Today got off to a serene start as I prepared to be at one with nature in the Azores.

Making like a tree, as in the yoga position.

Ready to explore Algar do Carvao, a cave that’s basically a volcanic chimney.

Buh-bye, world. Last daylight for awhile.

Steep steps take us deeper into the cave.

Farther down, a natural amphitheater where concerts are held on special occasions. Wonder if they do weddings and bar mitzvahs?

Dazzling lava glass from the long-ago volcanic eruption. Not to worry, we were told. There hadn’t been another one for thousands of years. Whew.

Chocolate frosting? Nope, petrified lava flow.

Watercolor painting? Nope, real stalagmites.

In the belly of the cave, a lake made from rainwater.

Later, a black sand beach in the city of Praia da Vitoria, on the other side of the island. Velvety beach; and the Atlantic wasn’t nearly as chilly as it would have been in my childhood town of Asbury Park, NJ, this time of year. Not a bad winter day at all.

But the fit hit the shan when Mitch’s Blackberry phone suddenly stopped working. We spent many minutes on the phone with AT&T. Problem unresolved.

And then the fog and clouds started moving in. Just like that, I was trying to navigate the five-speed Mazda through winding roads and more traffic circles than I’d ever encountered in Joisey. Squinting through soupy fog.

As Dustin Hoffman says in Rain Man, I’m an excellent driver under normal conditions. Oh, yeah. Just ask Mitch and my sista. Uh-huh.

By the time we got back, we needed to mainline comfort food.

Ahhhh. And the phone eventually came to life again …