The good and the interesting

The bench I use at the park next to the Itaú buildings and the leaning tree from my earlier post, except that this is the real tree the post was based on.
Life is immeasurably good! Sure, my finances are a challenge and Jurgis is eating me out of house and home *laugh* But... Life is so good!

As I sit here back in the little park outside Itaú, I look at the cool damp of mossy tree trunks and wet soil. A half-inch long ant passes my foot on its way somewhere important. A light breeze stirs the palm fronds to the beat of the song playing in my ears.

A random stranger just walked up and asked me where I live. I answered that I live on the other end of the city. "Are you American?" he asked. Apparently, I look foreign : )

......
The song that's been playing in my head for the past few days.
It's impossible Not to grin and want to dance in dizzy circles while listening to it.

Every day, without consciously looking for it, my faith in humanity is being reaffirmed. Wow! There are awesome people out there! Even bureaucrats! Yes, I was dumbstruck too. It's an entirely new experience for me to have a South African official  be kind and accommodating to an expat and to process a document on a same day basis. If that wasn't enough, the document has more info than I originally expected! That a friend bent over backwards to make it work comes as no surprise. I choose my friends well. Even so, I'm so, so grateful!! Thanks Marianne. Have I told you you're a star? : )  I'm now, once again, the proud owner of a drivers licence!! *huge grins*

I finally finished the project for el scrawny one. I'm fairly chuffed with the way it's turned out. Now to finish my other projects for other random scrawnies (and even not-so-scrawnies *laugh*). We packed up two large boxes for donation and burned a box-full of old paperwork. The clearing out process is slow, but we're getting there.

The rain continues. Daily storms and lots of water. We discovered that the water is coming *through* the front door. No, not because it's open, but through it! That is aside from the various other leaks and seepages. (Today is Saturday and the sun shone for a while. Everyone is on their rooftops attempting drastic repairs. The neighbour is complaining that the plaster has fallen off their soggy walls.) Brazilian houses aren't known for their water-tightness.

Then along comes the neighbour with a reality check. He's the guy living in the other house on this property. 11pm the phone rings. Jurgis has been in the land of nod for the past two hours, but the neighbour urgently needs to speak to him. I woke the bear up... The emergency that required an 11pm call from his door no more than 10 metres away? "Could I borrow some milk please?" Eish!