The Long and winding road

The Beatles sang to me in my youth:

"The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear"

That was definitely my hope as João and I began to make our way home from Monte Verde as our vacation began to wind down.

Since I last wrote on Monday, we have had delightful and adventuresome experiences!
Monday night, as I returned from the LAN House, I felt colder than usual and as the evening wore on, I was uncomfortably cold and began to long for the heat of Rio. (That in and of itself should tell you how cold I was). That evening we built the hottest fire we could, pulled the mattresses next to the fire and put on just about every piece of clothes we had with us and I snuggled under 4 blankets and was still cold! We learned it had hit a low of -4 degrees C, which is roughly 24 F. It was the same temp inside as out. With the roaring fire, we got the temp up to about 6 (C) or 42 (F) in the house. Wow.

Fortunately the sun popped out the next day and it warmed up to 15 (C), which is about 59 (F). Big relief. Since it was still cool, we decided we would finally indulge in one of the specialties of Monte Verde, which is fondue. Unfortunately it is only served at night and we had an evening engagement. But because we had made friends with the owner of the restaurant, he made an exception and served us our long awaited cheese fondue. What fun we had eating that. I broke down and bought a fondue pot and hope very soon to make it with friends and family, since they even shared the recipe with us.

We spent Tuesday evening at the Pastor's home and really delighted in spending the time with such a wonderful family. The pastoral couple is just absolutely outstanding. It's unusual to make so many friends and feel so much a part of a community after just 3 weeks.

I was sad come Wednesday morning, as we packed the car to begin our trip home.

We decided to drive to another resort town, via the "scenic route", which is being generous. It's called the farm route, since it is actually no road (is not on any maps), but a way to connect the farms and ranches. They told us to always choose the wider path and vear to the right at any fork in the road. But to our surprise there actually was a sign along the way, which was encouraging. To give you a notion of the road condition, in the first four hours we travelled 45 quilometers (or about 24 miles). No we did not stop along the way, except occasionally to make sure our car would ford the stream, clear the rocks, not fall through the wooden bridge, or be run over by the cows, dogs, chickens, sheep that shared the road with us. It was never scary, but it was worrisome if we were going to ruin the car or if we were ever, ever going to arrive anywhere. The views were spectacular, the sky blue, the air cool and crisp and my company was excellent. We climbed and dropped alternatively in the highest mountain range in Brazil (although not the highest peek).

Eventually, after four hours, we actually hit a real road, although unpaved, was of excellent quality. Then after another 40 minutes we hit the asphalt. And after 5 ½ hours of driving we finally arrived in Campos do Jordão! It is also a gorgeous mountain resort. We didn't have a lot of time to explore, but I was just happy to see civilization. But the town was very nice and I hope to return someday. I especially enjoyed seeing the maple leaves that were turning colors (it is almost winter here) and the cherry trees in full blossom at the very same time. Seasons can get confused in the tropics. After a good meal and lots of oohing and ahing as we drove down the mountains, back to the main highway, we finally arrived, that evening at my friend, Marilene's, home.

That was to be the very last stage of our vacation. Lots of late night talking and visiting and eating and sharing and sleeping took place as we tried to catch up on old times. We are the kind of friends that always pick up where we left off, no matter where that was! After a year of being far from one another, with just occasional visits, the friendship is firm, which is a great victory.

On our last day in Mount Verde, we happened along the farm near our house and the new lambs were actually outside feeding. We stopped the car to look and listen. I am a city kid, so I still get a kick out of farm animals. The owner came over and offered to let me hold a lamb. I had never down that, so he placed her in my arms. She was so sweet and calm and soft. Just irresistably adorable. Course I love animals, especially the cuddly kind. Her mother, however, was not so fluffy and sweet. The caretaker, a young boy, was terrified of her. Momma sheep was smelly and dirty and rather cross. She lacked a loving shepherd to stay by her side and bathe her and care for her and make her feel like her babies were safe. That, my friends, is why our vacation draws to a close. We have sheep, we have lambs who need us to protect them, to care for them, to help them to feel safe. João and I joyfully, willingly return to our shepherding duties. There is a flock to be fed, a flock to be cared for, lambs to be nurtured, sheep to be protected and lots of love to be shared!