as aventuras de Lou Gold e Baiano...

o jovem-velho andarilho dá, enfim, sinal de vida e conta mais uma de suas histórias

"...I (have) met Baiano early one morning, and every morning after that. It all began because I?m an early riser. One day I wondered who was playing the radio full blast at the crack of dawn and I wandered down to the barnyard, sloshed through the cow shit and found Baiano milking a cow. He looked at me, called out ?café?? and signaled over to a wooden crate with a thermos and a cup sitting on it. That?s how it started.

I don?t know exactly how Baiano and I communicated. He knows no English and my Portuguese is somewhere between tiny and miniscule. But using a few simple words and lots of gestures we surely did. Mainly, it was a ?feel thing.? And once it started happening I even began to ?understand? the DJ on the Brazilian country music radio station. One day I told Baiano about a curious twist in translating between Portuguese and English: The words, ?ai, ai? in Portuguese mean ?oi, oi? in English. But ?oi, oi? in Portugese means ?hi, hi? in English. So it?s, ?ai, ai, oi. oi, hi. hi.? Baiano loved it and ?ai, ai, oi. oi, hi. hi? became our special greeting that he would call out across the yard when he saw me.

Baiano loves to celebrate and share his simple life. He would say, ?Look at all of this. I have everything -- a good wife and family and good work. I don?t smoke or drink. I?m 62 years old and by the Grace of God I?m strong like the bull.? Then he would gesture sweeping his hand across the barnyard and say, ?See, I have everything that I need and I can even give some away.? Debora says that Baiano often helps out others with free food and that he is known across the region as a natural healer of animals which is very important in a rural economy where few farmers can afford the services of a veterinarian.

I?ll never forget the day that I riled the bull. We were walking out of the yard after the milking, on our way up to the kitchen for more coffee. Baiano pointed out a cow that was very, very pregnant. I moved closer to her which upset the bull. I really didn?t notice it but it was obvious that something was wrong when Baiano and Maria both snapped into high alert. Baiano went directly to the bull talking firmly but softly, ?It?s OK. He is a friend. He?s a friend. It?s OK ?.? He began stroking the bull?s balls and speaking more and more softly until the bull was completely calm. Then he smiled at Maria and me and beckoned, ?Café.? No big deal, just something that happened while passing through the barnyard..."
(para ler a história inteira, e ver a foto em um tamanho mais decente, clique aqui)


Eu sempre disse pro Lou que ele iria acabar virando blogueiro também...
(não que eu estivesse chamando ele de fofoqueiro ou falando do ego dele, mas...)

Bem vindo de volta, meu velho
(Welcome back online, ole'buddy)