Thoughts

What can I tell you? It’s quiet around here, but not as quiet as it has been and nowhere near as busy as in the past, but that’s to be expected. Throwing up hands in despair at those who have been putting out messages on Fakebook telling people not to bother with masks and caution. Also, those who gather in large crowds, and (on other islands) groups of holidaymakers thinking because they are in a ‘safe’ country they can ignore all advice and hold beach parties, crowd together and so on, only to find they return home infected (possibly from the plane, airports, the bus, of before they even left home). End result? Scotland now says Greece is ‘unsafe’ and hundreds of sensible people are inconvenienced. Meanwhile, schools here are put off going back until 14^th, but they will have to start soon as children haven’t had a lesson since March, or have only been for eleven staggered days since then. Only hoping that the teachers who live on the mainland return a week early, and quarantine before going into school. Anyway…

It’s bound to be a tricky month because September is usually the busiest month for north Europeans coming here on holiday, but we’ll just have to wait and see. If you don’t see me out and about so much, or wonder, when I am, why I’m not sitting with you, it’s because I’ve got my own rule of not getting close to anyone until they’ve been here a long enough length of time. Not being OTT, just trying to set an example. Anyway…

On a lighter note, a picture of a mule.

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Smile

I couldn’t think of what to tell you today, except the square was again busy yesterday evening, and the temperature in the courtyard was up to 36. So I thought I’d have a look and see what odd photos I have on my OneDrive. The sheep thing was funny, though it’s not easy to see them in the picture below. I was coming back from the hillside, and just before the path joins the main road, this small flock came running into the lane, saw me, and stopped dead in their tracks, as did I. The leading sheep, centre, front, had its head tipped down, glaring as we faced off, playing chicken to see who would move first. After a few tense seconds, I took a step to the left, they a step to the right, and we circled cautiously until they scrambled off towards the hill and I carried on down, chuckling.

I found a couple of other images on the drive. The one about coats is research, the courtyard as it looks with the light on at 4.30 in the morning, the biker boys gathering in the square, and a couple of Neil’s from when he took Paddington for a morning walk to Pedi the other day. Enjoy, and smile, ‘cos that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

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Just a thought

It was good to see the square busy yesterday evening, although it was a double-edged sword because there were empty seats to keep some people distanced from each other. Empty seats that could have been filled by other punters. Not that everyone is taking the distancing advice as seriously as they should. Symi is only safe for as long as people remain unselfishly aware of others. Just because you’ve filled in a form and are prepared to quarantine when you get home if necessary, doesn’t mean you’re not passing along the virus you might have caught on the plane. In the same worrying way, it was also good to hear the sound of cheering and laughing coming from one of the harbour bars at five the other morning. Quite a few people were having fun down there and, by the sound of it, had been all night. I assume they were standing several feet away from each other and not touching.

The double-edged part is, of course, that businesses are desperate for custom, but don’t have enough. A few week’s of semi-reasonable trade isn’t going to cover the overheads already owed and the debts that will be accumulated over the winter with no hope of paying them off for some time, if at all. I imagine that for those who don’t own their own premises, the rent is one of the biggest bills. I happen to know one business up here whose rent was €700 a month, 12 months a year (€8,000 p/a), and that was about eight years ago. Another was €1,000 per month or €12,000 a year. That’s in the village. I hate to think what they are like in the harbour. Add on the other overheads, tax etc., and you start to see how one or two ‘good’ months in a season isn’t going to be a drop in the Aegean compared to a ‘normal’ season.

Maybe not the cheeriest way to start the week, but I just woke up with that thought in my head and wanted to share. Some readers might find it of interest.

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Friday Photos

Here’s a collection of shots that Neil has taken during his morning walks and swims. He puts some of these on our Symi Dream Facebook page which you are welcome to view, like and share, but not all of them go there, which is why I have added them here. Have a good weekend.

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Strange lights

I have three incidents of strange lights to tell you about, none of them suspicious, I don’t think, and I’m not advocating UFOs or anything. I think I’ve mentioned the first one before, though some time ago. From our balcony, you can see across the water to the Turkish mountains. Looking at the map and taking a rough bearing, I’d say I am looking at the part of the peninsula with nothing on it apart from a road from Datca to Marmaris. Google Earth shows nothing but hills and bays. At some time during the early morning when it’s still dark, I see this light rise up from behind or between the mountains and hover over them. It rises in a straight line, hangs around a while and then descends again. Imagine one of those fairground rides that lifts you up a central pillar, waits at the top and then plunges you straight down again. Well, it’s like that, but slower and only one round, bright light. I am assuming a weather balloon or similar.

The second strange light I saw yesterday morning just before dawn. Again, from the balcony, though this was in the sky over in the east. At first, I thought it was a plane because it was a flashing white light, but then I realised it was hardly moving, but when it slowly turned, it had a red light beside the white one. I’d have thought a helicopter, perhaps, but there was no sound, and again, I’d guess it was miles away over the Turkish coast. Strangely, it then moved to the north, not quickly as a plane would, but slowly, and only for a short distance. It stopped beneath Venus, turned and headed back to where I’d first seen it, still moving slowly. That could only have been a helicopter, and I wondered if it was looking for refugee boats. If it was, it was very high up, there was no searchlight and no sound, so it was a fair distance, and usually, when helicopters go by, I hear them long before I see them.

And the third was far less intriguing and a bit of fun really. I went out for a walk yesterday and hadn’t gone far when my ears turned into the cicadas. Walking under a streetlamp just before the square, the lamp went off when I was directly beneath as if I’d caught it out, and at the same moment, the cicada’s stopped their racket. I just thought it was interesting how the cicadas stopped when the light changed. Or maybe it was me, and they fell to whispering about me as I passed. Anyway… Today’s photos have nothing to do with any of that except they have light in them. Have a good day.

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