“The next thing to do was go to don Herman’s, my opera-conducting German-carpenter genius—it was on my list. He was making a complete set of bedroom and dining room furniture for Antonio and doña Maria and I wanted to see if it was ready. Normally he would call, but he had recently quit smoking and […]
Strictly speaking, Tierra de Fuego refers to the archipelago on the tip of South America south of the Strait of Magellan. In recent times, however, more and more people have started using the name in a more inclusive fashion, referring to the southernmost tip of South America, but not necessarily starting on the south […]
“Over a hundred years ago,” I began, “an Englishman named Fogg bragged to his fellow members at his fancy gentlemen’s club that he could go around the world in eighty days . . . or less. At the time, of course, there were no airplanes, nor telephones, nor any of the ways we travel and […]
“Once, he’d heard somebody claim that there was no dawn equal to an early dawn in the high desert country. At the time he thought it was a shameless brag, but how to tell? He’d never been to the desert, and wasn’t planning to. He looked east to the Andes: that sky would be hard […]
“There are no good and fast rules for naming a boat. Perhaps once long ago there were some, and over time they became lost and forgotten, or possibly they still exist, but if they do, they’re a well-kept secret. It explains why most people given the job of coming up with a boat name, come […]
“On the other hand, I knew that either Juan or Pablo could travel through their land at night, they knew their place inside out and had been practicing since before they could walk, riding double with their dad or one of the experienced gauchos working at their place. Also, they were always well equipped, fully […]
“With my cross-bow, I shot the albatross.” Why anyone would want to hurt one of those beautiful, elegant flying creatures, was beyond me, but I’m sure many had over the years and like Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner, lived to regret it: by being becalmed in the middle of the Pacific and suffering from thirst or perhaps […]
The time for the esquila is the most important time of the year for any estancia, and the esquiladores, were the laborers most appreciated in Patagonia, come time to shear the vast flocks of sheep. A good esquilador, according to doña María could remove all the wool in one piece without hurting or even nicking […]
If ever there was a good will ambassador, Tatiana was it, and in less than a minute had doña María talking about her life, her kids, her ancestors, her water colors, and how they ended up living here. She had been raised on an estancia further north and had never attended school a day in […]
“Looking east from a mile out to sea, it was easy to see land, but hard to distinguish the Bay of Corral. The hills surrounding it, plus the islands in the center of the bay acting like a backdrop, looked continuous, and were it not for the small towns on either side, Corral to the […]