Soon I will depart for Greece, and Paros. It has been splendid being back here. I have spent my time visiting with good friends and family, eating American food, driving around…
I joined the local gym the day after I arrived and have been able to work out 6 out of 7 days. I have stuck with the treadmill. Why not the stationary bike, you say? Simple: boring. All exercise aside, the stationary bike has none of the qualities I look for in bicycling. There is no wind in my face, no exhilaration of speed, no constant vigilance concerning traffic and/or obstacles. It contains none of the rewards I glean in a long uphill slog on a rutted, rocky road. So I hike the treadmill. I have been able to walk 8+ miles (12.9 km) at a stretch, keeping a constant 4.3 mph (6.9 kmh). The only variable has been the grade. I start off at 6.5% and by the time I am finishing up mile number 4, I am at a 15%. It is all downhill from there. I finish at 0.0%. I count the time, the miles, and watch the calories drip off. I manage to burn off 1800+ per session. I think, let my mind drift. The exercise has allowed me to indulge the American palate. To be honest I have also been eating a lot of watermelon and grapefruit. At my age, I cannot pretend my metabolic rate is the same as when I was 40, or 30. Move a muscle…
I attended an estate sale last week and purchased a neat little Pentax ME 35mm camera with a nice F/2.0 50mm lens and a F/3.5 135mm telephoto to go along with it. I figured I couldn’t go wrong for $45. I ran a couple of rolls of film through it as a test. For technical sake it was roll of TRiX 400 and TMAX 100. I developed them both using Rodinal 1:50 for 11.5 minutes. They look pretty good. The camera is light-weight and easy to use. I will carry it with me.
I have missed Paros terribly. My heart is there. Greece has gotten into my blood. My senses are full of the place. I have succumbed to Her wiles. The seduction is complete.
Pentax ME w/135mm lens
–JDCM
Dear John, Great that you are coming back to Paros. rafael arrives on the 1st of August and it will be lovely to meet up again. Keep the 12th of August free as we will have a poetry reading by our friend Rory Brennan from Ireland who will read the six lovely poems he wrote for our little book which has just been completed. Hope you’ll be here on time. Much love from the island we all love.
Safe travels home.