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Life, writing, and side quests since the water stopped rising.

Life at Large

Much has happened in the two weeks since my last missive.

We have moved past the inaugural flooding of the new apartment (if you missed that saga, you can read about it here). The culprit has been identified (a pipe was not connected properly), and the floors and walls have been assessed and reassessed. At some point, the elements that sustained permanent damage will be replaced, but for now, we are forging ahead.

Piece by piece, we have added furniture to each room. We have lights and lamps, and flowers on the terrace.

We are beginning to enjoy all the non-aquatic “firsts” of a new home: hosting friends for the first time, the first meal on the terrace, the first day working at my new desk. And later this week, we will host our first overnight guests.

It feels like home.

Projects and Events

Although I don’t usually set many expectations on myself with regard to moving projects forward during the summer months, I have continued to put thought into a few that I have on the go.

In my last newsletter I mentioned that I’m thinking about how I could use what I learned while writing my parents’ stories to help others who might wish to capture their own family stories. Over the past few months people have shared their own ideas for documenting their family stories, and also the barriers that hold them back from actually getting started. That inspired me to create a short survey to understand whether and how people think about capturing the stories of their parents or other loved ones, and what would be useful to help them get started. Take the survey here, it should take less than five minutes to complete.

Michal and I are also preparing for our upcoming season of the Relocurious podcast and blog. This season we want to explore the theme of how moving influences creativity. The idea came to us as we noticed our own lives include many more creative elements in the years since we moved to Porto. We have discussed whether that is the result of simply having more time, of surrounding ourselves with like-minded people, or of the place itself inspiring creativity. If it is the latter, does that effect linger beyond when the “newness” of a place has worn off? We suspect it’s a blend of everything, and we are curious how others experience shifts in their creative lives after making a big move.

If this line of thinking resonates, please let us know. And if you have your own story of relocating, and experienced changes to your creative life, we are now booking guests for September episodes of the Relocurious podcast – we’d love to hear from you!

Writing

I have been pecking away at my next writing project – what I believe will be a novel. It might be a novella, but we shall see.

Having only written memoir/biography before, the vast possibility of a fictional story overwhelmed me a bit. I decided that I should try something I usually avoid – an outline. I started with bullet points of what I thought could go in each chapter, following the plot points recommended by one of the many writers I follow online.

That approach didn’t last long.

I didn’t abandon the idea of an outline, just the part about trying to wrestle it into plot points and chapters. That part will come later. For now, I’m jotting down the story as I see it unfolding in my head. Some of it is in bullet points, some of it is dialogue, some is written in whole scenes. There is nary a chapter break anywhere. The “outline” is about 8,000 words long, and sits in its own section of Scrivener, the writing program I use.

I have also begun writing the story itself. Sometimes I refer to the outline, sometimes I copy chunks of text from the outline into the scene I’m working on. I’m still not thinking of it in chapters. I have decided I can sort that out after I get the messy pre-first draft down.

The thing that is surprising me the most is that the sense of overwhelm I felt as I contemplated writing fiction has melted away, and I find myself musing about the story throughout the day. I often jot notes into my phone so I don’t lose the thought before I can find time to sit down with the story again. It’s a lot of fun.

I’m curious to see where it goes.

Photography

I mentioned a few side quests. The first was a day trip with friends to a small coastal town called Apúlia. Michal and I took the train to Braga, where our friends picked us up, and we drove together for about 25 minutes to the coast. Apúlia has a lovely beach, and an interesting history and tradition of harvesting seaweed. It also has a row of five stone moinhos, or windmills, that stand atop the dunes along the coast. The mills were used to grind corn in the past, but more recently have been converted into guest houses. The town itself was picturesque, and we had a lovely lunch with our friends, overlooking the beach. It was a great day.

A few scenes from our trip to Apúlia.

Last Christmas Michal put a most interesting gift under the tree – tickets to a Sting concert, and the venue? A beach in Figueira da Foz! This last weekend was the day that gift was experienced, and what an experience it was!

We made a weekend of it, since Figueira da Foz is a place we have wanted to visit for some time now. We boarded a Flixbus, and the ride south took just under two hours. We arrived around noon on Friday, and the concert was later that evening. We had time to wander around and get oriented, and then it was time for the show. And what a show. We did the math, and Sting is 75 years old this year, and he still put on a tremendous performance. The other 25,000 people in attendance seemed to agree with us on that – the spirit and enthusiasm in the crowd was impressive.

Here are a few photos, but in my humble opinion, photos of concerts never capture the awesomeness of the experience.

Evidence we were at Sting 3.0!

Another interesting place in Figueira da Foz is Palácio Sotto Maior. I’d love to tell you all about it, but it was closed for lunch when we visited, and we had a bus to catch, so we could only visit the stables that have been converted into an art gallery and wander the grounds. The art gallery alone was worth the visit, featuring contemporary pop art in a cool building.

Back outside, I loved the grand staircases of the rather rundown-looking palácio, with the stables/art gallery peeking through in the background. Here are a few cellphone photos of that:

Final Thoughts

It feels good to be past the dismay we experienced waking up to pools of water in the new apartment. We can now turn our minds and imaginations back to the people, projects, and plans that add colour to our lives. Normal summer programming has resumed!

How is your summer unfolding? I’d love to hear from you.

Até a próxima,

Kathy

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More from Kathy…

_{By Happenstance: the stories of my parents before they were my parents}

_{Two lives. Two stories. One unlikely connection.}

_{By Happenstance is a tête-bêche memoir – two complete books bound as one – following a bush pilot shaped by the rugged landscapes of Canada's North, and a Liverpool nurse who remade her life on the remote BC coast. Flip it one way for Walter's Story, flip it the other way for Tricia's, and discover how two ordinary lives, lived on opposite sides of the world, came to intersect by chance. Available in paperback and ebook.}

_{Resilience in the Rubble: a true tale of aid and survival in Kashmir}

_{As paramedic Kathy Harms navigates the devastation in the aftermath of the catastrophic 2005 Kashmir Earthquake as a first-time medical aid worker, she is confronted by the scale of suffering she observes in the region, and her own lack of experience in the area of humanitarian work.
In the field, she meets Nadeem Malik, a 19 year old student struggling to come to terms with personal loss and the destruction of his home and everything that was once familiar.
“Resilience in the Rubble: A True Tale of Aid and Survival in Kashmir” weaves together the firsthand accounts of both Kathy and Nadeem. Though heartbreaking, their personal stories show the strength of the human spirit, and the resilience of a population in the face of unthinkable adversity. Available in paperback, ebook and audiobook.}

_{Relocurious Blog and Podcast}

_{Relocurious is all about navigating the ups and downs of moving abroad with intention. It is meant to be of value to individuals and families considering a move, as well as those already on the way.}

_{Instead of offering advice on visas or shipping companies, we invite you explore the deeper questions related to moving:}

• _{What fears are holding you back, what values are pushing you forward?}

• _{How does considering a move change your sense of identity?}

• _{What makes some people thrive in a new country, while others struggle?}

• _{What can you thoughtfully consider now, to save yourself headaches later?}

_{The big question is, what does it take to prepare emotionally for such a transition?}

_{Read or listen now.}