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The Harsh Realities of the Circle of Life

In the dim and distant past when I first had a job, I used to get a lift to work with a friend.  In return I would look after their family animals while they were away on holiday.  This meant feeding and mucking out three or four rabbits and four guinea pigs which lived in a huge wooden hutch in the garden. He would ruefully remark to me at times that he wished the animals he had bought to teach the children about life and death would actually oblige. They must have had the longest living rabbits and guinea pigs I have known.

Fast forward thirty five years and the cats of my lap in the Alentejo shed are giving me a prime example.

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The Saddest Little Carnival in the World

There’s a thin strip of land in the Jersey City Heights wedged between the street and the edge of the baseball field near the reservoir.  A few times a year, a carnival, of sorts, will encamp in that one-block-long urban landscape, transforming the area into the saddest little carnival in the world — filled with emptiness and longing and no joy to be had anywhere for any ticket price.  Even the Fire Ball circle roller coaster has no flame.

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Festival Day in Portugal: We Celebrate with Yellow

In the UK Shrove Tuesday — the day before Lent commences — is celebrated with pancakes. In Portugal, it is the last day of Carnival or Festival.  In other countries, the period is celebrated as Mardi Gras.

In Portugal, the time is marked by parades which include all the populace from the local nursery group to the pensioners who have their own specially adapted float. It is also celebrated with flowers:

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