The stonehouse

by Eduino Sousa
(Ponta Delgada)

Many years ago when I left this island with my parents searching for a better life, I left something behind that only recently I have come to realize. While courting my spouse of thirty four years now, I used to talk about returning to my birth place one day and have a house on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. A place to reflect, a place to watch the waves dance onto shore, a place to fall into a restful sleep by the sounds of the ocean murmurs. Much like a blanket of soothing words, this connection ties the two together, man and sea.
This cozy stone house, in this quiet village of Mosteiros, has lived this enchanted magic that exists between man and sea. Bound by this magical spell, many of us that have left this place eventually return one by one searching for that little piece of human spirit that was left behind.
I have not found a better way to describe this world called Azores. I can only respond with this, “One has to be here in the flesh and experience it.”
Many books already exist and many more could be written. Yet, with all my heart I believe that words will not describe it.
This magic does not belong to only a chosen few, it is bound to all. However, you will not know it until the time you come together, face to face, man and sea.