Today, there is a report in The Guardian titled, ‘Athens swallowed up by orange haze from Sahara dust storm.’ This is one of the images:

Photo from the Guardian

It’s true, we are currently under a cloud of dust from the south, as are other parts of Europe. We get this every year and often more than once a year, though spring is the most common season. If it rains, we call it ‘red rain’ because it leaves behind a layer of red/orange dust. We haven’t had rain since last weekend, but we have had and still are having very high winds. They are blowing the dust everywhere, so the washing is drying inside, and my nose is completely blocked and has been for some time. Because of the wind, there was only one boat yesterday, and the Blue Star didn’t run from Piraeus until nine hours after it was meant to set off, assuming it did. Boats have also been stopped today (though it’s not that blowy out there right now), and the Blue Star won’t be coming through until the afternoon, before doing a quick turnaround in Rhodes and leaving there tonight at 17.30 – at least that’s what I read on their site last night.

Yesterday, the house was vibrating under the strength of the wind, the air conditioning unit on the roof was humming, and combined with the other activity, produced a weird and very deep sound. It reminded me of the story told in the book ‘Dead Mountain’ (by Donnie Eichar) where Russian students go hiking and camp beneath Dead Mountain, only to flee during the night. Later, they were found dead in strange places and poses having seemingly run from an avalanche. The book suggests it was the sound of the wind through the pass, vibrating so low as to cause disorientation which led to panic. It’s a fascinating book – the film version takes a more Hollywood path and involves a Philadelphia Experiment kind of ending, but… Hey ho!

Hatches will remain battened today.

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Another windy day today, with predictions of force seven or eight in some parts later. For me, another day at home is planned as I plough on through the next draft chapter of the next book, and in the evening, maybe another couple of Hornblowers. We stumbled across the 1999 British series last night, thought we’d give one a go, and really enjoyed it, so we watched another. Apart from everything else, it’s a good game to say, ‘I recognise him…’ then spend ages trying to remember where and in what. Failing, I end up looking him up on the internet, and that usually comes with a, ‘Well I never!’ or words to that effect. For example, I recognised Hornblower from… Oh, where was it…? I’ve definitely seen him before… He’d be quite a bit older now… And went and looked him up. Well I never! Of course it is. I didn’t know that… he was Officer Lowe in Titanic, and also Reed Richards in the Fantastic 4, among many other things. Then there was the chap who turned up later as Ivy’s father-in-law in Downtown Abbey. So it is! Good Lord.

That’s for this evening. For now, to cheer up this blustery and grey day, how about a couple of random shots from my ‘top post one day’ folder?

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Here on Symi, we are back to having weather. Cloudy today, sunny/cloudy yesterday, wet and wild on Saturday morning but the rain was/is much needed. There is a short article in Ekathimerini talking about how Europe is suffering its biggest drought in 500 years, and how Greece is facing a ‘high risk’ drought, or will be soon. I’ve heard that Rhodes is having trouble meeting its own demands, and can no longer send water out to us and the other smaller islands that have no natural water. (We have a few underground springs, but they’ve all got church complexes built on them).

It’s important to remember, when coming to Symi, that you need to do all you can to save water. Shower on, get wet, shower off, get soaped, shower on, wash off, shower off. Shouldn’t take you more than two minutes, only during one of which should you have the water running.

However, a little rain on Saturday morning didn’t deter our two intrepid god boys from coming up to dinner. Neil and the eldest cooked, while H and I watched an hour of Victor Borge and fell about the sitting room laughing. Dinner was a hoot as was the card game afterwards – the boys were in a ‘mother-free environment’ as it was a boys’ night, and suffice to say, there were manly discussions, rude jokes, and a certain degree of air pollution. Sunday was a quieter day, though the weather was slightly better.

Neil’s working back at the bar now, and the summer chairs are out. Apparently, according to those in the know (in other words, everyone who tells you anything), things are going to get very busy from next week. We’re coming up to Easter, so that’s one reason, and there’s a regular birthday party not long after, and it’s a special one this year, and then, before you know it, it’s June which is always very popular with northern Europeans and the British. Let’s hope the weather cheers up a little before then.

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I don’t really have anything to tell you today, so I’ll show you a photo of an inscription you may or may not have seen on Symi. It’s up where the road coming up from Yialos joins the lane into the village, on the crest of the hill, by the windmills. I sent this image to a friend of mine who has spent his life working in theatre, mime, dance, clowning, and such larks, and he said, LOVE this! But alas not a true story, no. Perdolino is from Lower Bergamo, he then became ‘Pierrot’ years later in France.

Perhaps it’s one of those urban myths or something that can’t ever be proved either way, or maybe it is genuine, and Symi did see the birth of Pierrot. Who knows? It makes for fun reading, though. Click the photo to expand it, the English section is at the bottom. I know it’s not the best translation in places, but still…

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We popped over to Rhodes yesterday, and it was a bit odd. We were sailing on the Blue Star, and were overtaken by the Sebeco. I have to say, it was a slow crossing for us. The journey is usually about 70 minutes, but yesterday, it was two hours, and it wasn’t particularly windy or rough. We slowed almost to a standstill when just off Rhodes, and I think that was because we had to wait for the SAOS ferry to give up its parking space. I’ve learnt recently that as the ship backs into the harbour in Rhodes, it takes a good ten minutes before you can get off. The reverse approach is slow by necessity, and they take the cars off first, while the passengers have to wait upstairs.

Anyway, we had plenty of time to get to where we needed to go. I took my time getting to my appointment because I never like to arrive sweaty, but I can’t help it. Walking from my typowriter here to the sitting room and I’m damp. Walking through Rhodes in a warm breeze under a cloudless sky, I turned up to see my chap as wet as a glassblower’s armpit. Still, all is well and good. Neil’s also fully checked up and ready for work which he starts on Friday with a marathon 10.00 to 20.00 session as Yiannis is away for the day. We had lunch at Nimmos Taverna, the place our Symi friends have that’s just inside Akandia gate and on the way to the Blue Star Ferry.

After that, we called at our favourite jewellers to start looking at rings (for younger godson’s 18th birthday next year, but signet rings must be saved for), said hello to Mike and Mike’s café as we do, even though no-one there is called Mike, it seems, and we were back on the boat before you could say, what are these for?

They look like vents and probably are, but Harry pointed out to me once that they don’t go anywhere. It (the yellow tube) seems to be sucking in air, but which way? If it’s the front – to soak up exhaust fumes maybe – then the air simply passes back into the seating area. If it’s to push the air forwards, then it gets dumped over a table for four. There’s an electronic box attached to each of these things, but the things themselves are bolted to the ceiling as an isolated unit. If anyone knows exactly what they do, leave me a comment on Facebook, and you could make a 16-year-old very happy.

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