Reality takes many forms—it can
be the small and sublime, a ochre-colored house in an olive grove, perched above the aquamarine
Mediterranean, or, more alarmingly, a set of US Stealth Bombers at the nearby NATO base, poised
for one mischief or other. Jonathan and Lucia have been blessed with the former
pleasure, while avoiding the later emblems of power politics...the latest international crisis.
Soon enough their time in Greece
will have passed. They are ever so grateful for the time in Messinia and especially
for their time together, co-travelers—a bit of oil, a bit of water--on the broad
Hellenic highway.
Final Touches
While his dear daughter enjoys
late nights (never retiring much before 2:30 a.m.) followed by the pleasures of
seemingly infinite sleep, Jonathan plugs away at the house: overseeing an
unbelievable transformation in a mere seven weeks. With the painting just
completed yesterday morning, a house party was the first order of business, and
to that end father/daughter hosted about forty “friends”—a word that they do
not use lightly—including local villagers and foreign residents (German, Dutch,
English) alike.
Everyone here is so welcoming, the aura of ancient hospitality
alive and well in the modern era. Their friend Dimitri the butcher worked his magic cleaver over
a full roasted pig. The party lasted until 2 a.m., and then everyone headed
down to the village for an evening out…an evening that ended at 4 a.m.,
followed by a morning that began at 7 a.m.—for Jonathan, at least.
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