Wandering, dogs and things

I thought I’d share some weekend photos today, then realised I didn’t have many. Oops. We were in Yialos on Friday, but I was so wrapped up in a morning out to the big city that I forgot to take many photos. Mind you, it would have been the same kind of thing as always: tourists walking around the harbour in large groups, views from Pacho’s and later, Meraklis where we stopped for lunch. The view from the inside of a taxi afterwards and then a few shots at the Rainbow Bar.

Actually, that’s what the images are, apart from the taxi. We were joined at the bar in the afternoon by ‘Arab’ as his name vaguely translates to. He’s a goat-dog who works out on the mountainside with his boss, but who likes to take time off to wander the village and greet everyone. On Friday, he decided to hang out with us. He was a bit hot and bothered, but we gave him plenty of water, and he was happy to rest in the shade, ignoring the ginger cat doing the same thing across the way.

I often see Arab on my way up the hillside when I go that way, and on more than one occasion he had guided me safely through a herd of oncoming goats, overtaking me and then walking in front until we’ve passed through the throng before running back to make sure they are behaving behind me. Nice dog, and no, we don’t want one. He’s housed, cared for and looked after but does like to wander the streets so don’t be alarmed if you run into him.

So, dog-day done, it was home to batten down the shutters against the wind. It’s been cooling and blowing away the humidity, but the house is now littered with dead leaves and other things blown in from afar. When it’s windy (it was only up to force 5) we end up with lots of purple bougainvillaea flowers in our sitting room, and there’s isn’t such a plant for miles, so I always wonder where they come from. (I say ‘miles’, you know what I mean.) Thus, Sunday is to be a morning of housework, sweeping the courtyard and inside, hoovering and other joyous activities. I have made a head start; I cleaned a window on Saturday.

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Some Symi Photos

You know, I’ve heard so many visitors to the island recently saying, ‘You don’t want to live in the UK these days’, and telling me how depressing it is, what a mess it’s in and how frustrated they are with what’s happening and with those who are causing the country’s decline. Because of that, I thought some Saturday Symi photos might cheer us up. But then, I’m living here on Symi so I don’t need cheering up. Except when I too get frustrated with what’s happening to my friends back there in the yUK and I understand the frustration of being told ‘”The people” decided three years ago and have no say in it anymore…’ Etc. So… As the country slides further to the right-wing and into chaos, perhaps it’s time to plan your Symi holiday and get away from it all.

A few random Symi photos now follow…

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Symi International Film Festival

Here’s a quick update on the Symi International Film Festival to be held on the island in September. “We have 210 films from 47 countries to choose from. The quality is exceptional, which makes the selection even more difficult. We now have four weeks to make our choices. The quality makes it very difficult. We would love to show more, but the screening time is just not available. We have 100 hours of runtime submitted but just 15 hours of screen time available.”

I don’t envy the committee the job, though I do envy them being able to view all these excellent submissions. The festival is held at the village sports complex, outside in the courtyard, under the stars where the films are projected onto a large screen. I believe that the films also must be subtitled and that they come from a variety of countries, offering a truly international flavour. The showings are usually in the early evening, but more details will be put up here when I learn them, and there will, no doubt, be posters to come in due course.

I am also waiting to catch new of the Symi Festival, the music, dance and arts festival that usually happens around August. I’ll share info about that as soon as I see any.

Meanwhile, I am having something of a festival of time off, kind of. I’m ‘between books’, the literary equivalent of a resting actor, I suppose, though it’s not very restful. After six months of hard slog on four stores that just fell out, I now have to decide what I want to do next, or else, wait for inspiration to strike. Meanwhile, I write for a couple of hours every day, and even if it’s not used, what comes out is a good practice session, and you never know, may lead to something interesting. There’s nothing as inspirational as a blank page.

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General ramble

Here are a few shots taken up at the bridge yesterday morning. If you walk out of the village on the main road and keep going, you will eventually come to this bridge which spans a dry water channel running off, in rainy times, from the Vigla towards the back of Horio. A little further on there is a bench where you can sit and look out across the village, Agia Marina point and Pedi towards the stacked mountains of Turkey. I occasionally walk from home, out on the old donkey path to Xissos and then come back down the main road, stopping at the bench for a brief rest before tramping on down the hill.

I left for my walk at 6.15 yesterday, by which time the sun was already up. Make sure you take water and sensible shoes if you’re doing this walk in the hotter parts of the day. A hat is also a good idea. Apart from that, my yesterday morning was taken up with rereading and checking some things and generally pottering around at home. In the late afternoons, the village square has been quieter than of late, but it starts to pick up again after six, and then… Well, I’m usually at home not long after, so I’m not sure what happens after that.

Looking from the balcony, we can see part of the harbour, and it doesn’t appear as busy as it has been in the past. There are lots more boats moored further in, and this outer end is never as busy, but I did hear someone say the other day that tourism was down on the island so far this year. I also read a report in the Greek news saying that the country was expecting 33 million visitors this year. That figure, by the way, is 200% more than the population, around 11m, the report says. I wonder where they all are. Probably at the all-inclusive resorts rather than the smaller more in-need places. I also read that tourists are now feeing that Turkey and the North African countries are more stable than they were and so have returned to those destinations, but who can say? There’s still a buzz and vibe on Symi, plenty of day trippers, and lots of evening activities and visitors to keep us going, for now at least.

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The whole world in his hands

Here’s a shot or two of the atlas so generously donated to the study by Ann and Graham. (Sorry, not sure if it’s Ann with an E or not.) As you can see, it’s not only large and detailed but fits perfectly with the style of that side of my room. Some of my other research books are on the desk, and I’ve been reading them and dipping in and out when I need to. There’s nothing as interesting as an atlas though, and just looking at the maps sets my imagination running.

At the moment, it’s running along the lines of ‘what next?’ Another Clearwater mystery? The final Saddling episode? Or another Miss P? Thinking about what pays the rent, it should be a Clearwater, but I’ve had several people asking for a follow-up Miss P and the last Saddling story, so I have set about reading ‘the Saddling’ to remind myself what happened. I hate reading what’s already published as I find things I would change, and not only the occasional printing error (typos that so many of us missed). My style has changed, I hope improved, over the years and so has the layout and design of covers, pages and so on. Ah well, it must be done, and I must read all three in the series if I am going to come up with the fourth. All I know about it right now is that the title has to start with N and end with ling, it’s to be about the earth element and spring equinox (rebirth comes to mind), and there are several threads left over from The Eastling which need tying up – and where is Blacklocks in all of this? We shall see what the mind turns to first, a romantic Victorian mystery, a modern-day comedy, or a final instalment…

Meanwhile… We had a lovely dinner on Monday night, going with friends on Georgios. We were there early evening, or course, as these days, 8pm is past my bedtime, and there were seven of us at the table. A couple of starters, a main each, wine and water and for only $15.00 each after an unexpected discount from Noufris, who also paid Neil and I a compliment I am to modest to mention here. Said friends leave the island this week, always sad, and July and August tend to see fewer of our ‘set’ returning, due to the weather. We look forward to September and October, however, when we will see them again, and in the meantime, I am sure we will make new friends and see others. Such is summer on Symi.

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