Yesterday, I was sitting on the sofa happily reading about the Gaiety Theatre in the late 19th century, when I became aware I was being serenaded. The strains of ‘Amazing Grace’ were floating across the harbour and up to the house on a breezeless day. Unusual, but not unpleasant. It was being played on a solo trumpet (or it may have been a recording), and we got two verses and a modulation, plus an unusually diminished second chord on one of the higher notes. On further examination, I saw the music was coming from a departing yacht which was very slowly pulling away from the quayside and putting its bow to open water.

The ship was called ‘Elida’ and along its side was written ‘Sailing for Jesus.’ Now, it would be very easy for me to be flippant, but I don’t want to upset anyone (I don’t particularly mind if I do, actually, because if anyone ever doesn’t like what I write, they are welcome to read elsewhere), but I think I might pop the ship a note. Only to say that Amazing Grace was written by a man called John Newton in 1772, or thereabouts, and Mr Newton spent some time making slaves of people along the African coast and trading them. He’d found God behind the bureau, and was already pretty active in the ‘prattle box’, as the street slang of the time called a pulpit, and he spent time preaching, and when he could, learning Hebrew and Greek. Mr Newton found God again later, on March 21st, and ended up having his own church as well as writing one of the most popular hymns of all time. It became all the rage in the American South (presumably where his slaves ended up, singing along cheerily in their new and improved homes), and is still played today, as yesterday proved.

There are plenty of others they could have played on their departure, ‘For those in peril on the sea’ springs instantly to mind. ‘Jerusalem’, if they were heading that way, ‘Morning has Broken and now we’re off sailing for the afternoon’, would have been timely, or that lesser-known spiritual from Mr Newton’s heyday on the African coast, ‘Dropkick me Jesus over the goalposts of life.’

The Elida and Sailing for Jesus is a Swedish all-Christian organisation with the goal of spreading the Word along the Swedish west coast in winter and the warmer waters of the Med in summer via their 131-foot mega yacht. The organisation is also known as the ‘sailing singing church’, and its work is directed primarily towards the younger generation.

The message behind these notes is subliminal. I was at home up in the village, overlooking the harbour, I had my balcony doors open because it was warm enough to do so, I was able to hear the music because the weather was calm, and it was Halloween – October 31st, and the windows were still open. I can’t remember the last time I was able to do that. No heaters needed as yet, but dodgy weather coming in soon, they say, and yet no need for fans or aircon either. I’ve just been outside and it’s warm enough to be in a tee shirt, and it’s the first of November (kalo mina, btw).

One of the downsides to this warm weather (apart from being able to hear the occasional bum note from the boatswain) is, or are, mosquitoes, and I’ve a word or two of my own to spread about those little blighters which I’ll do in a post another day.

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There’s no great earth-shattering news today. It remains warm down here, clouds are gathering for some unsettled weather that’s due later in the week (allegedly), although weather reports come and go. When there are clouds, they can make for incredible sunrises, as Neil’s photos demonstrate.

We tend not to get a sunset view from our place because the sun goes down behind the hills to the west. It’s actually quite hard to get a sunset photo unless you are on the main road or somewhere like the Haritomeni Taverna at just the right time in the summer to see the sun just before it goes behind the hills. It can be a spectacular sight The alternative is to get yourself to higher ground or the west coast of the island, which isn’t easy without a car (or boat), but even then, I don’t think you’ll see the sun set over the sea as you might have wanted to. Hey. At least we’re not Santorini with its millions of tourists all trying to cram into the same place for the same shot so they can say they’ve seen it.

No, for us, over here on the east side of the island with a view from the roof towards the east, the sunrise is the thing. You get good shots of it from by the sea in Pedi, where it comes up over the Turkish mountains, and the best time to see it is July/August before it’s moved along and comes up over the Pedi hills. By that time of the year, it’s lost some of its impact, unless there are clouds around to bring some drama, as in today’s photos.

If you’re a collector of the Symi calendars, you’ll know that Neil often places a Pedi sunrise photo for one of the months. That’s because it’s about the only convenient place to get a spectacular view. Next year, the Symi sunrise features in July of the 2024 Symi Dream calendar, which you can order online if you follow that link, or the one at the top of the righthand column. >>

When discussing the Symi sunrise, we must not forget to mention it’s also the name of Claudia’s late-night bar along the lane from the Village Hotel, or that it’s the name of a cocktail Yiannis serves at the Rainbow Bar. Don’t ask me what’s in a ‘Symi Sunrise is good for you’, but I am sure it’s very nice. I worked there for 12 years and was never called on to make one.

Sunrise is still an hour off for me, and there are some clouds about, so I may be in for a spectacle. If not, no worries. We get some kind of weather here all the time, and there will be more spectacular sunrises before long, I’m sure.

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If you think things quieten down on Symi at the time of year, you’d be right, but also, not 100% accurate. Over this last weekend, there was a wedding complete with many church bells and a large procession coming past the house. There were fireworks in Harani on Friday, which may have been related to the wedding, or may have been some other celebration. The 28th was Oxi day, so there was a parade with traditional costumes, the school children in their uniforms, the army, many spectators and music, and the clocks changed, meaning everyone had an extra hour. (So why did I wake up at 2.30 and miss my chance to sleep through that extra hour? It was 3.30 by my body clock, I guess, and so it was ready to get up and get on, but all the same, waking up at 2.30 in the morning? It’s just not cricket.)

We had some rain, but nothing to shout home about, plenty of cloud, temperatures in the mid-20s, sunshine and warmth. I counted four dayboats in yesterday, maybe not as packed as before, but still bringing visitors. We were invited out for dinner at the taverna (Georgio’s), Neil went for a decent walk over to St Nicholas beach, and I finished two short stories for a Christmas anthology.

Then, there was plenty of time to stand on the balcony watching the world and its wildlife pass by. By wildlife I mean, sparrows, coal tits, ravens, pigeons, owls, bats, black redstarts, warblers, seagulls, blackbirds, and blue rock thrushes. The lizards who live in the stone walls have been noticeable by their absence, and we’ve not yet had any winter-feeding goats come and investigate the land in front, nor the mule, but then she only comes when the grass is long. Right now, despite a little rain, the hillsides remain dry and dusty, with the shrubs and herbs turned brown by the sun. It’ll come back to green before long.

As for the week ahead, who knows what will happen? Between us we have plenty to do including a new course and the gym (him, not me), walks when I can be bothered, piano and music lessons, we must collect some things from the post office, there’s end of season paperwork to put into the accountant – into his office, rather, not into the man himself. I have things to write, of course, and books to try and sell, presents to think about because that season will be on us before we know it, books to read (currently, I am studying the history of the Gaiety Theatre, London which is no longer there), plenty of housework to do and some running repairs which run so fast, they keep getting away from me.

Oh, and I need to keep an eye on the ferry schedules. The Blue Star has put up its November and December schedules, but not yet January, which is the one I need. So, there’s plenty to do and yet there never seems to be enough time.

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It’s one of those mornings when I have no idea what I might put down here, so let’s see what comes out. I just spent a few minutes looking through my photos only to realise the ones in my ‘to be used one day’ album are ancient, and the ones on my cloud are mainly book covers, research images or ones from years ago that I’ve put there for storage. The image today is included in the book Carry on up the Kali Strata, and it comes from a section of the drive where I have, somehow, collected all the images that are in that book. That’s all well and good, but as I no longer have the text, I doubt I shall be putting together a new edition anytime soon.

Yesterday, the planned power cuts went ahead, as far as I can make out. We didn’t have one here, but others did, and some of the shops in Yialos were closed because they had no power; not brilliant when there are still three or four day-trip boats arriving every day. I think normal service was resumed later in the morning, so it wasn’t for long.

In the afternoon, we popped down to the bar to see some friends who are here for a while, and it was almost like summer all over again. No need for a jacket, 26 degrees, pleasant, and half the tables filled. The other day, it was like a wasteland, yesterday, much busier. Funny how it goes. In the evening, we called into a name day party (it was the name day for Dimitris and associated names), and again, it was warm enough to be outside. Cloudy during the day, and a little muggy later, but not wet or freezing. Those days are to come.

All I have planned for the weekend is a dinner with friends on Saturday, and, for me, a lot of time at the PC doing what I do, perhaps a wander around somewhere later to get some photos for next week’s blogs (otherwise you’ll have images of book covers, Victorian London, maps of old slum estates, and images from my time in London in the 1990s, which might be amusing but would be completely off topic). And that’s it for this week.

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Today looks like it’s going to be interesting and varied. Apart from my usual work at the typowriter, I’ve a music lesson to see to this afternoon and a name day party to attend this evening, and I’ve just read we’re in for a power cut from 7.30 to 12.30. I’ve no idea why, but probably maintenance or upgrading, but there’s been a warning sent out, so I’ve put the phones on charge and have my real book ready to read if I run out of things to do. Unlikely, as it’s only when there’s no power that I get on with those niggling bits and pieces around the house that can usually wait for another day. If the power is off for five hours, a lot of dusting and tidying up might get done.

I might sit at my proper desk and write up my notes from previous novels, or plot another one. I might sweep the courtyard or start cutting down the vine which is starting to die off. There are kitchen cupboards that need tidying, things to put away, my winter clothes to sort out and swap for my few summer ones, and a whole long list of other things that can be done without electricity. Then again, I have four hours on my laptop battery, so I can always type if I don’t fancy writing by hand, and I have lots of data on my phone, so I can scroll through the news and social media if I want a complete waste of time, or use my data on my tablet and play my video game. What I can’t do is play the piano, watch TV, cook, boil the kettle, hoover (yay!), or use the water pump. (Note: fill up a bucket to use in the loo before the pump goes off.)

I’m sure the already packed and varied day will get more interesting during the morning, at least for a little while. Often, when we have power cuts in the winter, the electricity isn’t off for as long as the notice states, but you never know. As soon as I read the notice this morning, I went to charge the battery lantern we have, and then realised it wasn’t going to be dark between half seven and midday, so charged the tablet instead.

If you were wondering about the photos today, Neil took them last week. As you can see, it’s sunny, and it’s also still warm. There was some cloud about yesterday, but nothing with rain in it, and there’s been very little wind. All rather pleasant really, but we’re expecting the temperature to drop before long, so maybe sorting out the winter wardrobe is the thing to do this morning if we are without power. We’ll see, but before then, I should get on and do my online work while I can.

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