Happy birthday day to me. Seventy eight years!

I remember when my father was 40, I thought he was old. When he was 78, I thought he was really old!

A mistake. Now I feel badly that on occasion I treated my Dad as an old man. He probably never was. Even though he lived to 98.

The mind stays young. I peg mine at 35. The body is the problem. It breaks down. Hopefully, slowly. You keep seeing the doctors and fixing things. I worry about the day something may not be fixable.

The last time a birthday bothered me was when I turned 50. This 78th is bothering me. Why, I do not know.

Spent four hours yesterday in the internet store. Had two days to report on. There is only one internet store in Katopolis. Charges 3 euro an hour. Expensive. I was only paying 1 euro in Santorini. I suspect the differences in prices is that there was competition in Santorini. An internet store around every corner. Here there is only one internet store.

Lunch was interesting and enjoyable.

I was dying for ham and eggs. I settled for bacon and eggs. Every now and then I need a shot of American food.
I was at an outdoor cafe. Nearby were 8 men and a woman. By the time three hours had expired, there were at least 25 persons.

There is a festival here today or tomorrow. The group was from another island. They were here to sing and play music. All ages. Guitars and violins. Even a priest. A Greek Orthodox one. Gray robes, black tall hat and a long black beard. He sang, played the violin, smoked and drank beer. Good for him!

Occasionally, some would stand and start dancing. Other times merely sitting and waving their arms.

Happy people! Getting ready for their concert. It was obvious they enjoyed singing and playing. I doubt it was their lives. After work, perhaps. These were ordinary people.

A happy, exuberant bunch. They spent the afternoon eating and drinking, doing what they enjoyed best.

I plan on watching whatever type event they perform. It is right on the port where the boats come in. In front of my favorite restaurant.

It is windy! Day and night. Sun is hot. At night, another story. Cold! I need a sweat shirt. The outdoor cafes are all wrapped in plastic drapes to divert the wind.

I met a British woman yesterday. Her name is Alice. She lives in a place called St. Albans which she told me is just outside London. She has been visiting Amorgos for 27 years.

The conversation got into lamb chops. She said no, goat chops. I was right. The lamb chops are really goat chops. She said if I went to the northern point of the island and up the hill, I would see hundreds of goats. Short in stature. Long haired. Dark brown and black. Beauties.

I had dinner last night at my usual restaurant. Went for the egg plant, zucchini, tomato and potato in oil as a start. Delicious! Ate it with thick slices of bread. Cleaned the plate!

Dinner was veal. For some reason, I opted to avoid the lamb chops. The veal was terrific. Cooked in a red sauce. A cheap cut. However, boiled long enough that the meat fell apart as soon as my fork hit it.

Six of the men singing in the afternoon showed up for dinner.

Smelts are small fish deep fried. The fish are really tiny. You eat the whole fish. Head and all.

Someone two tables away was served a dish of smelts. I went crazy. Love them! My grandmother and mother made them. Even my former wife. I asked the waiter if they were smelts. He did not understand. The Greek gentleman who ordered them did. He spoke English. He walked over to my table with the plate of smelts in hand. He said, eat. And walked away. I filled a small plate and returned the dish to him. With a smiling thank you, of course.

The confusion was the name. What I know and call smelts in Greek are called aferina. I hope I spelled it correctly.

I was grossly disappointed this morning. I have not been able to find Google news on the computer the past few days. This morning, I found out why. It is no more. Google has discontinued the service. Facebook and Twitter took too much business from them. I feel bad. Used the Google news service everyday.

I have to get out of the internet store. It is close to 2, closing time. I have been here 4.5 hours. Did next week’s KONK Life column first: Reflections.

Enjoy your day!