GOODBYE GREECE

As my body and my mind and my words softly converged to make sense of my new love: the Greek Islands, I paid the ferry man and was slowly inexorably towed away.

Just as my daughter and I finally began to wriggle in and rest and talk amongst the dry rocks instead of hurrying to experience them.

Just as we found the wines we loved.

Just as we discovered the perfect spot for a late afternoon drink.

Just as we discovered that many of the stores only carried a facade of tourist hats and scarves, which had been repelling me from exploration because back in the shady depths where they had always been, lurked the Real businesses. And so we found our favorite grocery store where the locals shop and the barbers and the vegetables and the weavers and the electrician and the hardware stores.

I imagine at the end of the tourist season they pack away the hats and scarves that cover their steps and once more the store is the store.

Just as we discovered the extra words in the language to say thank you properly and blessings in reply.

Just as we got to differentiate between the heady scents of thyme and oregano in the hills.

Then I leave.

I am back in Athens now. One ferry ride over choppy drenching seas and one plane flight over. I will have to move fast as the wind through Heathrow. But after that it is the home stretch.

See you on the other side.

Celi