September 25, 2012

Wound too tight? Let yourself go on a Greek island!

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Husband's mailbox has been bursting with messages, and mine, silent. He had gone to church in Menetes as I began this blog on a quiet Sunday morning, alone, in our room in Amoopi. He likes the PaPa with the pony tail and cowboy boots, below his vestments. And the deep, melodious voice. I rather like the PaPa, too--but prefer not to sit among the old women this morning. I spent reflective time cleaning out duplicate messages in my IPAD inbox, and copying 'savers' to appropriate days in this year's journal. Maybe, I thought, I'll nurture a creative submission for my blog site. Nope. Husband with his wry thoughts on religion, and daughter with her weekly introductions to the young country of Qatar, create too high a bar of excellence on their blog sites for me to maneuver in my present mood.

Subjects I usually broach lean toward my years of immersion in aspects of life related to the law, and during the quiet reflection of days and weeks on the Greek island of Karpathos, subjects that broil in my mind do not as clearly relate to my chosen themes.

Later, I tried again. The Austrians left this morning for home. I will miss hearing them moving about next door, and will miss our shared dinners and talks into the late night. During the past ten days, our conversation with the Austrians, as in previous years, has been in a congenial mélange of German, English, and Greek. I'll now set aside my German dictionary and readings, and focus only on Greek --until next Sunday nite, when we meet daughter and son-in-law at the airport, and subjects related to family, and shared history will dominate, in English. They have not visited Karpathos before and we all look forward to sharing the Karpathos island experience.

It is near the end of the tourist season, and conversation has ranged from the subtlety of meanings of words, phrasing, and body language to personal experiences, opinions, and questions related to settlement of disputes, personal and among countries, world peace, large and small countries' acting as bullies, or overly solicitous parents. With the Austrians we have a perspective developed by a number of years of introspective contemplation in Karpathos, and a shared respect for our greek landlord/businessman, who makes things work so well for his many repeat customer/guests, and as an active participant in the local development/government of this relatively small island. We also delve into the usual subjects of politics, religion and social questions, freed from personal involvement in the subjects by the diversity of our cultures and backgrounds.

In spite of the economic problems faced by the world, and most particularly in Greece these days, Karpathos roads are being repaired, and inventory arrives and moves through businesses to customers. Conversation remains civil, and neighbors share in the bounty that remains. We visitors to the country have found a congenial place to relax and reflect. And there remains meat for the blog of this rechtsanwalt/dikigoros/lawyer.

Posted by Peggy S. Hedrick at 10:14am

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I can’t wait to retire! Hopefully I will get to spend it like you, Dad, Butch & Norma do! Travelling and relaxing on a beach somewhere… :) Love your little kiddle K
Posted by Kay Hedrick on 9/28/2012 at 6:23am
Peggy, thank you for sharing your experience. Patricia
Patricia Sundstrom
Posted by Patricia Sundstrom on 9/27/2012 at 7:06pm
It all sounds wonderful Peggy. Thank you for sharing.
Love Norma.
Posted by Norma Rees on 9/27/2012 at 4:23pm
Excellent blogging, Cousin.
There is nothing about your World View that I could possibly find fault with.

In one month, Norma and I will depart for Australia, and (please don’t tell the Aussies this) there are similarities between our time there and how I perceive your time in Greece. For one thing, a "time out” from the Helter Skelter of life in the US. A time for contemplation. We don’t generally have Austrians to chat with, but do have a variety of Australians, including recent immigrants from Europe and Asia and Africa. For example, I find that conservative Aussies are very opinionated about American politics, just as conservatives are here, while most of our friends, who tend to be more liberal, are curious and enjoy hearing our attempts at explaining what the heck is going on in America politically and culturally. Sometimes it is nice to be listened to, since it forces us to sort out our own thoughts. But mostly I enjoy listening to a world view I can relate to, but different from my own.
Love, Butch
Posted by Wally Rees on 9/25/2012 at 11:12am

Thanks for the good words, Butch. I've noted October 25 on my mind and calendar and will be thinking of you and Norma as you take off, again, for down unda. Hard to say which world you live in is the most therapeutic. And following you (and Norma, and Biff) on FB, wherever any of us are, is therapeutic for me, too.
Peggy Hedrick on the run
Posted by Peggy Hedrick on 9/27/2012 at 10:47pm