Happy May Day. I can now get back to my usual routine and currently, that’s editing proofs of a pen name novel which needs to be ready by next weekend at the latest. Once the proofs are done, it’s a case of doing the layout, which doesn’t take that long and then checking through before sending it up to be published. This is part two of a series, and meanwhile, part one is out and being talked about on a book/blog tour where blog owners take in titles, review them or simply publicise them. That tour runs for the next two weeks, and the ten unique posts and interviews I wrote for the various sites mention that part two will be out in early May, hence the steaming ahead on part two – while, incidentally, part three remains in first draft form and waiting in the wings. That’s appropriate as it takes place in an opera house. It also involves blackmail and the King of the Netherlands, Wilhelm III, but that’s another story. The point here is, as you can see, I do more than visit Neil at the bar after his working hours. (I also visit during working hours.)
What I’ve not been doing so much of is taking photos, but those I found for today I took from Neil’s phone, so you have him to thank for the artistry.
There was no blog yesterday, as you might have noticed. I took the weekend off. I have surprisingly few photos to show for it, having spent most of my time at home working on a book release. I slept well though. I was rocked to sleep by dynamite two nights running, and not even the bangers in the lane outside the bedroom window kept me awake. Missed the fireworks. Heard some. There are some lovely photos on Facebook from those who attended the Easter celebrations, and I have shared a couple on the Symi Dream FB page.
Here are a couple of photos including one meant for Colette who sent me the t-shirt for my birthday, and the Blue Star on Monday morning. Now I am going back to my Monday bank holiday day off.
It’s Easter weekend here on Symi and in Greece. As it’s Saturday, here is a collection of random photos from the island. Not necessarily to do with Easter, but taken by Neil in 2018.
Or a small part of it, and some random photos to go along with a couple of vague thoughts about 2KNO3 + S + 3C → K2S + N2 + 3CO2 = Bang!
Renovations begin on a property in the square (unrelated to today’s topic)
Chemists among you will recognise that formula as potassium nitrate + sulphur + carbon in charcoal form → potassium sulphide + nitrogen gas + carbon dioxide, which, when heated in a controlled fashion, results in a lot of ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ah!’ In other words, a firework.* (Colours may vary according to chemicals used, and your investment of €1,000 for two minutes of pleasure can go up as well as down**.)
A horse with no name (that I know)
Things are starting to get explosive around here. Sitting outside the bar the other evening, it was (almost) fun to count the number of times customers rose half an inch from their seats, clutched their pearls and swung their heads angrily towards the square. With schools on holiday and not a great deal for your people to do, the children gather in the square. Usually, this is to kick a football into people’s courtyards, dodge mopeds and let off steam through the ‘Scream-valve’, a technical term. In the lead up to Easter, and for a while afterwards, bangers become the norm, and there was a storm of them that evening. A norm-storm, you might say if you were desperate for a laugh and didn’t mind being disappointed.
Peace and quiet is also available
I know, some people are very anti-fireworks, some campaign to have the sound taken out of them, though I’ve never seen the point of a silent banger. To me, that’s like watching Kiri Ti Kanawa miming coloratura. Pointless. That would not be her, and it’s just not me. (I don’t own a nervous pet, elderly people or toddlers, so what would I know? And, I would like to make it clear, I was not calling Diva It Kanawa a silent banger, stunning though she is.) The point is, the bangers the youth of Symi prefer come with stone-amplified, Dolby surround sound. A new batch had arrived, enabling some of the more enthusiastic to hone the art of throwing two at once, while others discovered an old sun-shade stand with a concrete base and a handy steel pipe in which to drop the bang, as it were. More were happy to light the things and throw them as they ran for cover with no clue where they might go off. (Clutches pearls. Tuts.)
The Chinese emporium – open all year.
You get used to it in the end, or at least I did, unless one goes off two feet away as happened the other night. Then I am inclined to cause an outcry. Well, I clutch my pearls and tut, but after sixteen years here, I am beyond shooting out of my seat. The first rumblings of dynamite have also been heard as various important services and celebrations take place during this week. The weekend should, if we’re lucky, bring masses of explosions, more bangers (a lot more), flaming flares and boisterous bells. Can’t wait. The point I think I was trying to make, or rather, the rocket I was trying to launch, is that, if you’re around the island or Greece at this time of year, expect to see a lot of banging much noisy celebration.
*PS, I took that formula info from a website that seemed to know what it was talking about. Don’t blame me if it’s wrong; at least I corrected the American spelling.
**PPS, I can think of other ways of spending €1,000 to make ooh and ah sounds, and it would last a lot longer than two minutes.
I’m talking about the temperature and the number of visitors when I say ‘picking up.’ The chilly north breeze has died down, but the number of boats arriving per day has increased. We now have the Spanos boat from Rhodes, the Sebeco and the Panagia coming in, as well as the inter-island ferries of the Blue Star line. Maybe not every day, and the timetable will alter over this Easter week, but it’s a good start. Remember if you’re heading this way, you might have to arrive at Panormitis, but there is a bus, though not every hour as there is from Yialos, Horio and Pedi, so plan ahead.
I thought I’d drop in a photo of the ravine I was talking about yesterday, though I notice I wasn’t directly over it when I took the snap. That’s because I’d have to stand on the bridge and when I was up there the other day, there were a few cars about, and the bridge is not that wide. I’d also just walked 1.5 miles uphill and fast, and the extra two yards would have done me in. No, not really, but there were cars passing, and I didn’t want to get in the way. Anyhow, you might get a rough idea of where I am talking about from the photos which, if nothing else, show you the blue skies we are now enjoying. They may well soon be filled with Sahara dust as the infamous ‘red rain’ passes over, but for now, I’m enjoying the fresh air and views.
