An hour ago I turned on our electric blanket. From the kitchen, Flea the cat disappears upstairs, then Oscar follows to curl in his igloo in our bedroom I put my nightgown in the microwave so it feels especially warm, then upstairs too.
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On Friday Amy received a certificate to mark the end of her start-up training. An Assistant Chief Constable at Tally Ho House on the Pershore Road welcomed PCSO recruits and their families. Then we were off to Snow Hill station, a train to London and a party at The Ritz given by my Greek half-sister and her husband. The 'children' - my nephews and nieces - are adults. Some are married. Grandchildren have arrived or are expected. [Photos: Richard, Amy (standing) & E. 2nd photo: Bay, mum & me]
Around midnight Lin and I went for a stroll up Bond Street where she snapped me sitting between the Holofcener bronzes of Franklin D.Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. It's called 'Allies'. I remembered, while sitting there, that when I'd been strolling in Democracy Street in Ano Korakiana at the end of November a group of Americans in a mini-van had stopped by the Metallinos Museum and asked me to describe a good way to see the island in the day they had to spend - so I set them up the the road to Sokraki with cautions about the many zigzags, and told them to take a left just before they entered Sokraki and head NW towards Trompetta where they'd ride the saddle of the range with views north and south in the clear air. I spoke of my feelings for America, my educator in the 70s and my love of their country, if not their government. One women looked despondent. I gave her a hug not wanting her to apologise. I said 'It'll be over soon. It's an anomaly. It'll get better I promise'. 'We're waiting for the election in 2008' muttered one of the old men. We stood in amicable silence for a moment. 'Where are you from?' 'Miami' they chorused quietly. It's something I find particularly pleasing about a lot of Americans, that unlike the British, when we were a power in the world, they care what foreigners think of them. They are not natural imperialists and though the USA feels invasive they do not, even as their entrepreneurs - sitting at screens in the deep interiors of sunless buildings, in a study in the Hamptons, on a private jet over Kamchatka, a room in the Radisson Dubai or a yacht off the Seychelles - force turbo-charged capitalism on the globe, inventing credit default swaps, putting shiny packaging round securitised collaterised debt obligations, wish it to be American - and gazing east it looks as if they need not worry. [Christmas gifts of fear from the White House]
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A theft near Ano Korakiana mentioned on Liana's blog for 23 December:
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On Friday Amy received a certificate to mark the end of her start-up training. An Assistant Chief Constable at Tally Ho House on the Pershore Road welcomed PCSO recruits and their families. Then we were off to Snow Hill station, a train to London and a party at The Ritz given by my Greek half-sister and her husband. The 'children' - my nephews and nieces - are adults. Some are married. Grandchildren have arrived or are expected. [Photos: Richard, Amy (standing) & E. 2nd photo: Bay, mum & me]
Around midnight Lin and I went for a stroll up Bond Street where she snapped me sitting between the Holofcener bronzes of Franklin D.Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. It's called 'Allies'. I remembered, while sitting there, that when I'd been strolling in Democracy Street in Ano Korakiana at the end of November a group of Americans in a mini-van had stopped by the Metallinos Museum and asked me to describe a good way to see the island in the day they had to spend - so I set them up the the road to Sokraki with cautions about the many zigzags, and told them to take a left just before they entered Sokraki and head NW towards Trompetta where they'd ride the saddle of the range with views north and south in the clear air. I spoke of my feelings for America, my educator in the 70s and my love of their country, if not their government. One women looked despondent. I gave her a hug not wanting her to apologise. I said 'It'll be over soon. It's an anomaly. It'll get better I promise'. 'We're waiting for the election in 2008' muttered one of the old men. We stood in amicable silence for a moment. 'Where are you from?' 'Miami' they chorused quietly. It's something I find particularly pleasing about a lot of Americans, that unlike the British, when we were a power in the world, they care what foreigners think of them. They are not natural imperialists and though the USA feels invasive they do not, even as their entrepreneurs - sitting at screens in the deep interiors of sunless buildings, in a study in the Hamptons, on a private jet over Kamchatka, a room in the Radisson Dubai or a yacht off the Seychelles - force turbo-charged capitalism on the globe, inventing credit default swaps, putting shiny packaging round securitised collaterised debt obligations, wish it to be American - and gazing east it looks as if they need not worry. [Christmas gifts of fear from the White House]
* * *
A theft near Ano Korakiana mentioned on Liana's blog for 23 December:
'If you stroll along Garitsa bay and look at the horizon, you will see the mountain peaks of the Greek mainland and Albania covered in snow. That's why it is cold at night. But the sky is blue, the sea is blue and the birds are singing! That's why I love Corfu. It's a small paradise but some people still haven't realised that. They ruin things. Like those who broke into a small monastery on the 22nd of December and stole a couple of holy items such as the Bible (Evaggelio), which is 200 years old, the holy Cup and other church things. The monastery of Ayios Noufris is administered by the villages of Ano Korakiana, Skripero, Gardelades and Doukades'
Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIt's Greek to me, actually,,,,
Xinyi Folders
You are so right about most Americans and especially poignant is your comment, "it'll be over soon". My countdown clock is every so slowly ticking away.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and a happy holiday season to you.
Greetings midnight rider, σας ευχαριστώ
ReplyDelete