In The Beginning. . .

To begin with I live 2 short blocks from the beach. I begin my day with a cup of tea and a view of the beautiful cerulean Atlantic ocean. This is the view from the corner of my balcony. Three years ago I moved from the state of Idaho in the U.S. north of the equator to the state of Ceara in Brasil, south of the equator. A great leap in distance and an even greater leap in lifestyle.

I live appoximately 2° south of the equator so as you can probably imagine it's very warm. The average year round temp is 86° F. Brasil has hundreds and hundreds of miles of beaches. They are beautiful and pristine. I walk down the street 2 blocks to our favorite kiosk on the beach and this is what we see. Brasilians drink beer ice cold. If it isn't ice cold then they don't want it. Coconuts abound here. The palm trees are mostly coconut palms. Ice cold coconut milk is served in the unhusked coconut just about anywhere you go, whether on the beach or to an uptown restaurant. Shrimp and lobsters are sold by vendors who come around with a basket full of them. There is an open air art and craft market on the beach just out of view of this picture. It opens every day at 4 p.m and closes around 12 a.m year round. For any one who has set up a booth at a art fair, they will have the same sympathy for these vendors who have to set up their booth and take it down every single day of the year. I will post some pictures of the market in a later post.

I have discovered so many new and interesting fruits and vegetable. On the right are Cashews. I had no idea cashew nuts started out as a fruit. The nub on the top is the nut we all love to eat. The fruit has a uniquie flavor and makes good juice. I have family and friends who live in the states and many of them are inundated with freezing temps, snow and ice. I have no envy for them. Even though we are in our summer and temps are around 86-88 degrees we have a breeze that blows 24/7 year round. It is cool in the shade and bearable in the sun.

"Beached"

Brasilian fishermen use Jangadas which are African in origin. I painted this before ever coming to Brasil and was very surprised when I discovered they were used here. They are build somewht differently, but are still called Jangads.