Eh, but its great to be back home –
even though it is still much warmer outside the house than inside.
Fortunately, the weather is dry and so it is good to get outside for
as much of the day as we can.
Our migrations took us a little off
course this winter, and after a shorter than planned stay in New
Zealand and a lengthy stay in the UK, I arrived back in the village
three weeks after K, just in time to join him in the clear up and
painting operation which begins every Spring in Crete. All the
outside areas were liberally covered with a thick layer of sand and
dust, the house needed some air through it the temperature was much
too warm for the layers of winter woollies I had worn for the journey
from England. K had bravely painted a few walls to keep himself warm
and busy and we unleashed and disposed of the remains of a small
tarpaulin which had been keeping the wood pile dry but had completely
disintegrated after the winter winds and rain.
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| What we left behind ..... |
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| ... what we found here |
The friendly Cretan village folk were
glad to see us back, although our vociferous elderly neighbour was
bewailing the lack of swallows this year and began to think that it
would be an unlucky year if they did not return before long. What
with one thing and another, we had wondered about having a “let's
start this year all over again event” brought about because we lost
out on New Year's Eve and seeing in the New Year entirely on our Air
New Zealand flight to Auckland. In spite of happy times with family
and grandchildren, the year seemed to get off to a poor start for us,
and many people we know.
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| A welcome home present! |
Having left the French Government and
my fruitless efforts to get anywhere with my pension application
behind me in the UK, our first bureaucratic port of call, once home,
was the IKA office in Perama to renew our IKA books (although we hear
they are called something else now). The books are issued to people
reaching old age pension age and entitle the holder to free medical
care. It took a lot of effort to get them in October and they
expired at the end of February! So we set off for the office feeling
slightly disorientated after the passage of time, driving on the other side of the road again and wondering
exactly where to park the car. Opting for one car park and enjoying
the warmth of taking a little walk, asking for directions and
arriving at the porch of the office took a little while, but it was
obvious that although there was the sound of voices from inside the
building, the metal grill was down and the door closed sporting a
handwritten notice saying “Σε απεργία” On strike! Oh
well, we'll have to come back another day. A quick trip to the Post
Office for stamps took a long time and I wrote an entire letter to my
Dad to let him know of our safe arrival while K stood in the queue.
After this we needed a cool drink at “Bucket Chair Alley” (there
are so many cafeneons in the town that we have to distinguish them
somehow) and by this time the sun was out with a vengeance and my
warm winter cardy needed inside the house, was definitely not needed
outside the house. Should I devise a new garment called a DISCARDY
and invent a pattern for such a thing which is only needed indoors?
Miss/Mrs Next Door, was still having a
voluble moan to nobody in particular about the lack of swallows when
we got back, but we sat up on the terrace for a spell in the
afternoon until the sun had passed over, watching a band of
mist/fog/dusty cloud approaching from the south. All of a sudden,
there was a hoop from our neighbour as one or two swallows appeared,
chattering noisily and swooping with joy around the roof tops and
under the wires. Looking up into a clear patch of sky, we saw
another half dozen on their way to another destination and are
relieved that in Crete at least, another summer is on its way.
As the evening drew on we were puzzled
by the view over the horizon. Little by little, visibility got worse
and worse until the mountain disappeared, the nearer hills
disappeared, the end of the street disappeared and we decided to
close up the house before it was filled with the dust from the strong
winds approaching – and being inside the house, needed to light the
fire!
Topsy-turvy it may be, but it's great
to be back home!
