Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

Thursday January 8, 2026

Today the sun was out in full force and the sky was a shade of blue that I think only exists in the Algarve. Regardless, after spending the morning exercising and bike riding, I decided to spend the afternoon at Faro beach – one of my favourite places to be.

It was a bit of a challenge for me but the shoes, socks and sweatpants came off and I was into the ocean up to my knees. It was gloriously cold! Something only a crazy Canuck would do, I guess. I spent the rest of the afternoon lazily walking the beach until I found a sheltered spot out of the light breeze and settled in to soak up the sunlight and the sound of the sea.

It was such a beautiful day that I decided to do something I have never done before: I decided to sit on the beach until sunset. I wasn’t the only one. It was a small community event with folks huddled in small groups as the temperature rapidly fell. It was worth the wait, I think.

It was a gradual process with incremental changes. The clouds formed a false horizon creating the illusion of a distant shore. This was the sky when I arrived at the quinta:

Now here’s a squawk from yesterday’s news and views. I went out for lunch with Randy and Marc to Restaurant Horta. It’s but a hop and a skip, no jump, from their new digs. On deck, there was an absolutely grand entertainment provided by a local gaggle of geese in the softly falling rain.

It was a delicious meal – Marc and I chose the chicken tagine that comes in its own trademark dish and I can’t remember what Randy ordered and forgot to take a photo although you can see it in the background of the photo of my lunch. Old age creeping up!

After lunch, we headed over to their new home for the next few months and I was given the grand tour. It is absolutely beautiful. Next time I will take photos! It was a day that began with a lovely rainbow over the quinta BBQ house. And that, dear readers, is how the time flies when you’re having winter fun in the Algarve. À bientôt!