MIGRATIONS

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.

What we left behind .....

... 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.

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!