Fairy Lights, Watermelon Cake, and Disco Gloves

There are many ways to celebrate being alive, but few compare to sharing joy with good friends under the stars.

Colorful bottle-vases welcome guests while chairs hold down the tablecloth in the afternoon breeze.

Our neighbor Xana (Alexandra) has a birthday 2 days before mine, and for the last two years we have shared the festivities. Last Saturday 26 people dined and danced under open skies on the large round eire. This eire, once a threshing floor where local farmers separated grain from chaff, became our space of joy and connection.

By day, the eire is quiet and sunbaked. But that night, it transformed into something magical — tables glowing with fairy lights, garden flowers bursting with color, chatter and laughter of guests, and our favorite music pulsing around us.

Many hands prepared the food with love. Some dishes featured home grown ingredients. Francisco’s Pão Recheado — a traditional golden loaf filled with melting cheeses, mayonnaise, bacon, garlic, and herbs — was devoured within minutes.

The dessert table included fabulous flavors and exquisite options:

• A custom bolo with sculpted hibiscus flowers

• Platters of artistically carved fruits

• Mousse de Lima with yummy lemon flavor

Custom cake (bolo) with sculpted sugar hibiscus flowers

Platters of carved fruits artistically arranged

Traditional Mousse de Lima with lemon flavors

And, the most astonishing of all – the cake of solid watermelon! Miguel and Xana pressed fresh watermelon into a cylinder he created, then Xana added beautiful fruits to create a jaw-dropping “cake” that no one wanted to cut because it was just too beautiful!

We all sang Happy Birthday in two languages. Some of us needed printed words for the FOUR verses of the Portuguese version. I share only one short verse in this video.

The Best Comes Last

As the skies darkened, the magic began to twinkle on the tables and in our hands. With LED gloves and tubes flashing, we danced to favorite disco, rock, and contemporary American and Portuguese music. Darkness and blinking props help to free our inhibitions and give rise to playfulness. Playing together really does build connection.  

Warning: this one is a bit loud.

There’s something about dancing in the dark, surrounded by friends and laughter, that makes you feel ageless. We are grateful to be embracing another circle around the sun.

Let´s all increase love and laughter wherever we can. Both are so important.

Penelope and Tim

and

Xana and Miguel

Xana and Miguel