Walking
I didn’t have the camera with me, but we went for a walk up to ‘To Vrisi’ the other morning, early, and down to Pedi and back yesterday. On the walk to ‘To Vrisi’, real name Zoodhochos Pighi Monastery, on the side of the Pedi valley, I finally got to see Yiannis, the goatherd at work. I’ve known him for years, but I guess he usually has his herd somewhere else. On this morning he was moving a herd (he may have been helping someone else) down the hillside. He had a very noble shepherd’s crook in one hand and was waving a piece of polyethene in the other. Those two tools and a few ‘miswords’ are all you need to move goats around, it seems.
A misword, in case you have not read ‘The Saddling’ or have not studied old Kentish dialect, is ‘a cross, angry or abusive word.’ I think it was the power of his voice and his tone that made the animals move, and he could have been shouting anything. Goats are very easy to shift, especially if they don’t know you. They clearly knew him and did exactly as he wanted them to. It was a very rural sight to see at six-thirty in the morning.
In case you were wondering, the distances as recorded by my Fitbit that morning were: from the village square to the monastery was 1.5 miles, or 3,000 of my steps (everyone’s readings are slightly different, Neil’s Fitbit recorded slightly more steps than mine), so it’s a three-mile round trip. Along the road, up to the cemetery at Ag Marina and then out along the path. The old yappy dog on the chain has been replaced by a much more sober one that’s quiet and non-aggressive. On the way back, we walked down through the village and so the distances I quoted might not be accurate if you come back via the road, the way we went up. But still, three miles before breakfast wasn’t bad.
We did Pedi and back via the road on Thursday, a distance of just under two miles from the village square, return, and 4,000 of my steps. Back at the desk, I noted that that cloud was back over Nimos. I am assuming it’s down to humidity, and it wasn’t there for long.
The sky was clear and blue all morning, something which brightened up an otherwise painful day. Painful only because there were bills to pay. The annual health insurance that I’ve been saving for, so that was okay, the phone bill, and putting money aside for various bills to come along shortly. It’s one of those months. Hey ho! Upwards and onwards.
