Where Next?

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to extend my stay here in Crete until the end of May, 2010, if I can find an appropriate new place to move into when my contract with my current landlord expires at the end of November.

The house I'm living in now has already been rented to others, so staying here is not an option. Even if it wasn't slated for new occupants, I don't think that it would have been an option for me because I'm going to have to drastically reduce expenses in order to stay longer, and the rent on this place is about 350 euros more per month than I can afford going forward. Also, I'll be ditching the rental car, which runs me about 550 euros a month now. Having no car requires that I find a location that is more central to things like a supermarket, public transport, etc. So I'm looking at either moving into the town of Kastelli, or to central Chania.

My Greek tutor, Elenie, is going to sit down with me and help me go through the apartment classified's in the Χανιωτικα Νεα, Chania's weekly newspaper. Once I have a basic translation for everything (utilities, furnished, no pets, etc.) then I can start looking for something on my own.

To be honest, the whole prospect has me a bit anxious. Although I'm paying too much for where I live right now, I have the convenience of everything being included, and a western, English-speaking landlord with whom it is very simple to communicate. If I am going to find someplace within my price range, there are several things that I may to need to give up (in addition to the car) that make me a bit queasy. The first and most important being an internet connection. Sure...I can always take my laptop to a hotspot, but it's just not the same. If I want to Skype with someone back home, I don't want to do so in the middle of some cafe. If I want to post on my blog, or a wine forum, I'd like to be able to do it when the urge strikes me without having to get dressed and walk to someplace with wireless. Aside from the internet, I'm also concerned about potential miscommunications with a Greek landlord. God knows I've had enough trouble making myself understood in various shops around here...I can only imagine what might ensue when trying to discuss rental terms.

In addition to anxiety over finding a new place, the dissolution of my already tiny social network here has me feeling frustrated. Back to the drawing board I guess (I am SO not good at meeting new people).

Not Nearly as Cute as Fred

I found this guy sitting in the laundry bin as I was preparing to throw some wet towels and sheets into it.

I think I will name him Omega, in the hopes that he is the last of his kind that I'll see, at least in my house!

Φρεντ

I almost stepped on this guy while I was sweeping the back patio. I just had to take a picture 'cause I love his camouflage. Also reminds me of my brother's toy when he was little, Glow Worm. The title of the post is the word "Fred", which is the name I gave him:-)

Ee i ee i oh

Mike took me for a quick ride this afternoon to see the plot of land where his family keeps all the critters who will eventually end up on their dinner table.






These guys look like they've still got a while before they need to start worrying.







Rudy, one of their two dogs. Not sure why I didn't get a picture of the other one. They are both very cute and friendly, although the other one (can't recall his name now...starts with a Z) seemed a little frightened of me. When Mike told me that he's only ever bitten two people, I think I decided to just stick by Rudy.




I initially mistook these for ducks, but they are geese. I guess I'm used to seeing the big Canadian geese in the States.







These are ducks.


























The view on the way back down.

Added a New "At Home" Exercise

Pull-ups on the branch of the orange tree on my back patio. Fun, fun, fun!!!

If I Take Nothing Else Away from this Sabbatical...

...I will have learned that experimenting in the kitchen can be fun AND rewarding!

Chicken and carrots in a curry/ginger cream sauce:

Shaved up some carrots and fresh ginger, and sauteed them with some minced garlic in vegetable oil.

Added sliced chicken breast, cooked until done.

Added about a cup of heavy cream, dried basil, a very liberal sprinkling of powdered madras curry, salt, pepper and a little additional powdered garlic. Brought to a slow boil, then simmered for about 15 mintues.

Served over jasmine rice, and with a 2006 Vins de Crete Thrapsathiri (a full bodied white with lots of fruit, richness and minimal acidity...I usually like my whites with more acidity but this went perfectly with the cream sauce and the rich flavors in the meal).

Another Analogy (or is it a metaphor? I'm not sure...)

I recently posted some tasting notes regarding the wine pictured here to a wine discussion group that I visit from time to time.

My notes regarding the bouquet read: Intense aromas of strawberries, cola, plum and spice (cloves). After sitting a bit, distinct notes of cocoa emerged.

Another member came along later and mentioned that when he tasted this, he recalls "Very pleasant black cherry and herbal aromas and flavors."

So I revisited the open bottle tonight, and found that his description was so much more accurate than mine was. I totally got what he was talking about.

Which led me to begin thinking that perhaps the reason I often make such lousy choices in men that I date is because my perceptions are just all screwy!!

I'm sensing "complicated, challenging, and bitter-sweet" whereas someone else with more finely-honed senses and a more intelligent emotional repetoire would report "disconjuncted, abrasive and contradictory". Or maybe just "jerk, moron, loser".

Anyway...just my "too-deep" thought for the evening. This is what happens when you're all alone on an island, thousands of miles from home! Oh, who am I kidding...I think this way all the time:-)

PNEVMATIKI WINERY

I've found myself languishing in the summer doldrums for a good part of the month of August, content to do not much more than keep up the house, foray into town for groceries when absolutely needed, and make the 15 minute walk to lounge about on the beach most afternoons. Blame it on the heat, or the impending change of season, or missing Yannis, or sadness that Mike is moving to Athens in about a week. Whatever it is, I'm determined to shake it and start getting out and doing more once September rolls around. In the meantime, today's wind conditions prompted me to skip the beach this afternoon and take a "mini-excursion" up the road to a winery. I took a slight detour through some streets in my village that I only just discovered last week, when my neighbor Helene took me to dinner.


This is the church in my village. It boggles my mind that I lived here for almost three months before even realizing it was here. Each Sunday morning, when I heard the bells and the priest's singing as though it was in my backyard, I thought for some reason that it was further away in a nearby village and was being amplified. I had simply never wandered the streets on the northeastern side of the village; had I done so then I would have realized that the church IS almost literally in my back yard.

A ripe cluster of grapes hanging from someone's rooftop pergola. Harvest time has begun, I believe, for a majority of the grapes grown on the island.

Opposite the church is a HUGE fig tree. The low hanging fruit has been picked, these are some over-ripe fruits that have burst.
When Helene and I walked by after dinner last week, we grabbed a couple of perfectly ripe ones and I spread them along with butter and honey on my bread the next morning.

The local elementary school.

The fruit that grows on these cacti is edible too, but I've been told that it requires a lot of work to get it ready to eat. Had I zoomed in, you would see the pricklies on the fruit, which need to be shaved off.

As far as I can tell, this is strictly a wine producing facility (meaning that they don't grow any of their own grapes). I've passed it on numerous occasions as it's just about a kilometer from my house, and finally decided to take them up on the "free visit" that they advertise on their sign.

There was only one employee there when I arrived, and I have no idea what his job title is since he spoke no English. He did give me a tour, and although I could only pick up a few words, he seemed to know what he was talking about as he showed me the various tanks, filtration containers, ageing barrels, etc.

These wall ornaments outside of the barrell room remind me of how seriously the Cretans take their right to own and bear arms. I have read that Crete has the highest gun ownership rate in the EU, and although the majority of them are illegally owned, the police turn a blind eye out of a respect for the long-standing Cretan custom, and a fear of what would happen if they were to ever attempt to crack down on it. It's one of the things that I admire about Crete...the government is afraid of its people.

Not sure who these characters are, maybe the founders and/or past employees?

The view looking out from the entrance of the building

I purchased two bottles of wine (one red, one white) and some honey raki, and the total came to 12 euros. Will have to wait until I drink them to see whether I got a bargain or not since there was no tasting offered, but so far it's the least that I've paid for wine since I've been here.

Random Stuff from 25 August (Happy Birthday, Matthew!)

Sister #3, Elf, showed up to feed this morning, which is rare. She's the one that wouldn't allow me to capture her to have her spayed, which sucked because she was obviously pregnant. In this picture she is the furthest away, and she was always the smaller one of the three, but it is interesting to note how much bigger and healthier the two who were subjected to "late term abortions" seem to be. It's also clear that her two healthier litter-mates have claimed my back porch as their territory, as she sat passively by waiting to eat until I came out and moved things around a bit to distract the other two.


Dinner tonight was simple but good...village sausages, green beans, carrots and potatoes, stuck in the oven on high (after briefly blanching the veggies) and coated w/ olive oil, oregano, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Accompanied by a very nice red from Macedonia by Yianni Boutari, their 2004 Paranga, a blend of Xinomavro and Agiortiko.




I have always been an "horizon gazer". Whenever I've looked out at that thin blue line that separates sky from sea or land, it has always instilled in me a sense of adventure, curiousity and excitement. This has led me to travel to some interesting places, to include South Africa, Madagascar, Argentina, Burma, Egypt, and more.

I recently noticed that when I look at the horizon here, I no longer experience that. The question that used to inspire me to ask, "What is OUT there?" has been answered.

Just FYI

My blog tends to run towards my experiences here, some pretty mundane, some amusing, but I realize that thus far I haven't included many uniquely "Cretan" experiences or information. Just wanted to let everyone who might be interested in some really good material pertaining to news and sites on Crete that there is a link on the right side of my blog titled "Crete.wordpress" that contains a lot of good stuff.

Lazy Me

After several half-hearted attempts to scrub the patio tiles, I've given up. The muscle required and the subsequent back-ache, along with the fact that it's very difficult to rinse (the cracks between the tiles are unsealed and I just wash up more dirt each time I try to hose them down) have convinced me that sweeping is just going to have to be good enough.

Everything Happens for a Reason?

Prompted by a Facebook post by one of my younger cousins, I'm copying and pasting the thread because this frequent assertion is something that really bothers me and her post just allowed me to articulate my feelings on the subject:

My cousin's initial post: i will pay someone ample amounts of money to prove the "everything happens for a reason" bullshit.

One of her friend's replies: interesting... the fact that you even say that boggles the mind. (I can't tell from this reply which side of the argument this person falls on, but tend to think, based on the vague, somewhat ridiculing tone that he hasn't really given it much thought).

My reply: Actually, Steph - I think it's an excellent question. Things happen *for a reason* due to simple cause and effect, i.e. the reason I got a ticket is because I ran a red light. The fact that my driving may improve after is simply a possible result of the initial incident, NOT the reason for it happening. It's annoying to me that our species is so intelligent in so many ways, but that a large percentage have allowed themselves to believe in this backwards thinking, and I mean backwards literally (cause = effect, not the other way around, which is what that whole "everything happens for a reason" bullshit implies.) Or, put more simply...everything happens *because* of a reason, not *for* a reason. Why we insist on ascribing mystical qualities to something that is as beautifully simple and reasonable as cause and effect is beyond me. So Steph, I don't anticipate that you'll be owing anyone a ton of money anytime soon;-)

A typical Greek breakfast consists of several cups of coffee accompanied by as many or more cigarettes, and maybe a roll of some sort if one is feeling extravagent.

I don't do Greek breakfast:










Also pondering this morning whether an elaborate, complicated language structure indicates that the creators of said language were highly advanced or just had too much time on their hands.

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd

I almost gave up on it before even reading it. I had pulled it off the shelf of books that lived here before I arrived, wanting to hold off on the other books I have waiting that I really want to read (delayed gratification and all that). However, three pages into it I was incredibly annoyed by the antiquated language and bizarre text (it seemed that every other word was capitalized, and I spent some time trying to figure out if there was any method to this style but couldn't discern one).

Anyway, I thrust it back on the bookshelf last night with irritation, and was just about to ask here on my blog why on earth a book would be written in such a way (I'm not exactly what you would call erudite, so perhaps it was just my ignorance) and when I opened the book mid-way to take a picture of the text, I realized that it was just the first chapter that was written in that annoying manner.

So...I shall attempt to read this book which was first published in 1985 and was apparently the No. 1 best seller for a while, and maybe when I'm done I'll even do a book report.

Props for KTEL

Coming back from Chania this evening (I had gone there to pick up some cosmetics that I had ordered, and to look for some things I've been unable to find locally), I was reminded that I am pretty impressed with the bus service here.

I don't really have occasion to ride it all that often, but each time I have it has been ridiculously punctual (Christine would appreciate THAT!), and very user-friendly.

I often avoid taking public transporation when I travel because I find that it can be somewhat intimidating and confusing, but the schedules and prices are clearly posted, there's a person that comes around and takes your money and makes change once you've boarded, and that same person even checks with people as to where they plan to disembark and then let's the driver know to stop there (they have little call buttons, but I guess a lot of tourists don't necessarily know when their stop is coming up).

Granted, it takes about twice the time to get anywhere as it would driving, but when you don't want to deal with parking and the other hassles that can accompany driving, it's a very nice alternative.

I will say that this evening's ride home was rather unpleasant because the guy sitting in front of me was emitting strong odors that fluctuated between BO and the smell my cat emits when he expresses his anal glands, as well as coughing up a storm. Hopefully it wasn't swine flu.

What I Didn't Do Last Night

There's an annual wedding re-enactment that takes place here in Kastelli, where people are in period costumes and there's a bride and a groom and horses, and they shut down the main road going through town so everyone can gather and watch as the bride and groom and other "actors" do whatever it is that they do.

Mike told me about it and suggested I might want to go.

I had already settled into my "lounge-wear", eaten dinner and had my two glasses of wine, and I really couldn't be bothered.

Now I wish I had. Probably would have made good blog material.

The Corners

Many of us who clean our own homes are guilty of it: ignoring the corners. We regularly sweep the floors, dust the furniture, scrub down the tubs, showers and sinks, and vacuum the carpets, but we intentionally neglect the places we don’t have to see, or that are hard to reach. The floor underneath the couch, where we know that dust bunnies are multiplying just as their name would imply; the upper corners where the wall and ceiling meet, where minute spiders spin webs to catch even more minute gnats, and then abandon them eventually, leaving a tiny bug cemetery suspended in mid-air; the mildew that accumulates over time in the cracks of the caulking in the shower. We know that these “messes” exist, but we willfully ignore them, until one day, when we finally have some extra time and energy to tackle them, or when we’re just plain sick of ignoring them, we buckle down, move the furniture, grab a step ladder, and have at it. And we feel good when it’s done, because now our house really IS clean.

Today, as I swept the floor and dispatched a stray dust bunny who ventured out from his lair underneath one of the nightstands in my bedroom, I thought about how this same principal often applies to our personal lives.

We go about our day, dealing with the things that are in our face and must be dealt with today: our jobs, paying bills, feeding the family, getting the kids to school, going to the gym. And we ignore the stuff in the shadows: feelings of inadequacy, stifled memories of abuse and neglect, addictions and compulsions, fear of the future or the past.

Maybe we find it easy to ignore these things (like their household, physical counterparts) because no one else can typically see them. When we have guests into our home, we will vacuum the living room carpet, but chances are they’re not going to look under the couch. We’ll clean the toilet, but draw the curtain on the shower. However, on rare occasions a guest might actually notice one of these things and mention it to you.

“Hey there, couldn’t help but notice that you have a mildew problem in your shower. I use Mildew Be Gone for that, you should give it a try, it works great!”

Or…

“Hey, I noticed that you have been missing a lot of work lately, you look like hell, and one of the other employees thought they smelled alcohol on you the other day. If you feel like you need to talk to someone, please let me know”. (I use the alcohol analogy because it's the most familiar to me, running heavily on one side of my family, but you could insert any number of "issues" here...a weight problem, crappy relationships, etc.).

Our response to either of the above situations is likely to be one of three:

• Indignation that someone would dare intrude so blatantly, and subsequent willful denial and refusal to even consider cleaning said area.
• Embarrassment and shame, followed by guilty agreement that something needs to be done, and subsequent half-hearted attempts to clean said area, but not really.
• Honest, shameless and guiltless acceptance that now might be a good opportunity to finally buckle down and clean up this area, not because someone else suggested it but because you’ve known it that it’s needed doing for a long time, and the recommendation by your guest is simply the impetus that you needed to get rolling. Likely followed by real action.

But maybe we ignore these things because we have to. If we spent the time required on a daily basis performing maintenance so that these messes don’t accumulate, well…we’d spend our time doing very little else, wouldn’t we? What enjoyment is there in life if all one does is clean?

So perhaps it’s best to allow the corners to get messy, but to never deny that we know they’re getting that way. To fearlessly and frequently lift up the couch skirt, look at those dust bunnies and say, “Hello, dust bunnies. I’m going to leave you be for now, but don’t get to comfortable because I know you’re there and I will be along to vacuum you suckers up one day soon”.

And eventually…we will.

Bed Bugs...Really???

Yes, Kyrstyn. Bed bugs.

I let Mike have the bed the other night when he crashed here after our tequilla-fest, and he awoke the next morning complaining of being all itchy. I, of course, have been itchy since I've been here so it never really crossed my mind. At any rate, I did some reading, looked at some pictures, and after having washed the "mattress cover" (which was basically just a thin, nasty, worn piece of material that didn't really even fit over the whole bed) I have determined that bed bugs are indeed present in my mattress.

For starters, while I was stripping the bed of all its coverings, two little things that sorta looked like silverfish but not really climbed out onto the bed frame.

OK, we're being calm now...there are lots of bugs here and it's no big deal that a couple of them may have been lurking around my bed, right?

But then, when I pulled that crappy piece of fabric that was covering the mattress out of the washing machine and went to hang it on the line outside, I saw what amounted to a graveyard full of fully and half-formed insectile creatures, clinging on in death to the fabric that housed either lots of lint, or the remains of god knows what.

I am thourougly disgusted right now, and trying to figure out where I'm going to sleep tonight. The air mattress is a BITCH to inflate, but I really don't know that I'll get anything resembling sleep if I try to stay in my usual bed. I have, of course, thrown the mattress cover away, and I've double-sheeted the bed and put a blanket on top. Maybe I can do it if I just sleep on top of everything, with a sheet over me. I mean...I've been doing it for this long, right? Or I could always sleep outside on one of the loungers, but that would entail cleaning all the spidey webs off of them.

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Any Excuse for a Party

August 15 is Assumption day in Greece, as well as Name Day for anyone named Theotokos, Maria, Despina, Thespina, or Marios (there may be some that I'm missing, I just found these on the internet.) Certain days are designated for each saint, and there is a celebration for those who are named after these saints, which apparently is celebrated in lieu of birthdays (or at least in addition to them...it's a big deal). There are several festivities going on in the area over the course of the next few days...Mike and I skipped the church functions and headed down to the waterfront on Friday night instead, where various vendors set up kiosks selling their wares, and there is music and revelry and all that good stuff. We walked the length of the stalls, bought some very expensive peanuts coated with honey and sesame seeds, then hit the crowded cafes for some good old fashioned drinking. I enjoyed the novelty of tequilla shots accompanied by orange slices and cinnamon versus the old lemon and salt. Well, I enjoyed them until the next morning, at any rate.


Didn't buy any honey because I already have a big jar at home, but it was really tempting (everything was, but I restrained myself).








We did get some of these, which are like doughnut holes on steroids. In a good way. Yum, but the sugar followed by alcohol probably went a long way towards my sluggish recovery on Saturday.

I really wanted to buy some of these but figured they'd get crushed before the evening was over.

The waterfront bars and cafes were pretty packed, although I ceased to notice much after the third (and last!) tequilla shot. And yes...that is red wine on the table, too. What WAS I thinking???

Mike stopped by on his afternoon break and took me for a ride on his scooter. We drove up into the hills behind Kastelli, and I was familiar with the first part of the road we took, since it's on the way to Kissamos Cats, which is where I boarded Rikki and Cleo when Merit and I went to Santorini. After passing through Polyrinia however, the roads and villages were new to me.


Starting out.

Lonely little building on the ridge.

Olive groves and churches here are like strip malls in Florida...you can't go very far without seeing one. Actually, you can't turn around here without seeing an olive tree. They pretty much cover the entire landscape. Reminds me that I need to start exploring some of the local, home-made olive oils instead of continuing to buy the grocery store brand, per a reader's suggestion.

I just liked the way this building looked, with the flowering vine climbing up the side. Unfortunately the sun was shining right into the display screen, so I couldn't tell that I wasn't getting the interesting wood and stone work that I was trying to capture on the second level behind the balcony.

THIS is a very special church.

OK, maybe it isn't...I just felt like I should write something instead of just posting yet another church picture.

I'm sure it's probably special to someone.

The house itself isn't particularly interesting, but what a view the owners have!

The port of Kastelli.

The eastern-most part of the town of Kastelli. I wish I'd have zoomed in further, although there really isn't anything of interest here other than some neighborhood streets.. If I decide to stay an extra six months, I'll be moving into an apartment in town in order to be more centrally located since I'll be giving up the rental car after November.

Me on the back of the bike, my left arm looking disturbingly Pop Eye-ish at this angle. Must be all the horta (boiled greens usually served with lemon juice and olive oil).

Ahhhh, That's Better

New laptop up and running, wireless connection established, Skype downloaded. Still a few things to iron out, like how to get web pages to show up in English, and for some reason the @ sign and the " sign are reversed , but I can deal with that.

Major props to Tommy at Smart Computer in Kastelli for managing to salvage all my files, and for loading them onto my new system at no additional charge. Great operation he's running, I'm extremely grateful. Looking forward to playing around with my new toy. The speakers are supposed to be state of the art, and when I eventually have a television, there's a port where I can connect to it.

In other news...Huck showed up for breakfast this morning sans Pip. Highly unusual, and it has me a bit worried. I won't mourn her loss just yet...hopefully she just found some better grub somewhere, but it doesn't bode well.

Here are some pics from dinner last night:












In keeping with Mike's desire not to be plastered all over the internet, I've "anonymized" him by cutting his head off. And lest anyone get any untoward ideas about his naked torso, he removed his white shirt so that it wouldn't get food splatters on it (although I will admit that I somewhat enjoyed having a half-naked man cooking for me!)




A proper Greek salad (so much prettier than the ones that I make)







Finished product: Chicken and sauteed mushrooms in a mustard cream sauce with ginger rice. The white wine is a 2007 Nicolas Repanis Moschofilero, which has become something of a go-to for me (the grape and the producer)...very nice. The red is something I hadn't yet tried, a 2001 KirYianni Ramvista Xinnomavro, but that I will definitely seek out again.

Dear Santa, Part II

Thanks for nothin'.

I'm at the computer shop now, using their internet while I wait for my NEW laptop, which I'm buying because every attempt to reinstall Windows on my old laptop failed, and the tech said I need to send it back to Dell. The wait time would be, I'm sure, far longer than I'm willing to go without a computer at home, as it is my primary source of entertainment and communication when I'm not out doing other "stuff". Soooo, I purchased a Toshiba Satellite A300-1TM, which basically has all the same features that my old laptop had (built in camera, wireless, etc.) but has a larger screen and Greek characters as well as Roman on the keyboard. I will return my old laptop to Dell in the hopes that they will give me a refund, especially since I've only had it for about six months. I'm doubtful that they will...I'm guessing they'll offer to replace it if they don't discover that I injected it with massive voltage that ripped up the memory a few months ago, in which case I'll try to sell it at some point. In the meantime, I'm hopeful that the tech here was able to salvage my documents and pictures for me from the old one.

Yannis is having "issues" with immigration, and who the hell knows when or if he'll be back. I'm hopeful that he's able to work something out, because he is a great beach buddy and the waves just aren't as much fun without him.

In the meantime, Mike treated me to a very nice home cooked meal last night, pictures of which I will post later once I've got my new laptop up and running at home.

And Santa...I'm just hoping that the reason you were unable to fulfill my wishes is because you are concentrating all of your resources on Jacqueline's situation.

Dear Santa

I know it's only August, but I was wondering if I could put in my requests a little early, especially since you're probably not really busy yet. And...I'm assuming you've caught up with technology and are online now, so hopefully this medium is a good way to reach you.

Nothing material, more along the lines of a couple of favors, and I've been a relatively good girl so we shouldn't have any problems there.

1) Bring Yannis back this week, preferably sooner rather than later. Last I heard from him, two days ago, he was somewhere in the mountains of Greece, sleeping out in the open with no certain idea of when he'd be back. Yesterday I tried to call but his cell phone has been shut off (which makes sense, because he probably has no way to charge it).

2) Let my laptop be fixed tomorrow like the man at the shop promised me it would be, and let it work like it's supposed to going forward. I promise never to download another Windows update again if so (that is, after all, what preceded this most recent "crash").

I am dreadfully out of sorts without the both of them, and would be deeply appreciative of any help you can give me in this department, in lieu of any actual "presents" in December.

Thank you, I hope you're enjoying your summer, and I take back what I said about not believing in you. Really.

Kyrstyn in Kreta

PS: Just read on Facebook that my cousin Jacqueline had to undergo a third surgery. Please add to the above list a return to health for her and a permanent resolution to her recent medical issues. I won't ask for anything else for Christmas ever again!

Today at the beach

A rare, cloudy day here. It even sprinkled a little bit, but I waited it out and was greeted by that beautiful Cretan sunshine that I've come to know and love.







In other news, a species believed to be on the brink of extinction, the rare Mullethead, was spotted in the waters just off the coast of western Crete. Although this adolescent pair is obviously male and not suited for breeding, the siting gives hope that perhaps one day, this beautiful and often misunderstood creature will make a comeback.

Miscellenous pictures, nothing very interesting

Last night after dinner I noticed that there was a very nice, bright moon rising through the leaves of the orange tree on my back patio, and I didn't want to sit around the house so I took a drive up into the hills behind my village. My camera wasn't picking up any of the landscape shots I tried to take, showing the variations in the shades of black and gray in the mountains as a result of the moon rising above them, so I just took pictures of some memorials along the way, which were kind of cool in an eerie way in the darkness. Ran into very few other vehicles along the way, so I had the night to myself.













Just what I thought was a really pretty view of an old house, on my way to the beach earlier in the day.







Cheeseburger in Paradise: I bought some really crappy frozen burger patties from the supermarket because I was craving beef but the guy at the meat counter was too busy and I didn't feel like waiting. But the toasted bun drizzled with olive oil, some feta and roasted red-peppers and a dash of oregano turned it into something pretty decent.

The Natives Are Getting Restless

Disclaimer: The title is not meant in any way to be racist or derogatory...I just thought it was a good title.

Yesterday a truck pulled up to the neighbor's house across the street, and the man of the house and the occupant of the truck proceeded to become involved in a very animated and passionate shouting match that lasted for about 45 minutes. The woman of the house just paced back and forth in the driveway, looking down at the ground for the most part, although occasionally she would pipe in with a thought of her own.

Just now, the same sort of thing occurred with my next door neighbor to my right, although it didn't last nearly as long.

I'm assuming that they're squabbling over the water supply to their fields, as Michael told me they do.

I'm one of those people who is very uncomfortable with confrontation and will go out of my way to avoid it, so just listening to these squabbles gives me an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Although I do admit that I find it entertaining on some level, too.

Sometimes late at night the neighborhood cats will get into some really vicious sounding brawls, which prompts my two inside cats to jump up wherever they are, run in the direction of the sound (front of the house, usually) and then turn around and start beating the living crap out of each other. Also entertaining on some level, but mostly just annoying.

Leaving Comments

A few people have remarked that they've had difficulty leaving comments for me after my posts, so hopefully these instructions will help.

First, until just a few days ago I had my account set to where you had to sign up/create an account in order to leave comments (this must have been the default when I set the blog up). I have changed this and anyone should be able to leave a comment without creating an account.

At the end of the post, click on the little link that tells how many comments have been made.

This will bring you to the screen where you can type your comment, on the right-hand side. After typing your comment, it may or may not ask for you to verify a line of text.

Then it gives you options for how you want to be identified in your comment. My guess is that most people will either prefer to choose anonymous, or to check the "name/url" box which will allow you to enter your name however you'd like it to appear.

Click "publish your comment" and you should be good to go! I just tested it myself and it seems to work fine. Email me if you're still having difficulty.

Another Dinner Post

Sauteed chicken breast with mustard cream sauce, potatoes and zucchini. Accompanied by Spiropoulos Meliasto, a white wine made from the Moschofilero grape. This wine had a rosé tint to it, which is apparently common but this is the first I've experienced.

Sauteed chicken breast in a pan for about 12 minutes each side in olive oil and garlic (had to remove the garlic half-way through though, because it was burning).
Removed chicken from pan and kept warm on a plate. Added 1/4 cup of white wine to hot pan, cooked until reduce by half. Added 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 2 tbsp. of Dijon mustard, and a sprinkle of thyme (the recipe called for terragon, and I think that would have been better, but I didn't have any). Stirred until thickened, about three minutes.
Potatoes were of the frozen variety, added fresh zuchinni tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Cooked in a hot oven for about 25 mintues.


Enjoyed on the patio while listening to Jack Johnson, the wind in the trees, the cicadas, and an owl somewhere nearby going "Hoo hoo...hoo".





Followed by a home-made Frappe: Two tbsp. Nescafe, two tbsp. sugar, two tbsp. heavy cream and about six ounces of cold water, put into a plastic container with lid and shaken. Not bad. Kept me awake while I posted these last three blog entries (which takes far longer than I'd like with the photo upload time).

Dear Dad

I came across this insect shell the other day while sweeping my front patio, and it reminded me of some email correspondence we shared before I left for my trip about the Ant and the Grasshopper. Story reprinted below, but with the following thought: Aesop was a simplistic fool who neglected to take into account that human beings are multi-dimensional creatures who are capable of more than one character trait at the same time. Besides, now that we have a socialist government, I’ve got no worries…right?? And yes, I know...this grasshopper is dead and the ants on my patio are alive and well. Strictly coincidental. (PS: I am not in any way implying that you are a simplistic fool!).

Once there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow.

All day long the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.

The grasshopper would look at her and laugh. 'Why do you work so hard, dear ant?' he would say. 'Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?'

The ant would ignore him, and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder. 'What a silly little ant you are!' he would call after her. 'Come, come and dance with me! Forget about work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!' And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.

Summer faded into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall.

The grasshopper didn't feel like singing any more. He was cold and hungry. He had nowhere to shelter from the snow, and nothing to eat. The meadow and the farmer's field were covered in snow, and there was no food to be had. 'Oh what shall I do? Where shall I go?' wailed the grasshopper. Suddenly he remembered the ant. 'Ah - I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!' declared the grasshopper, perking up. So off he went to the ant's house and knocked at her door. 'Hello ant!' he cried cheerfully. 'Here I am, to sing for you, as I warm myself by your fire, while you get me some food from that larder of yours!'

The ant looked at the grasshopper and said, 'All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me, and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find somewhere else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!' And the ant shut the door in the grasshopper's face.

It is wise to worry about tomorrow today.

New Beach

I decided to depart from my usual afternoon beach destination for several reasons:

1) I didn't want to risk running into the creepy guys who followed me yesterday.
2) I wanted to re-trace my path to Don Rosario's to make sure I could find it on my own.
3) Yannis isn't here, so I wouldn't see him at Mithimna anyway.

I found my way quite easily back along the roads that Mike had driven the other night, and have to say that I found both experiences gratifying for different reasons. I've seen and taken photographs of some very stunning views from the various road trips I've taken here, and there were some beautiful sea views and valley views on the trip today. However, there was something kind of mysterious and haunting about the trip back with Mike...the moonlight spreading a blanket of white upon the water, the sharp bends in the road beyond which and through the darkness one can see nothing, but knows that there is a steep drop leading to certain disaster if one is not careful.

I tried the beach by the restaurant but there seemed to be no available parking, so I back-tracked and took the "left" arrow beach sign instead. Before hitting the "beach" signs I stopped to take some photos of a few churches that I passed along the way. I do like the fact that I just read the following in my Rough Guide regarding some of the area I passed through, although having been through some more remote terrain on various trips here so far I'm not sure that I agree: "The left fork is signed to Braxos To Kyma (Wave on the Rock), a delightful taverna fronting a pebble beach shaded by tamarisks, which also has three air-conditioned studio rooms. This is about as far off the beaten track as you can get and, as they prize their tranquility here, if you plan to stay it would be a good idea to give them a ring first".

Irksome Things

Warning: If your sick of reading about my epidermal issues, skip part I.

I would just like for all the bacteria/viruses/other agents that have been playing around in my skin to leave me the hell alone. No more dry, red skin, no more blisters, no more rashes, no more bug bites. OK?

Pip is driving me crazy. Ever since I had her spayed she's got no life and spends her day on my porch, meowing loudly each time I go outside in anticipation of food or pets. And sometimes when I do pet her she gets over-excited and attacks my fingers and/or toes. And...she keeps killing mice and NOT eating them. She just leaves them buried under the leaves to mess around with when my fingers and toes aren't available. I do not wish to have half-decayed rodent corpses in my back yard.

My own cats have been really annoying lately too, fighting at odd hours of the night and puking up hairballs on the dark rug where I can't see them until after I've stepped in them. Rikki seems to get fatter every day, although I haven't changed his food rations. At this point there's no WAY he's going to meet the weight limit to take him back to the U.S. in the cabin.

Today at the beach, I was getting the serious stare-down from two guys who I'm pretty sure are Albanian (I've become good at telling them apart from the other ethnic groups here since I've started hanging out w/ Yannis...he points out the Albanians to me). No big deal, I just ignored them, but then while I was walking home one of them pulled up next to me on his bicycle. He tried to chat me up, I gave him the old "then katalaveno" which means I don't understand, and when he replied in English I just said, "Bye-bye". He eventually went away. Shortly thereafter, however, the other guy who had been with him at the beach pulled up next to me in a truck and said, "Ela", which basically means "Come on". I shook my head and said "no" in Greek and in English, but he kept following right along side me, forcing me off the road and into the olive field on my right. Fortunately at this point, a farmer who was checking the water situation came along behind us, driving very slowly to see where the water was trickling out of the hoses along side the road. The guy in the truck pulled forward away from me, but continued to drive very slowly until I guess he realized that the guy in the car wasn't going anywhere soon. He then made a U-turn and left. A bit later down the road he drove by again with two other guys in his truck, but fortunately didn't stop. I was trying as best I could to walk in a "don't fuck with me or I'll castrate you" sort of way. Maybe that did it?

Anyway, I guess that's it. Everything else is hunky-dory. Just felt like venting.