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WELCOME

A word about the place I was Born      (AZORES)

AZORES GEOGRAPHY

Located right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America, the Azores is on a parallel with Lisbon at a latitude of 39 43'/36 55' N.
The nine islands have a total surface area of 2,333 km2 and an Exclusive Economic Zone extending over 984,300 km2. Island areas range between 747 km2 (Sao Miguel island) and 17 km2 (Corvo island).
The peak of the volcano of Pico attains a height of 2,351 m constituting the highest point to be found on either the Azores or mainland Portugal. The population is currently 238,000 inhabitants. 

S. MIGUEL ISLAND

São Miguel is the largest of the Azorean islands and its capital Ponta Delgada both the busiest harbour and largest town. After Horta it is the next most popular port of call for yachts, especially for those arriving from Europe. Although over half of the population of the Azores live on this island, there are still large areas of uninhabited great natural beauty.
The island is 65 km long and never more than 16 km wide with two high volcanic areas separated by a lower central area, which is the agricultural heartland of the island with both livestock grazing and crops grown in tidy fields. It is from the green fields in this area that the island derived its local name, "ilha verde", green island.

 AZORES, THE WAY I SEE IT

The outline of the garden-like islands on the horizons of the sea. Peace and quiet. Flowers in the fields, in the villages, in the houses. The blue and green of dreamy lagoons. A pace of life in which there is time to stop and appreciate living. Art treasures that recall pages of a centuries-long history. Nature in all its original splendour. A meeting with the past involved in everyday life. Invitations to discover and experience a different world, repeated on each of the nine islands of the Azores.

The Azores' commitment to the preservation of nature and environmental protection led the European Union to award the Azores an honorable mention in 1995 as part of the European Awards for Tourism and the Environment. The region's commitment to nature is borne out by the presence of dozens of natural reserves, areas of protected landscape, parks and forests, all of which are a fitting testament to the commitment the regional government shows towards their ecological preservation.

Candelária

A small town in the southern cost of the  São Miguel Island.

Population: 1177            Area:  8,53 Km²

I SHOULDN'T HAVE SURVIVED

I’m over 35 and should be dead. Here's why.
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, because I was born in the 60’s I shouldn't have survived.
My crib was covered with bright colored lead-based paint.
My parents had no childproof lids on the medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, ... and when I rode my bike, I had no helmet.  (Not to mention the risks I took hitchhiking.)
As a child, I would ride in a car with no seatbelts or air bags, and I was lucky because my dad's car had all seats, some of the cars in the Azores didn't even have seats back than.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
I drank water from the mountain springs in the Azores and later from the garden hoses in Toronto not from a bottle.
Horrors!
I ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but I was never overweight because I was always outside playing.
I shared one soft drink with my friends, from one bottle, and none of us died from this.
I would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill only to find out I forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, I learned to solve the problem.
I would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as I was back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach me all day.
NO CELL PHONES!!!!! Unthinkable!
I did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable,no video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phone, personal computer, or Internet chat rooms.

I had friends!
I went outside and found them.
I played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.
I fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but me. Remember accidents?
I had fights , punched and got punched and got black and blue and learned to get over it.
I made up games with sticks and tennis balls and some of my friends even ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.
I rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and I never made the team, I just had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Some of my friends weren't as smart as me ....hahahahaha , so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.
Horrors!
Tests were not adjusted for any reason. My actions were my own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of  parents bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of, Parents actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

My generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And I am one of them! Congratulations to us over 35!

I had the luck to grow up as a kid, before lawyers and government regulated my live, for my own good!!!!!

People under 35 are wimps!