Mostly photos...and fordibben politics

A Smattering of Photographs

View from near our village church, looking west toward Finikounda

A positively hellacious thunderstorm, with a month's worth of rain, rolled in from the west yesterday. It had been predicted for nearly a week. The advent of rain, sustained rain, is a godsend for anyone with a garden, not to mention a few thousand olives trees. And while it meant a beach day forgone, the cool air allowed for one final push in rock removal. And to replace several ceramic roof tiles on the peak of the house. Happily not a drop entered the house.

The Great Wall of Yianni--nearly to the road

The heavy rain also served to pack down the haliki (crushed stone) that I spread around our drive at great peril during the heat of the afternoon. It was about 104 degrees F. during this undertaking, but the end result was well worth the effort. Now two cars and park, and a tent or caravan can be set up for overflow visitors.

A stoney driveway--a place to park our guests in the future

But the best "innovation" of the week, buried in a large box of camping equipment, was the beach cabana. Properly anchored it won't blow away and provides the essential shade needed for extended beach visits. A nice place to nap between swims.

Copa-Cabana! Home away form home...

All Politics Are Local

As much as I might like to avoid the topic of politics---godforbidden U.S. politics--a few news items and sundry queries in the village about the state of our presidential election leads me down a perilous path.

Here in Greece there is a political astuteness that is a wonder to behold, one that is far beyond the perceptions of most Americans. For one, the citizenry actual gives a damn.  People understand without much coaching that the "problem" is the banksters, the lawyers, and the career politicians--not "the immigrants," the "liberals," nor the "welfare state." Most Greeks feel a constitutional obligation to shout from the ramparts. Opinions are in no short supply.

So, in that spirit, shall I pontificate...just a bit?

Americans are lemmings with two feet. How else can we explain that our so-called "progressives" could possibly think that Hillary Clinton serves the commonweal? Or that Donald Trump (if you are right of center) could be the darling of conservatism, however you define it. Clinton has enriched herself with the complicity of her fawning acolytes, Wall Street, and corporate American (including the military industrial complex). She is vile: my opinion. Donald Trump, the quinteessetial narcissist, whose own fortune has been built on the shoulders of hard-working, honest-living American workers--while bankrupting several of his businesses at taxpayer expense, is equally vile. For different reasons. But the same end.

It is an utterly pathetic state of affairs--and yes, it is repeated in most of the first-world's democracies (Greece being no exception). Americans likely deserve what they get: twiddle dee (Clinton) or twiddle dum(b) (Trump). A plutocracy of the Left or the Right---all baked in the same kitchen. by different cooks.

"But stop," say my so-called progressive women friends. She is a woman! This is historic! (Margaret Thatcher, the enemy of labor and progressive values, was a woman too.) Clinton is unmitigated disaster for the progressive cause, cut from the same cloth as her perfidious husband.

But stop, say my conservate friends. Trump is "saying what needs to be said." Racism? Misogyny? Scapegoating?

Long live the 19th-century Russian anarchist Mikhail Bukharin, communism's first ardent enemy: "I shall continue to be an impossible person," he stated, "so long as those who are possible [Clinton-Truump...or fill in the blank] remain possible."

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Like many among my generation, we are inclined, yet again, to choose between the lesser of two evils. Never again, I say. This time I will vote for what's his name, the Libertarian candidate. Less government, fewer intrusions in our private lives, the elimination of the nanny state in favor of something simpler, more just, and less prone to corruption.

Clinton plans to throw a few more crumbs at the nanny state--"let them eat cake!"--while ensuring that her well-heeled friends in the 1 percent are secure from any resurgent Occupy Movement. Clintons buddies are ensconced behind their gates communities, oblivious to the reality of working people. Yes, she talks the talk--but she never walks the walk..

Trump believes in nothing, absolutely nothing--other than his own beautiful reflection in the pool of life.

Is "nothing" better or worse than "something"? I'm really not sure.

Escaping the Village

Getting out of Finikounda at night, at a reasonable hour, even when it's pouring rain, is all but impossible. I either have to walk in the darkness on the beach, and then double back to the car park, or dare to walk up the main street: a veritable gauntlet of cafeneions, restaurants, bars, and sweet shops. "Hey, Yianni, it's only 1:30, come sit down and have a drink with us. What can we treat you to?"

A Quieter Place

I woke to the sound of the village church bell, at 7 a.m. I promised myself that I would attend the morning liturgy. As so I gathered myself, and hustled up the hillside.

I walked into St. Demetrios just a bit bleary-eyed, and stood throughout the service. Generally, in rural Greece, the women stand on the left of the church, the men on the right. Aside from me, the only other males were the priest and the cantor. I tried to take up a lot of space on the men's side, and not be noticed (Ha!).

A curious observation. Usually the tractors and other farm implements begin their morning racket at 7 a.m. Today there was silence. But as soon as the liturgy ended, as if on cue, every tractor, rototiller, weed wacker, chainsaw, and farm implement started in one loud chorus.

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It's Getting Better All the Time