Stars and sticks
A few random photos today taken a couple of months ago. When I sit on the balcony, and the sun passes behind the house, I am aware that the air has definitely chilled down a little. Not too much, we’re not into the fully-clothed, blanket-wearing season yet, but you can tall that there’s a difference.
For some reason, on Wednesday, I woke up early, and I am talking five in the morning. Fully awake, I went onto the balcony to check the stars. They were still there. The night was so clear I could see some of the Milky Way, a rare event from that position due to the light spill from the harbour. I’d not noticed that Plough in that position for a while, upside-down you might say, appearing as a question mark. Behind me, if I leant precariously over the railing I could see the Seven Sisters and other constellations I don’t usually get to see, and I thought that perhaps I should get up early on more occasions and take in the view. Perhaps walk up to the hills and around the corner to avoid the manmade light and see the stars in all their glory. Then I decided against it. The last time I did that, only a couple of weeks ago, was at Agia Marina when I left the birthday party we were attending and walked up the steps to the other side of the small island. Here, there is very little light pollution, and I was just marvelling at the magnificence of the Milky Way when I heard Neil fall off a wall and damage his bad foot, again.
No lasting damage was done, just a bad sprain, but he did need a walking stick for a while. I found him one at the ‘Rhodes shop’ as I call it, down in Yialos near Elpida’s café. This shop sells unusual tourist equipment, like suits of armour, models of knights, long knives that would never be allowed anywhere near a charter flight, and other classy trinkets. The most useful thing I found was the walking stick collection. Declining the Gandalf model (they’d sold out, actually) and the cobra’s head top, I went for a brass handled, sturdy affair and presented that to Neil.
A few days later and he was off to walk to Pedi with his son. Walking shoes, shorts, a canvas bag over his shoulder, Trilby hat and cane, he looked like he was off up the Matterhorn in 1932. Very dapper.
Anyway, all that came from nowhere and that’s where I am off to now; nowhere in particular. I have a few more sections of ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ to check through before making a few edits, and I want that job done by the end of the week. After that, I must concentrate on a screenplay, so I’m off to get on now. See you tomorrow.
