As we left Sifnos I waved goodbye to that pretty island and began my short journey home via the Aqua Jewel, a ferry I have come to know very well. The northern wind whipped up the waves and as we sailed due west we were in a beam sea most of the trip. This caused a fair amount of pitch and roll and, although I am not one to get seasick, I kept my eyes on the horizon to keep my inner ear on an even keel. The trip was, as I said, supposed to be a short 3 hours, but it went for an additional 45 minutes due to that weather. As we came into closer sight of Paros, we turned south, the seas calmed and the rolling ceased. The following sea pushed us and as we sailed past The Doors and I felt like I had come home. A friend met me at the port and we caught up with others at Pebbles for a sunset.
This morning I loaded a large pile of laundry into the machine, opened up the doors of my flat, shook the rugs out, swept, mopped and generally re-opened the place after having it closed up for almost two weeks. I then headed to the market and picked up some essential stuff and went out to Drios to pick up the rental car I had lent to my friend Jeanne. It was great to see her and some other folks. When I returned back to Paros I realized that I had accomplished what I needed to do for the day and had little choice but to head to the beach for some swimming and lazing about. Not really, of course. I did a hundred or so crunches and bicycle pumps, swam a few ‘laps’, read a bit (a biography of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius) and then headed back to Paros for a shower and quick nap.
As I write this I am back at Mikro Cafe. Colin has made me a wonderful iced latte and offered me an apricot from a friends garden. “They were falling off the trees, he said…” There is chill music on the stereo, the weather is balmy with a light southern wind and I have plans to be in the darkroom tonight to begin developing the film I shot while I was hopping about the Cyclades.
Ah yes…back home and back to work!
JDCM
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