THE GREEN BEACH

It was the year of 1980, Maria and José, my parents had decided to spend the summer at the campsite at Praia Verde, not that my father was a big fan of camping, but it was the way He had to combine the possibility of spending holidays next to the sea, providing the family with the well-deserved rest and at the same time being able to save money for the loan of the house, they had recently acquired in the Lima Pimentel neighborhood, in Odivelas.

I was about two years old, and I remember little of that first trip I took to my mother's lap to a place that seemed huge and wild to me, that trip was strange and transformative because it was my first big trip since I was born in 12 /05/78 and now somehow that was the path I was taking, I confess that I was never a fan of the beach, and perhaps this is precisely due to the camping experiences that I was subjected to at a young age.

At that time it was difficult to know who was with me it was difficult to know who took care of me who stayed with me until late even because I was taken care of by a series of ladies that I practically did not know, it was strange to explore that world again it involved me, I especially remember the tones of orange, of nappa and of the tents of the first second and third protections, above all smells, that tent smell, of ripe melons, of summer the solar sense of life the beach in the late afternoon and the beauty of the world in the heat in the human warmth in existential warmth, in a warmth that I would always have to recognize as mine.

The summer was The time where I was was the time of fun, the time of sharing, the time of knowledge, maybe not in that first year, but little by little all the sensations I had invaded me and somehow made me feel closer to my Dreams, it was strange but at the same time I felt alive and safe, as if that space were a space where I could be welcomed, cherished care, I felt on my moon, I felt in the arms of those who protected me.

That year my father decided that my grandmother and my great uncle should accompany us, and somehow my grandmother Maria was present as well as my sister and my mother that made me feel especially protected at home. That it wasn't my house, but somehow it was a space where I felt welcomed, it was a place where I felt peaceful and protected, where I felt deeply calm, I essentially remember the effect of the wind on the pines. Those huge trees that stretched up to to the top of the universe, where I noticed that there was an almost black blue, which was then illuminated by the very strong tropical sun that existed in the western Algarve.

For a moment I realized that the world had nothing against me, that maybe life wasn't an inhospitable place, maybe there were reasons to believe that everything could be peaceful, smooth and transformative, but my Vision of life time and reality would come to change and maybe precisely for that reason those times I spent there in that strange View of Paradise would forever shape my first memories of Tranquility and Peace and help me to understand, values ​​my true values, what would make me happy Forever and perhaps it would also shape what would one day become my mission.