I have been lurking around here for a while now: the question of starting to post a blog of my own always in the back of my mind.  But other questions kept flashing in my brain.  What would I name the thing?   Would I hide behind an alias or print my own name for all to see?  What about a picture?  Would people out there be interested in reading whatever I had to say? But, mostly, what would I say?  

But I do feel there are things I want to say.  Not as much about myself but about many, many of the posts here.  I am not yet sure if I want to “blog”, but I do want to let each one of you know when I read something that tugs at my heart.  You don’t know me yet, but I know you.  I have been reading and following your lives and your political views, I have sat at your dinner table, cried with you, visited Mexico and Asia, worried about your sons and daughters, your homelessness, shared your outrage over healthcare, the economy and Sarah Palin.  And you gave me hope.  

So here I am! Out of the lurking closet. 

I have used the alias of Capitu in other internet incarnations and I am going to keep it here too.   I really struggled with the idea of using my real name.  An alias does feel a bit as a copout, but I wonder that it has something positive.  Under my real name I may feel constrained to tell about my kids, my husband, my friends and my neighbours.  An alias is a protection to them and a great measure of liberty to me to say as I see and feel.  It is not that under my real name I would not say the same as I would as Capitu – I hope that I have more integrity than that.  But under an alias my other personas of mother, wife, friend and member of a small rural community are put to rest, and I can write more relaxed of not crossing the boundaries of trustworthiness that are part of these very important relationships in my life.  

About me:  I am a Brazilian by birth and Canadian by choice and love of this country.  So, yes, English is my second language and I am prone to making mistakes while writing in it (this is my excuse and I am sticking to it).  My husband and I farm and raise cattle in the middle of the Canadian prairies.  We have 3 children, ages 19, 17 and 12.  Books are essential to my life as much as food, sleep and fresh air, but I have become a bit of a book snob over the years tending to stick to classics and more literary authors.  The geographical isolation of where we live and the cultural differences between myself and the local population has made the internet a necessity as big as books.  You all are my lifeline!

Thanks for letting me share this space with you.

Oh!  And for those that never heard of Raul Seixas, here is a taste of the old hippie for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArIiYWKK6F8&NR=1