Archive | quiet islands

The busy island…

By John on June 24, 2014 in 35 mm photography, biking, Greece, mountain biking in Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, The Circle of Paros Bicycle Race

Paros becomes busier daily. The tourists come through, then leave. I stay. My friends and colleagues stay. We live here and thrive in our respective communities, circles within rings. I have to admit that I am amazed at how life is working for me these days. I suit up, show up, don’t push, breathe and keep things light. I take my pictures, ride my bike, etc…Here are the bullet points:

–I am working towards a small solo show for November, centered around, and exhibited in, the small cafe in which I am currently tapping away on my Macbook.

–My Macbook is in fine running order. Fully cleaned, reseated RAM, etc…No overheating. Thanks to Pararam in Naoussa for that, and only 20 euros! In the US it would have been three times that amount.

–I had a nice discussion with a friend the other day about working and showing your work, i.e. “putting yourself out there.” On being prolific. We cited the author Michael Chabon. He is my age, more for less. He has published a lot of books. Not all of them are Pulitzer Prize winners, but he has published a lot of books. That’s OK. If people want to know what you are doing, you should show them. Once a year, big or small, grand or humble. It all matters.

–I rode my first long road race last weekend. The Circle of Paros, 61km around the island, began at 17:40 Saturday. It was my first long race, first road race. I rode the course on my mountain bike last Wednesday and made it in 3 hrs 15 min. That’s with fat tires, 5 stops for water, and not being exactly sure of the route. Afterwards some more experienced riders advised me to load slick road tires on my MB and ride that way. So I did it. I just wanted to knock off 16 minutes. My final time was 2:37:48. And I had a puncture that delayed me 6-7 minutes. Here is a Youtube link. It’s in Greek but it’s fun to watch…

–There was a moment (fleeting!) when I almost quit. I was only 6km into the ride. But I decided to push it anyway. Not give up. I overtook many and made it to the big hill-climb towards which I was looking forward before the race officials closed it. I made it. My “Franken-Bike” worked well, but an actual road bike would have been better. I now have my eye on one. A friend is willing to sell me his Boardman road bike. It is essentially new, but the frame is too large for him. We shall see.

–I would be unable to thrive, enjoy life or otherwise be part of these circles, these rings of communities, without the support and advice of many. For me, I can trust my instincts only so far. Even the wisest and experienced turn to others for guidance and direction. It is best to not pretend you know what you are doing. That would be arrogant folly. Hubris. That’s a Greek word.

The "Franken-Bike." I took the 26x2" mb tires off and replaced them with 26x1" road tires. Not ideal, but it did the job.

The “Franken-Bike.” I took the 26×2″ mb tires off and replaced them with 26×1″ road tires. Not ideal, but it did the job.

–JDCM

Milos, day 6…

By John on June 12, 2014 in 35 mm photography, beauty, biking, craft, Cyclades stone walls, Cycladic stone walls, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, mountain biking in Greece, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, skill and craft, spiritual journey, stone walls, working

–I had forgotten how posh Milos can be. It is easy to avoid if one so chooses.

–From the top of Prophitas Ilias (748 m) the view is spectacular. Even on a hazy day like today, the archipelago was in full view. Kimolos, Polyagios, Santorini, Sifnos, Serifos, Folegandros, Paros. This was all around me. Far to the south I could make out a faint, long shape: Crete.

–The FIAT Panda is, perhaps, the finest car in its class ever made. A real gaidaros…a real donkey. I have mentioned this in other posts already. A big ‘thank you’ to Niko’s Rental in Adamas for allowing me to change my rental agreement not once, but twice.

–I have purchased my ferry ticket back to Paros on the ‘Aqua Jewel’, leaving Sunday evening at 18:00 hrs. This leaves me with almost three full days left for my biking, hiking, swimming and photography. Not always in that order.

–Yesterday I had just finished up an arduous 10km hike, ending up at a lovely beach on the west coast. As I lay on the sand I suddenly realized I did not know what day of the week it was. I had to laugh.

–The last time I was here ( June 2012) I only spent 3 days. Being here so long has allowed me to really get into Milos. I have discovered that despite the heavy mining and cosmopolitan aspects, it is as rugged and wild as they come. Wild goats still scamper up and down the rocky crags.

–Tomorrow is a photography day. My goal is to finish one roll of AGFA in my Voigtlander and start another. Easy-peasy. Rocks and wood.

–JDCM

On holiday…

By John on June 7, 2014 in beauty, biking, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, mountain biking in Greece, Naxos, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, spiritual journey

So here are the bullet points…

–I was supposed to travel to Milos last Tuesday but the high winds cancelled my boat. Then my laptop died before I left Paros. I left it behind. I took the next available ferry from Paros to Naxos. Enroute I bumped into some folks I knew (Orfeas, Bjornante) so the gods put me there for a good reason. I continued from Naxos to the small island of Iraklia, one of the Minor Cyclades. I spent the next 3 days hiking and biking that very quiet place. While there my “smartphone” decided I wasn’t smart enough, so it locked me out. I’ll get some reading done instead.

–Yesterday morning I began my odyssey to Milos. 3 boats, 16.5 hours. Iraklia back to Naxos; Naxos to Ios; Ios to Milos. I arrived at 24:30 last night, checked into my hotel, unpacked and had a solid night’s sleep.

–So I am here for the next week. Lots of biking, hiking, swimming and sun. I hope to visit nearby Kimolos next week for a day trip. It is a short ride on a slipper ferry from Pollonia to the Port of Kimolos and the boat goes every two hours or so.

–I cannot upload any pictures or change the header so that will have to wait until I get back to Paros, fix my laptop, etc….

–JDCM

Looking for spring…

By John on February 5, 2014 in beauty, biking, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, Paros, quiet islands, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized

–It is February, the Longest Month and Winter seems to want to hold a bit longer here on Paros. Her hand clutches with grey fingers, wrinkled and damp, thin from the cold.

–Meanwhile, Persephone is in a downstairs apothiki, packing her bags and checking her visa in anticipation of her departure from Hades. She will arrive soon, skipping through the green fields, wild blossoms in her dark hair, her backpack resting by the side of the road.

–I popped a spoke on my bike the other day up in the hills. Check my Flickr site to see where I was…

–It is not wise to ride with a single spoke missing. It puts uneven strain on the others, then they pop and then your wheel “tacos” mid-spin. That is a good image, and one I do not wish to experience. So I am having it re-spoked at the local bike shop. I am getting rid of the stock spokes that are currently on the wheel and adding stainless steel units. The old ones were pretty rusty. I am also having stainless control cables installed and new chain. This should get me ready for spring.

—I feel like boycotting everything having to do with Russia. Just my political 2 cents.

JDCM

Back on Paros…

By John on January 27, 2014 in beauty, biking, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

–It is quiet here. The rain falls through the night and the clouds cover the sky during the day. There are moments of sunshine–brilliant, silver and brief. I hope to get out and shoot some film in a couple of days when the clouds roll away.

–I have been out biking, for which I am grateful. The sense of freedom on a mountain bike that one does not have in either a car or walking. Fast, but not too fast, panniers full of cameras.

–The people, food and music of Greece keep me here. The light is nice too.

–I will be going through my files and uploading all my past “header images” from this blog to my Flickr site. It might be interesting to see how they all look together.

–I have decided that I would like to be known as someone who worked hard rather than someone with any great talent. Dedication and hard work has always brought me farther than subjective opinion. I can measure the first. The second is fickle and none of my business.

–In February I begin a new 7-year cycle of life. I can already feel the shift. It feels tectonic.

JDCM

Pinch me…

By John on January 17, 2014 in Athens Greece, beauty, craft, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

–They say our reality is Krishna’s dream while he sleeps on a lotus flower.

–It seems like a dream. I woke up a few minutes ago, startled and disorientated. Jet lag. I am in Athens. I walked out onto the small balcony of my hotel room overlooking the street. It is quiet at 04:00. The city sleeps, breathing slowly. Two days ago I was in America, visiting family and friends. I am in a different world.

–In America I ate hot dogs, apple pie, toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, beef jerky. There have been excellent sit-down meals too. Very American food. I have been able to stave off the calories at the gym.

–There was lots of snow there, and rain, and frigid cold. It was lovely. There was an abundance of water. On the little island I call home water can be scarce. We use less. Long showers are a luxury. I luxuriated.

–On the Massachusetts Turnpike I drove through the kind of rain, wind and fog that made it seem as if I was driving underwater, surrounded by a screaming mass of tractor trailers and SUVs all moving at 80 mph. I had little choice but to keep up. Every light on my little car was switched on so people would see me.

–Photography during the winter allows for simplicity. Sticks, snow, shadow, light.

–So I am back in Greece. Last night I ate yigandes, patzaria, and briam for dinner. Greek food.

–I am back in Greece. I have a few days here in Athens then I hop the ferry back to Paros. What is waiting for me there?

–I was thinking of taking pictures of metro stations. I need a new header image before I post this entry. I’ll use one of those.

–Life is like a dream. Row, row, row your boat…

JDCM

Dreams and thoughts from the Old Year…

By John on January 1, 2014 in Greece, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

The New Year is here and I have some thoughts about life and some dreams I have had.

–I dreamed the other night that my heart chakra was clutched in an enormous, dark fist. The fist was my own. It has been a necessary part of my life, protecting my heart from being damaged. This reminds me of a country-western song about a personal ad…”one heart, slightly cracked and only comes in blue.”

–I dreamed the other night that I was a member of an historical re-enactment troupe and we were acting out events of the Holocaust. The project required months of rehearsals and location scouting. I played the part of a Jewish man, escaping down a rushing river to safety. As I drifted past towns and hamlets in the chilly water, scenes of terror and brutality lined the shore. I was swept along with the current. I washed up on a rocky shore. I staggered into the foyer of a large hotel in the south of France and was re-united with my fellows. I wept. We embraced. There is more to it than that. It is hard to put into words. You had to be there. It was actually quite uplifting.

–I dreamed the other night that instead of eating the gavros fried by the fisherman on the beach in the noonday sun, a taxi driver and I sought out the best gavros in town, cooked by someone’s grandmother. We ate them in the cool shade of a small taverna.

–May 2014 bring us all the dreams we wish and revelations that fill our hearts.

My Flickr site is here Feel free to peruse. I will try to add images as I feel the need to do so.

JDCM

Mid-December update…

By John on December 12, 2013 in Athens Greece, autumn, beauty, biking, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, working

Phrenology at the Street Market. Leica M8, Voigtlander 28mm; f/5.6; 1/125; ISO 320

-I haven’t posted in a while. I have been busy with the ending of the 2013 Autumn Session at the Aegean Center. I have been very pleased with this session. My steep learning curve as an instructor has taught me a few things and I have been able to avoid some of the pitfalls common to any novitiate. My overall opinion of teaching is that the small rewards outweigh the tragic gaffes and stumbles. I keep searching for the Golden Key which unlocks the door. It has been a humbling three months.

-I am currently in Athens, making my way back to the USA for the Christmas and New Year holiday. I will visit with family, close and dear friends, and enjoy driving my car.

-It will be frigid in the little town where I grew up. This will make exercise difficult and lazing about watching movies easy. For the month that I am there I will probably join a gym and try to burn off the calories as I gain them. I have no desire to return to Paros 6 kilos heavier than when I left. One of the many benefits to living on Paros is the ability to get out and about without donning the kind of winter gear I will wear in New York. There is also no snow on Paros, or none to worry about anyway. This allows me to ride my bike. It’s all about layers.

-I was sitting in a café yesterday with some Athenian friends and I was astounded at the general din of this large, ancient and sprawling city. After the quiet of Paros, the noise is deafening. It troubled my sleep last night. I tossed and turned.

-I still adhere to the belief that I am not an “artist”, per se, or at least would rather not be known as one. Call me a “skilled technician” or “an able-bodied craftsman” or “a journeyman photographer”. The world has become a market for the “artist”, a place to sell goods, like a street vendor selling fruit, or perhaps something darker. In order for “the artist” to really be a mainstream success, he or she must conform to the trends and fads that guide the fickle opinions of gallerists and marketeers. For me, this is a trap. If I am creating to please the public, then I am on an ego-trip. It urges me to be the center of attention, in the limelight. I am not comfortable with center stage. Once in a while these lines intersect. The rest of the time I have to be patient with hard work, working long nights and being a wallflower.

JDCM

Mid-October update…

By John on October 15, 2013 in autumn, beauty, craft, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, spiritual journey, working

This is a short missive from my table here at Port Cafe, overlooking the Bay of Paroikia. To mis-quote George III, not much going on here…except art, art work and art students working! It is always pleasant to feel the hum of busy schedules being negotiated, smell the aroma of oil paints, inks and darkroom chemistry and encounter Aegean Center students writing at cafe tables, wandering about with cameras and expressing their enthusiasm for just being here on Paros. One student exclaimed last night in the darkroom, “I love this process!” I can dig it.

There were times in the past when I would hear the ferries come to dock and realize that I could be on one of those boats, running from the changes that were necessary for my own growth. Two nights ago I sat on a friend and colleague’s roof terrace eating dinner. Four blocks away, the evening boat to Athens was putting in. I heard the massive chains that hold the ramp unwind, the garbled announcement for disembarkation echoing across the platia and through the narrow winding streets. There was a slight tremor to the ground as the massive diesel engines skewed the craft laterally in the harbor, righting itself against the concrete pier. It was a musical, nautical poem of industrial tones. My heart was struck by just how much I love living on Paros. I am at a hub, the islands in the sea like stars circling the Parian Galactic Center. I am here, now. With all that passes for current events in the news-of-the-world, I am pleased to report that calm activity is the name of the game here. The thrill is palpable.

Some of us went olive raking the other day. It was more a cultural experience than work, since the owner of the olive trees had paid workers laboring along side of the students and teachers. Due to my healing hand, I was not able to rake, but I did take some nice images of olives on the branch. I relished a shallow depth-of-field. I went as close as my lens would allow. With a Canon 50mm L-Series f/1.2, that is damn close.

-JDCM

The weather turns towards autumn…

By John on October 5, 2013 in autumn, beauty, biking, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, working

I woke up this morning to blustery, grey clouds and very cool temperatures. Last night, before laying my head on my pillow, I switched on my electric mattress pad for the first time since March. Yesterday’s Aegean Center for the Fine Arts Friday hike was sunny, brisk and invigorating, yet not the stuff of late spring or summer. Cries of “Wow!” and “This is amazing!” punctuated our oregano, sage and thyme-scented walk above the hill town of Lefkes. The air was so clear that looking north, I counted the houses on Syros and the already narrow channel between Paros and Naxos seemed a mere stone’s throw. In New England or northern Europe the leaves are currently a brilliance of fiery tones. It is autumn in the Kyklades so we inhaled the blue skies, dark evergreens, golden underbrush and brilliant light spilling around us.

Tomorrow I compete with a team in the Paros Autumn Triathlon. I will be bicycling 15km while my two teammates will be swimming and running, respectively. It is not a competition so much as a community event. The only race will be against myself. I am looking forward to this event and am very excited. It is important for me to realize that here on Paros I am more than just a man with a camera, or an ex-pat American in Greece. I am more than a summation of my parts, and that whole grows exponentially if I allow myself to be drawn to the larger, communal rings that ripple through my parochial nucleus. There was a time when I craved a closed system for necessary self-preservation. This attitude is self-defeating and limiting. I have been increasing my orbit over the past couple of years and this event will signal a shift in my personal trajectory. Excited, nervous and looking forward to it.

Lefkes, Paros, October 4, 2013. Leica M8, Voigtlander 28mm, 1/125, f22, ISO 320

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