Journalled on Friday, 21 July 2023 | Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro: 24 degrees, warm, sunny and slightly overcast.

It is Friday again, thank God! If it is another Friday, it means I am still alive.

I have a life, and if I have a life, I am responsible for making something of it. It is also a second chance. Every new day is a second chance to improve my life. Life has a future, and what we plant today we harvest and receive tomorrow and in the future.

Things can be mended and fixed, but it is better to do right the first time. We cannot always do right the first time; the truth is, it is almost impossible, but at least we can have a second, a third, or any number of chances we need to try.

The weeks are passing more quickly, more smoothly, and more easily than when I lived in Copacabana!

However, I do miss the quality time I spent alone in Copacabana, but this new time with Yasmin and Nalva is still very good. I certainly do not miss what has happened to me over the past few months, but everything is good.

Since it is Friday, I want to buy a cheap yet decent bottle of wine to drink this evening, or at least by the end of the afternoon. I do not miss drinking beer at all, but I do like drinking a bottle of wine on the weekend. Nalva sometimes shares a bottle with me, but she usually only drinks a glass.

When drinking wine, it is so pleasant that you can do anything in a pleasurable way while enjoying a glass.

The obvious choice is to drink with friends or family on a special occasion. Or with your partner, either before, during or after making love, it does not matter; it is all good, if not perfect.

Or you are alone, enjoying your solitude, or just thinking about life in general, about a problem or an issue, and the right way to resolve it, approaching it in some way to fix it or make it better.

Again, it is all good!

Even when doing housework or any other kind of work, drinking a decent glass of wine makes everything so much better, even at weekends, before midday, finishing off a bottle of wine left over from the night before whilst cooking lunch, preparing a salad, or even sweeping the floor or organising the washing, it does not matter; it is all good, and we should be thankful for it.

I gave classes until 1 p.m., finishing early because of the mid-year holidays. I rested for an hour, then went to the nearest supermarket to buy a bottle of Camanere. It is a light, refreshing wine, and not as heavy as a Malbec, for example.

Basically, you cannot go wrong with Carmenere. Nalva was at home, and about 7 p.m., we cracked open the bottle that had been chilling in the fridge for more than an hour.

After a hard week, a glass of wine helped us relax; Nalva cooked some simple but delicious food for us to pick at whilst drinking the wine, a simple pairing. But, as I have been telling you all this post, everything is good, as always, and I am extremely grateful, especially with a simple glass of wine in my hand!