I come and I go

Pulling out of Inverness

Sharon drove me and Oscar to Inverness station for a mid-morning train to Edinburgh. The weather is absurdly mild for January. Saying goodbye to Mum, giving her a quick kiss "Quickly now, darling.  You know I hate stringing things out" So it was long ago, with even less said, when I was off to boarding school - first at 6 years old. That's always my taste of parting. No better, no worse than something more effusive. I've got food for Oscar on the journey; for myself a miniature of Malt Whisky, two prosciutto sandwiches on rye, a length of bratwurst and my novel, reading the climactic chapters of Robert Edric's Cradle Song. It's a procedural - an un-thrilling thriller. That felt right for the chilling horror of its theme - the pursuit of a paedophile ring. I found tears welling in my eyes near the end. I know, as anyone who reads of it, who knows professionals who try to deal with it. of the scope and depth of depravity humans can plumb. Edric's minimalist prose connects the grim weather and scenery of his plot with something similar inside his criminals; which grows too inside those who pursue them.

Edinburgh Waverley, my train south

Later on my train from Edinburgh to New Street I watched a DVD of a film directed by Max Faerberboeck (The trailer makes it out a war film, which is a true, yet untrue, but viewed, along with the change of title to The Downfall of Berlin, as necessary publicity) of the book I've just read, anonymously authored, titled A Woman in Berlin, translated, quite recently from German, though published - then withdrawn - not long after the events they describe. The film was exciting, by no means schmaltzy, at times electric, but - despite the rich setting of a devastated city, costumes, special effects, voices, fine acting, score by the great Zbigniew Preisner - without the impact and realism of the book, where those things defined by the choices of the film-maker, are defined by the reader's imagination in the hands of the writer; an anonymous author describing her's and her companion's experiences in the form of a diary.
Oscar slept most of the eight-hour journey in a pleasantly uncrowded train. Lin met us at New Street.
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Yesterday afternoon I had a shorter walk than usual - along the Farnack, now running quieter than for the last few days, back along the puddled lane to Brin Croft - the terriers, my satellites, never bored. In the evening my mother took Sharon and me out to the Snow Goose for supper - a pub in a most unpromising setting next to the Inverness Retail Park with a good chef making superlative and well-served pub food - a juicy red steak, calamari, fried liver and bacon, plus some draft Deuchars Caledonian - a local beer which my mother also likes. We were especially sat by a lively log fire and a table to which  mum could draw up her wheelchair. We finished with Irish Coffee which mum to her chagrin had trouble drinking until Sharon with her usual swift attentiveness found her a more convenient shaped glass.

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Mark has sent me an email from the village with photos of his and Sally's New Year trip to the mountains of Northern Greece:

Mark and Teal in Zagori

Hi Simon just a few teasing photos for you to ponder over before you get over here to eat wildboar suppers, hare stiffados, royal roasts with pate's made from the finest chickla. Just remind me when you are here so I can go out and gather all of these of course. Cheers Mark

Η Πίνδος είναι η μεγαλύτερη οροσειρά της Ελλάδας

Learning Greek «Η ζωή είναι δύσκολη»

Nearly our last Greek lesson before Christmas. Niko's the teacher we always wanted. He started us seven months ago with four books.

- Κλεάνθης Αρβανιτάκης Φρόσω Αρβανιτάκη, Επικοινωνήστε ελληνικά 1(Arvanitakis, K & F Communicate in Greek - Epikoiniste Ellinika 1, Book 1 and the exercise book that goes with it.

- Greek: An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language

- Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary

Niko has lesson plans, gives us homework, chats in Greek, records things on my laptop so we can practice pronunciation, helps with writing Greek and is invariably supportive and funny. But our progress seems so slow - or is it? When my mother stayed with us in Corfu in October she had the impression I was speaking quite a lot. Lin says things like :I'm never going to learn". but she was helping me with homework yesterday and translating paragraphs of Greek from a paperback novel. Our lessons are an hour and a half but Niko never finishes by the clock so we often have longer than agreed time. Yesterday as well as going through our homework, which was all about getting the right pronoun for different sentences and remembering the declension of four verbs - μένω - to live, έχω - to have, δουλεύω - to work, and είμαι - to be. Then we did some grammar and punctuation - accents, other diacritics, using capitals and lower case, and the transcription of foreign names. The Greek question mark is a semi-colon. Where English use speech marks "" , Greek uses <<>>. Greek divides large numbers with full stops, thus 1.456.777 instead of the English 1,456,777. Where English would use a semi-colon (;), Greek uses a colon or raised point (:).
A sentence to test pronunciation, punctuation and grammar: "Your donkey's milk is good." «Το γάλα της γαïδάρας σου είναι καλό.»

BBC Greek and KS Webtopos
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Our garden in Handsworth

An email from Australia: Hi Simon - from Coolangatta airport where I am delayed five hours because of storms down eastern Australia - due in @12.45am then the drive home! I will get back to you in a day or so. Cheers, john

From me: You drive carefully. Christmas storms in Oz, eh. Climate dislocation or just the normal to and fro of Australian weather? Best S

John, still in the airport: The '$64 question' as they say. The climate science predicted that the warmer oceans would lead to more intensive storms, which is what is delaying my flight! I aim to sleep on the plane and have a quiet drive up the freeway...Cheers john

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Got an email with attached photos from Mark in Ano Korakiana, just back from a few days in Zagori - about 150k from Corfu via Igoumenitsa and Ioannina:

Paul, Cinty, Sally and Nicky (I think) in a local guest house

Hi Simon and Linda....We went away for a few days over to our favourite spot on mainland last week with Paul, Cinty and another couple Tim and Nicky, which was very nice indeed - oh and Teal of course came with us and the guest house people really like Teal and would love a pup from him one day... the weather is most unpleasant again now with rain and winds whereas last week and the beginning of this week we had cold but bright clear days, my favourite. Nothing else really to report only that we are both well and keeping warm with the log burner blazing away. Looks like you had a great time down under and  got back safe and sound. Love to you both, Mark   PS. Have just put a couple of pics on from the trip...

Vikos Gorge in Zagori

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And in Ano Korakiana work that has started on the restoration and renovation of the fine old Philharmonia music school below Venetia, but Thanassis reports on the village website that snow and near zero temperatures have temporarily stopped work

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And I notice a strong reply in a debate about Ano Korakiana's style of dancing and accompanying music from the village historian Kostas Apergis who responds to a certain Mr. Skolariki about the Korakiana Song - Κορακιανίτικο Χορό:

Δημοσιεύουμε στη συνέχεια την απάντηση του Κώστα Απέργη σε προηγηθείσα επιστολή του Ναπ. Σκολαρίκη με θέμα τον "Κορακιανίτικο Χορό"...

"Κύριε Σκολαρίκη,

Η Κορακιάνα τυχαίνει να είναι ένα χωριό που υπάρχει διαρκώς τα νεώτερα χρόνια, τουλάχιστον από τον 10ο μ.Χ. αιώνα, πράγμα που σημαίνει μια συνεχή κοινωνική, πολιτιστική και οικονομική παρουσία στην ιστορική ζωή της Κέρκυρας και στα καλά και στα κακά χρόνια.

Ο λαός της Κορακιάνας στο διάστημα αυτό σφυρηλάτησε μια ομοιογενή αντίληψη και συμπεριφορά, σε όλες τις εκδηλώσεις του, που έφθασε μέχρι τις μέρες μας.Όταν λοιπόν σας ανατέθηκε να γράψετε στίχους για τον «Κορακιανίτικο σκοπό», επειδή τάχα δεν υπήρχαν, έπρεπε προηγουμένως να «ψάξετε» και κατόπιν να προχωρήσετε στο εγχείρημα.

Το περιεχόμενο του τραγουδιού σας, δυστυχώς, είναι ΞΕΝΟ και ΑΣΧΕΤΟ με την Κορακιάνα και για κάποιους που το παρήγγειλαν και το επικρότησαν, επιτρέψτε μου να πω, ότι «τόσα ξέρουν, τόσα λένε».Δεν γνωρίζω ποιόν Σύλλογο της Άνω Κορακιάνας εννοείτε. Τη Φιλαρμονική; Το Σύλλογο Ανω-Κορακιανιτών Αθηνών; Κάποιον άλλον;Δυστυχώς σε τούτο το χωριό δεν ευτυχήσαμε να έχουμε πάντα επικεφαλής μας τους κατάλληλους (αλλά αυτό δεν αφορά εσάς).

Στην Κορακιάνα, ο «Κορακιανίτικος» είναι γνωστός ως «σταυρωτός» επειδή, σύμφωνα με την ταπεινή μου άποψη, «σταυρώνονται τα πόδια» όταν χορεύεται.

Κύριε Σκολαρίκη. Είμαι 62 ετών. Ασχολούμαι με την ιστορία, τη λαογραφία και τις παραδόσεις του χωριού  μου. Γνώρισα πλήθος παλαιών ανθρώπων και γιορτές, συνέλεξα δημοτικά τραγούδια του χωριού (λαογραφική εργασία ανέκδοτη) και περί των παραδόσεων και της αλλοίωσης ή μη αυτών, επιτρέψτε μας να έχουμε τη δική μας άποψη".Με τιμή. Κώστας Απέργη

If I understand this correctly the music and the dance so associated with the village are shown partly here at this year's Vasilopita at Luna D'Argento (see the clip from 0.42).
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Meanwhile - μέσα σε αυτή τη ζοφερή ατμόσφαιρα - last Wednesday: 'Protesters fought running battles with riot police in central Athens, torching cars, hurling gasoline bombs and sending Christmas shoppers fleeing as tens of thousands took to the streets during a general strike against the government's latest austerity measures....(AP ~ 18 Dec '10)