You know how I’m often on the balcony having my early morning cup of tea, listening to the sounds of the darkest hours, and planning my day ahead… Well, it seems it’s a good time and place for random thoughts, such as:

The other morning about an hour before sunrise, the moon was coming up in the west, just a sliver as it was on the wane, and the rest was in shadow. How does that work? I thought. If the sun’s about to come up behind it, how come the front of it is in shadow?

That was one, and I know there’s an explanation somewhere. Another one occurred this morning, and that was, ‘Why don’t computers work on weekends? Is there some union rule that says they can’t? If I set up a bank transfer, say, to pay the rent on a particular date, and that date is a weekend, the payment won’t be actioned until Monday. The same happens if I transfer funds from PayPal to my bank. Can’t do it at a weekend, computer says no. ‘Your transaction will happen in the next two business days,’ it says, as if automated computer systems pack up their desks on a Friday and hot foot it down to the Chip and Anchor for a few pints before picking up a curry on the way home.

What do they do all weekend, these algorhythms? What keeps them so busy?

‘Sorry, I can’t process your automatic payment today, I’ve got to take Tabitha to violin, and Baxter has football at ten.’ Surely these things are automatic. Or, maybe, someone has to sit with them as they do their thing, and there are not enough sitters to go around. I imagine a lone worker in a vast cubicle farm in the Arizona desert, sitting at his desk watching a screen and coaxing along millions of bank payments and card transactions. As he’s working the long weekend alone, he can only allow so many to pass, none of them mine.

I don’t know, but what I do know, is that while musing on the pointless, I also saw some bats. I don’t know much about bats, except you use them in cricket and gothic novels, and I wondered why I am only seeing them now? Is it the time of year? Do they move house? We used to see them a lot when we lived up at Triada, but not so much here. Recently, we’ve seen quite a few, or the same one going around in multiple circles trying to find a crumbling castle or silly mid-wicket.

Tits, too. Coal tits are back (above), and they are something else we only see around here in the winter, as are robins, though I’ve not seen one yet. We’ve had the usual run on pigeons, doves, blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows, warblers, a couple of kestrels, the far-away eagles and buzzards over the valley, and seagulls, though not as many as you might think. Oddly, and for the first time in over eight years, I’ve also seen a pied wagtail on the roof of the house in front. I noticed one in the village square the other day, and now it seems to be exploring around the house. I only say ‘oddly’ because I’ve only ever seen them down by the sea or up in the hills and forests.

Anyway, those are the kinds of random things going through my head at 3.30 while I listen to the sea lapping at the quayside wall, the screech of the little owls that live nearby, and a high-pitched drone that’s coming from some boat down below. Random? Yeah, that’s me.

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This week saw a few regular visitors heading home after their stays, but that doesn’t mean the season is coming to an end, it seems. Apart from the weather remaining fair, and warm(ish), the day boats continue to come in (at least four yesterday, plus two Sebecos), and as far as I know, nothing much has yet closed for the winter. I heard at least one charter airline was extending its flights into November this year, but I’m not a travel agency, so that’s only rumour. As far as I can see from up here, the season isn’t yet showing signs of slowing down. Much.

I have to admit, I’ve not been out and about much this week, it’s been a week of staying in and beavering away on a couple of projects, one of which is nearly finished. That’ll be my next Jackson book, and this morning, I received the full wrap-around cover from my designer. Just one small amendment to make there, and about one third of the MS to check through, and it will be ready for laying out, and a few days later, publishing. Then, I can get back to the next one.

Neil continues to work at the bar from three to five, though hasn’t been called in for an evening session for a while now. We’ve not got much planned for the weekend, although we are having lunch with a couple of friends on Sunday, so that will make a nice change. The weather seems to be set to remain calm and fair for the next several days, with temperatures forecast to be in the mid-twenties, the wind only getting up to a force four from the northwest or southeast (so not too cold), and no cloud predicted until around the 22nd, though these things can change.

As you can see, no great news, not now the local elections are done with (the incumbent mayor was returned), I’ve nothing amusing nor scandal-worthy to report, and no new photos, only older ones from the archives which I may have posted before. Hopefully, I’ll have good news for you next week (probably about the next book).

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Another quiet day for me yesterday, and there will be many more as the season quietens and I spend more time at home. When I say ‘quiet’, I mean apart from the helicopter which came in a couple of times and sat with its rotors going for some time before taking off again. Why? I don’t know, but this was a military helicopter, and no matter how many times I watch one come in to land, there’s still a fascination.

It’s no big deal, really. We have them fly in and out all year round. There are three ‘types’, maybe four: the military, the medical, the pleasure, and the media. Not, apparently, a sequel to ‘The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover’, but the kinds of machines we see and hear flying in and out of Symi. The military is self-explanatory. They bring dignitaries to parades and other events, possibly supplies, personnel maybe, and who knows, possibly even military medical personnel. I’m vague on this because… well, I don’t know anything about it.

The ‘pleasure’ are those smaller, wasp-like things that bring in performers for the festival, or rich folk wanting a fly over the island, and sometimes, you see them on the boats these people can afford to buy or hire. The medical one comes from Rhodes if there is an emergency, but it also comes to practice. This used to be a regular thing on a Monday or Tuesday night. The helicopter comes in and hovers over the landing pad for a while, lands, rises and goes around and does it again.

The last sort, the press and TV crews, I might have made up. I am sure it happens, but I can’t think when. A crew might be dispatched if there had been a major event, like when the president came to visit.

Another thing that interests me about watching these things come in, wait and go, is the sound. Yesterday, for example, I was on the balcony, the copter was on its pad with its rotors rotating, and there was a breeze. Sometimes, the sound of the machine was distant and subtle, the next, it increased and was carried across the harbour and up the hill on the wind. After being loud for a while, it quietened again. It’s like you can see the pattern of the wind in the rise and fall of the sound. You can certainly hear it.

Oh, advert op. There was/is a photo of a helicopter coming in over Yialos in the 2023 Symi calendar. There isn’t one in next year’s calendar, but that’s no excuse not to order a copy for yourself and one for every friend at the office, club, church, fitness centre… Click the image for the link.

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Some village snaps as illustrations today, a day on which I have nothing much to report to head office. Except…

We had a very pleasant lunch at Georgio’s Taverna yesterday. It’s one of the village businesses that stays open through the winter, only pausing, if it must, to redecorate for the next summer season. Next door, Rainbow and Lefteris’ also stay open, though not always at strict hours, and Scena also continues, as it’s a place frequented by local families, and late-night musicians. The film club shows a film there every Tuesday, there is often live music, and the kitchen is open most evenings too. It’s a nice place for families because of the play park right next door and often holds post-baptism celebrations and other functions.

Also, through the winter, the Sunrise is open, as is Ringo’s, but Taverna Zoi and the Kalis Strata restaurants eventually close, mainly because they have only outside seating. Also, without the guaranteed trade of the summer, tavernas have to weigh up the overheads and potential stock wastage against potential income. Soon, the lanes will be virtually empty as people stay indoors more, except for the all-year-round workers, and the weather will close in, driving us inside for warmth, except on sunny days, when walking is the thing to do.

As part of our pre-winter preparations, we’re having the balcony doors fixed so they can close, a good idea when you face north. I have already given the balcony a coat of varnish, but it needs another before it rains. We must paint the bathroom flat roof against leaks too, and I must get around to stripping the old paint off the outside bathroom walls, and re-do them. If I am feeing flush (unlikely), I’ll get someone in who knows what they are doing and pay them. Also, on my list of things to do one day is an overall of the workhouse bathroom which we mainly use for storage, but that’s a job I can do no matter the weather – as long as it’s not too hot, and as long as I can be bothered.

It will also soon be time for our annual health trip to Rhodes. Not to take the waters, but to have them metaphorically taken from us as we do our annual MOT with tests and check-ups from specialists; all so easy to arrange as long as you have the insurance or the money, not that the private consultants are expensive. I must tell you more about all that one day (I have talked about it in the past), and I must also tell you about other trips and things we’ve been doing that you may not have seen on our Facebook pages, especially if you don’t use Facebook. All that, though, is for later in the winter when I have nothing else to say – not that that stops me wittering on like this.

For now, it’s off to work I go, as I have a few hours of typing and editing to put in before door repairs, lunch cooking, piano playing and meeting up with returning friends who just can’t keep away from the island. Who can blame them?

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A breeze on the balcony this morning meant I had to put on a hoodie when I stepped out to look at the view and have my cup of tea. We’re heading towards mid-October and during the day, it’s still pleasantly warm, around the mid-twenties, but first thing in the morning (or halfway through the night for most), the chill is noticeable. There’s a sheet and a light blanket on the bed, and it won’t be long before we start closing the windows one by one. Not long after that, it’ll be the shutters, though winter isn’t on us just yet.

The day boats continue to come in, often packed with visitors, and there were at least four yesterday (boats, not visitors), more, actually, with the King Saron doing two trips, and the large ferries coming in to take away those who had to travel for the weekend’s voting. The taxi boats are still going, though for how much longer remains to be seen (they and some beach tavernas usually stop around mid-October), and in a way, it’s hard to think this summer season is nearly over. The village bars have been the same; busy and full one hour, quieter the next, all through the afternoon and evening, and the taverna the other night was full, and the other restaurants also seemed to be doing well. Maybe the Symi summer season is getting longer?

I just had a trawl back through my photo archives to see what I was doing this time X number of years ago, but the pics were all of book covers, Victorian slums and other book-related matters, so I decided not to bore you with those. Instead, just a quick post and a couple of autumnal images today. One to show the sky which isn’t as warm as it looks, and the other, the cats up the road (last year), some of whom continue to hang out at the bins with the chickens and their chicks where they seem to live quite happily side by side.

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