Jonathan and Lucia stepped back into the increasingly
rarified world of traditional Greece by driving north to the island of
Evia—conveniently connected to the mainland by a bridge—referred to by one
author as “an island apart.” It is a apt description: for it’s natural,
pine-clad beauty, its distinct and ancient folkways, and for its very size.
Evia is Greece’s third largest island but one that is rarely visited by Western
tourists.
The two visited dear old friends in a settlement near the
village of Limni, a place of great natural beauty, sited in a narrow valley
that is tucked into a fold of verdant pine. An abundance of trees, which is
unusual in modern Greece, provides a remarkable backdrop of forest astride the
sea.
The few days there were spent walking, running, swimming,
and being engaged in lively evening conversation, illuminated by the soft glow
of kerosene lanterns.
Today father and daughter set off for their spitaki (little house) in the southern
Peloponnese, a ride that took most of the day.
They arrived in southern Messenia and went straight away to
the family’s little house in a village above Finikounda. Placing the house key
into the key hole, turning it, and opening the door of a nearly finished,
habitable house for the first time was a singular experience: the pleasure of
smelling fresh paint, of casting an eye upward at the bright beams of the
cathedral ceiling, of swinging open the heavy wooden shutters to let in the
thyme-scented air—all of this was a exciting, invigorating, and a positive
relief after so many months of living vicariously through photographs.
Jonathan and Lucia enjoyed a meal with kind and generous
friends at their down near the sea. The hum of cicadas and breaking surf was at
one point broken by the howl of wild jackals, the remnants of Europe’s only
population of this endangered species. Reminiscent of Maine coyotes, these
highly elusive creatures roam the mountains and valleys of southern Messinia,
and they are rarely heard and almost never seen. For Jonathan, in particular,
the cries of the wild jackals was the premier introduction to their new home.
Their first full day was spent working the small property
that surrounds the house, gathering piles of rocks unearthed by the hired
backhoe (JCB) that cleared the lot of overgrowth. A swim at the big beach was
an ample reward for Jonathan’s labors.
The two joined some friends for drinks and a meal in
Finikounda in the early evening. As they walked through the village they were
approached by literally dozens of friends they have come to know over the past
five years. It felt like every bit of homecoming that it was.
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