pergola in winter- Garzon.

A short weekend in Pueblo Garzon. We spend four nights in Uruguay and make the most of it and love it.  The weather is glorious – 60’s cloudless –  and our friends, dear, sweet friends, are here living the real life, reminding us of what is important.

One task at hand…this is the time to transplant, to work on the watering system (the most important qualification you can have here is to be a water management expert) and to tend to our 100 year old olive trees.  We are the fortunate ones to have been introduced to Antonio, the olive tree whisperer from Spain, by our dear friends Kenneth and Carmen.  Antonio, known as the Atomic Ant or the Flea for his agility in the crotch of these glorious trees, comes from Spain every year to teach the locals about how to care for olive trees. Antontio left school at 16 and has spent his life tending to these “mothers of all trees”.

He looks at our five trees, brought painstakingly from northern Uruguay five years ago.  We have problems..fungus, and other problems I don’t understand.  Antonio takes to the trees with chain saw in hand and, with a cheerful whistle, begins to saw.

In the midst of the severe pruning, a puppy ran out from under our car.

I tried not to look.  Jeremy gathered him into his arms and sheltered him in his hoody.  Safe from the rain, we soon discovered that this very young puppy was blind.  She is with us still and we have called her La Garzona.  In three hours she has eaten, slept in Jeremy’s arms, travelled to Jose Ignacio and walked on our beach at sunset.

Jeremy, my son, says that he is never happier than when he is here.