New England

I'll admit that we were a little apprehensive about our trip to the US.  We had tried to shift our focus to more local and regional news but the stories of heavy handed police action and the overall anti-non-US-born tone coming from the USA had been difficult to ignore.

Our arrival at Boston airport reset the tone.  The customs official was friendly and welcomed us with a "I've heard that Portugal is a wonderful place to retire!  Welcome back!"

Driving from the airport, Anne kept on gasping at the amazing new greens of the plants waking up to spring and the vibrant colors of the blossoms and new leaves on trees lining the streets.

Spring in Boston - photo by Anne

As usual we stayed at the Swampscott house of the first American friend we'd met when we came over here in 2001. Mary has a sweet little dog, Trixie, who likes to watch TV and barks hilariously at any animal that appears on the screen.

Trixie on guard

We ended up being a bit frantic over the few days in New England, driving miles to meet close friends in suburbs far apart.  One friend pointed out that we should organize an event-based catch-up and invite people over rather than trying to cram in lunch and dinner dates.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to see so we are going to aim for something less frenetic the next time we visit.

Leaving an established home is no joke.  Each of our visits back to South Africa and now to the USA reminds us of close friends we have left behind and of course raises questions about the wisdom of choosing to relocate in the first place.  We have resolved this question rationally but the heart may have a more nuanced story than the one we tell ourselves when the topic comes up.

photo by Anne

We have been recounting to our friends here how much we love living in Portugal.   The sense of community and friendships that are developing there are exceptional given how difficult it is to make connections as you get older.  I think the reason is that we are surrounded by people who took the leap themselves and are as open to socializing and making friends as we are.

Some of the friendships that we have in New England were formed in the months before we relocated to Portugal and we found ourselves wishing that we'd known them for longer!  One of the couples are parents of an outstanding ex-pupil of Anne's and they invited us to join them for a few days at their cottage on Martha's Vineyard.

I had been there once before for a work retreat where we got to see very little of the island so it was amazing to have another chance for a very informed tour of all of the towns and regions of the island. 

We walked on to the ferry in Wood's Hole and were picked up by Tom and Dottie at the ferry landing point in the Vineyard.

Ferry coming into Vineyard Haven

The weather was cool but perfect for driving around and learning about some of the historical high-lights (and lows) of the island's history.

A very quaint area in Oak's Bluff started as a Methodist campground which over the years evolved into little cottages built on the footprint of the original tent sites.  

Gingerbread house in the Methodist campsite - photo by Anne

We were taken on tours of the five towns of the island with highlights that included views of all but one of the lighthouses,

Gay Head light - photo by Anne

and the incredible clay cliffs of Aquinnah (formerly Gay Head) beach.  The red rock of the cliff turns out to be malleable red clay!

Rain fed etching of red on the beach from the clay cliff

The cliffs are beautiful.

Gay Head cliffs 

and our friend had us stand for a portrait with the cliffs, lighthouse and mainland of Cape Cod in our background.

photo by Tom

We visited the botanical gardens and drove past some really interesting trees with branches hanging almost to the ground and stretching out like a spider.

In the botanical gardens we came across these simple chairs that I'm going to try to replicate when we stop traveling.  The design is very simple and they are quite comfortable! 

Adirondack chair design

Portuguese e America club

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Mo's lunch in the buildings of the Portuguese American club and it was cool to see their emblem on the wall.  

The restaurant leases the space so there was no Portuguese spoken there but this is one of quite a few such clubs in the North East.

Another highlight was the sculpture garden (called the field gallery) which was founded in 1970 in West Tisbury.  The sculptures are playful and we walked around the garden in the evening sun.

Anne posed with one of the sculptures.

Anne and the leaning woman

We visited a beautiful gallery the next morning with an entire room devoted to the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt who spent over 50 summers in the Vineyard from 1930 till his death on the island in 1995.  His iconic images included many celebrities and the famous kiss in Time's Square on V-J day.

Alfred Eisenstaedt gallery

The gallery is beautifully curated with displays and supporting books and includes beautiful contemporary art of residents and past residents of the island.

It was a lovely visit and Tom and Dottie gave us such a warm welcome and a very interesting tour with great historical anecdotes.    

In all, my only regret is not figuring out a way to see more people.  We'll have to plan the next visit better.

After New England we are on to New Mexico to see Matt and Audrey.