Celebrating a Year

I spend the morning sorting and packing and then set out by bus for a late lunch and a long walk through Ipanema. I am storing images and sun for the cold winter ahead, that I know is waiting for me when I get back home. This is the most surreal month to visit Rio. Their seasons are opposite of ours, so here it is the start of alto-verao, high summer, while a snowstorm settles in over my New England home. When I left the US it was dark outside by 4:00 PM; here it stays light until almost 9:00 PM. I think I will miss those 5 extra hours of after-work daylight most of all. And, of course, the colors of the landscape, that back home this season are reduced to light and shadow. Today is perhaps the most gorgeous day of my trip– I even leave my umbrella at home for the skies are too blue to allow for dark clouds. As I reach the bottom of my hill the beach is packed and teeming with the noises of fun. You can see it in the picture taken while I waited for the bus, in front of the famous casino, now restored, where Carmen Miranda used to perform. Ipanema is its usual cheery self, and I eat a delicious lunch and then stroll with no particular destination in mind. Back home I continue the process of closing up shop in Rio for this visit. The percussionists above are from the samba band I went to see last night w/ Romulo and Cecilia, in our old favorite bar, Trapiche.