Rain and Racing
This morning I was woken up by the sound of the roof overflow gushing outside the bedroom window which we’d left open last night as it was so warm. There was no water coming in, as there was no wind to blow it, but I closed it anyway, just in case, and then set about my morning routine: cup of tea, look at the news, head to the desk. It’s still raining, and it’s set to go on all day which is good news for sternas and plants alike, and luckily, Neil painted the flat roof the other day, so the bathroom has remained rain-free. I found some photos from last March to illustrate, slightly, what Symi looks like in bad weather. Not great photos, but something, and actually, the weather wasn’t that bad then, but you’ll get the picture.
The rest of my day is planned according to the usual routine. The morning spent writing, occasionally pausing for any necessities like breakfast and shopping (unlikely today), a break for lunch and then back to the desk, though some afternoons recently that’s been hard to do and its been more than tempting to tune into something else like a good book or the television where we’ve found a way to watch a US game show.
No, it’s not called ‘The Peachy Trump Impeachment Show’ (I read about that during my news catch-up in the mornings), but one called ‘The Amazing Race’ that’s been running for years. We can only find a few series, but it’s a show right up my street. Pairs of contestants travel the world to perform challenges and races based on local customs, traditions or sights and get knocked out one by one until only three remain for the final leg, by which time they’re travelled around 24,000 miles in three weeks and submitted to all kinds of things. Not things like you see on mind-numbing game shows in a studio, but things like jumping off a tall building (in safety harness) to retrieve a clue, a zip-line over a gorge, bungee jump, swim with sharks, or, in calmer moments, learn a flamenco routine and perform it. We’ve seen a couple of episodes in Greece where they had to be on duty with the Ebzones in uniform (something of an honour) and do something lethal at the Corinth Canal. Anyway, that’s my excuse for only writing one chapter a day at the moment not two, and now it’s back to the rain.
