Hilton Head Island: message; mosquitos in Iceland

The statue is of Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese poet who is considered one of the most significant writers of the Twentieth Century.  It is located outside the Cafe A Brasileira, his favorite coffeehouse in Lisbon.   Carol and I have seen that statue.  There is another of him in the central plaza of the city.  Not bad for a man who died expecting he would be forgotten, as will I.  Pessoa also happens to be one of the modern poets I most admire, along with the Greek, Constantine P. Cavafy.

During his lifetime Pessoa published four books in English, but only one, Mensagem (Message), in Portuguese.

I had read several of the poems from MESSAGE at various times, but had never read all forty-four until I recently found a translation at Amazon. 

The poems are mostly about Portugual’s epic seafaring and empire building history.  Here are eight.

I read this morning that Iceland now has mosquitos.  I had not known that until recently Iceland was one of the few countries on this planet mosquito free.  That it is no longer scientists attribute to global warming, but our government tells us that there is no global warning so that can’t be true.  My personal belief is that some species of mosquitos have evolved fur like polar bears to survive the cold, but then what do I know.  I’m not a scientist or even a politician.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/21/mosquitoes-found-iceland-first-time-climate-crisis-warms-country

I wonder how soon it will be before tourists to Iceland are advised to take anti-malaria pills.