Morning philosophy begins at breakfast again. .. Stefan, resting today before returning to Germany tomorrow, bike needing its own box for travel ... Harald and daughter Synova (bringer of the Sun) join the party as the question of consciousness is examined ... specifically whether there is individual consciousness or just Universal Consciousness (capitalisation considered, though possibly contentious) ... whether the individual element is the processing of incoming information via previously conditioned brains ...
Sun comes and goes as a new weather system brings unsettled conditions just in time for Easter, a special time for Christian Conditioned cultures ... an old story of entrenched secular power sensing a threat from radical notions of Universal Love, Peace, Harmony ... and nailing its exemplar up for all to see, suffering because Fear prevented clearer vision and action ... and so it goes on ... where the chocolate eggs enter the tale not clear, though rabbits possibly linked to the pre-Christian festival of fecundity and Spring ...
The editor writes with encouragement, prior to abandoning the Disunited Kingdom for the more sophisticated pleasures of France ... specifically a book on, or maybe called, Walking and Philosophy ... maybe a combination to which Wear and Dao aspires ... whilst in the supermarket a bottle of red wine from the Dao is obtained, despite continuing antibiotic consumption ... and news from the Wear suggests a snowy Easter and more encouragement for the writing from friend and mindfulness teacher generates energy for a practical project based at the cold and lonely cottage, carelessly abandoned in February, combining the undoubted benefits of walking in Nature, meditation, simple home made food, tv free but with rich library ... A Place to Be, which has to be done, since simply being doesn't always achieve results ... let's see how that plays out over the coming wander to Santiago ... an idea gathering its own energy by the day ...
Routine trip to the market, fresh orange juice, fresh vegetables from familiar faces and back to hostel to find philosophy continuing with Stefan, Lukas and Shelly (from Northern Ireland - national identity, as always, offered as context for you, dear readers, rather than continuing stereotypes and differences) ... all captured in the ritual of tobacco rolling and smoking, one of the more futile activities humans like to indulge in ...
A wander to the charity shop harvests five more books for the hostel library ... the return call to favourite cafe come bakery, where Fernanda spends a little time creating a pretty mandala in the crema on the coffee ... 33 years a teacher, now she indulges her passion for creating wonderful pastries and ice cream ... she and her husband, a builder, are on with an ambitious project to renovate a building in the centre of town, better to showcase the sweet temptations ... if you should be in Tavira seeking the current, rather obscure, location, first find the youth hostel, then carry on up the hill ... the place is in a side street on the right ...
Afternoon wander less arduous than usual, since time and space is needed to record some of the musings ... a stroll to Quatro Aguas where the clouds have cleared and promised showers disappeared ... maybe waiting for the public holiday tomorrow ... no ambition to cross the water today, the little ferry port has its own amusements, as well a providing comfortable benches to sit ...a favourite is to observe folks in cars parking in the turning circle with complete disregard for the nearby car park (which costs) or the signs advising us not to block it ... notable, since Portuguese drivers in general are very tolerant and patient, often stopping to invite pedestrians across the road even where no crossing is marked ... once an hour the tourist road train arrives with nowhere else to turn, rings its bell and blasts its horn, as offending drivers appear from various places to shift the cars ... for a while ... enforcement of the parking restriction somehow not in the programme ...
Convivial supper with Nils, Judge from Germany, cycling around Portugal, Shelly, Lukas and Stefan, sharing wine, food, philosophy ... tomorrow is Good Friday, a public holiday here ...maybe a longer walk to keep legs fit for next week ... let's see what the morning brings ...
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