Onions are Excellent Company

These two photos were taken approaching midnight last night, so almost not a cheat, but did want to record our taking Zé Maria, our first ever friend in Mourão, to hear his youngest son, Gonçalo, singing at Sem Fim with his group (in extra). Our friend has a drinking problem, so we asked Gonçalo if it was OK to bring his Dad, thinking he might be embarrassed, but not at all, he was thrilled to have him there, and Zé Maria was so pleased to be there, it was all quite moving. He´d never heard his son's group before, and kept thanking us. The difficult part was getting him to come away; after the performance, Zé Maria (who has a great voice) started singing with the group, and no-one wanted to stop.

Main news of today (spent largely on the laptop) was a big thunderstorm, with loads of rain, during one Zoom meeting.

Capon, ch2, "The First Session" is a discourse on the onion, which, as Madison says in the Intro, "might have you forever more approach the humble task of slicing the onion with awe" - I have certainly thought of it most times I chop an onion. Here is the start:
Next take one of the onions (preferably the best-looking), a paring knife, and a cutting board and sit down at the kitchen table. Do not attempt to stand at a counter through these opening measures. In fact, to do it justice, you should arrange to have sixty minutes or so free for this part of the exercise. Admittedly, spending an hour in the society of an onion may be something you have never done before. You feel, perhaps, a certain resistance to the project. Please don't... Onions are excellent company.

In my opinion, it would be worth buying the book if you read only this chapter.