice.

If extensions apply we will be duly notified by the government and local authorities, one of whom just happened to be driving past the resort last Friday just as we were about to escape for a walk around the lake. Five minutes plus/minus and we would have been down by the shore.

Bad timing!

The good news is that this is a very large and expansive property and we can enjoy miles of hiking trails that lead to lookouts where we can view the various farms and fields below along with the vast Atlantic ocean.

And spring has sprung.

The surrounding hills and valleys are blooming with reckless abandon. Gorse is everywhere, with its brilliant yellow flowers as calla lilies flourish out of damp, grassy meadows. Daisies in every color cover the ground like carpet while hillsides full of azaleas are showing signs of spring fever. Camellias come early in these parts and within a few weeks they will be spent. Before too long the hydrangeas will be exploding like fireworks on the 4th. of July. That’s when things will get interesting as there are millions of them lining every road on the island!

The vegetable garden is showing promise in spite of all the rain. Lettuce, arugula, parsley, swiss chard, carrots and several types of garlic leaves are all ready to harvest so we will have plenty of greens on the table in addition to the local beef and chicken. And there are still plenty of fiery chilis left on the vine from last season when we want to spice up a dish.

Our food is delivered to the resort from a wholesale company (think Costco) that services the hospitality industry on the island so we are eating well. We are not allowed to go shopping on our own.

We usually prefer to do our own shopping but, like so many people, we are in a unique situation and in no position to complain. So we don’t.

There’s no crying in baseball.

Thanks for following. Stay safe.