FICKLE WIND

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There was a time when I sailed frequently. Generally off the north shore of Long Island. Sometimes in the Tampa area. A few times off Key West.

I learned that wind is fickle. It blew this way for a bit and then changed suddenly. The bottom wind went in one direct. Ten feet above in another direction.

Tropical Depression Nine broke up over the Yucatan yesterday. That should have been the end of it. Apparently not. Weather reports suggest it could regroup and turn into a hurricane. The amusing question being where is Nine going next.

This is funny! Some believe it will end up in the Pacific Ocean. Others, that it will end up between Cuba and Key West. A wide range. Never saw one reported that far apart.

If it turns into a hurricane and ends up between Cuba and Key West, Key West will be in trouble. So far, no one is concerned. After several years of living here, one becomes expert re hurricane predicting. I am not concerned.

The big parade tonight. The Fantasy Fest Parade. Some fifty floats covered with party goers. Most of the females close to nude. Seventy thousand people standing on both sides of Duval cheering and begging for beads. A good time!

Weather should be ok. Weatherman says mid 70s. Which means at least ten degrees warmer. The body heat at times is oppressive.

I am not sure I am going. This afternoon I babysit. Lisa has to work at a Fantasy Fest Montessori fundraiser from 2-4 somewhere. I have to drive and pick her up. There is no parking anywhere. Whatever, I will have a happy afternoon with Robert and Ally.

I miss WeBeFit. My trainers. Especially, Albert. I was his charge. My torn rotator cuff negates any gym type activity for a while.

Albert and his wife Jill had their first child wednesdy. Angelina. Congratulations!

I came across a couple of interesting pieces of information yesterday.

We fought a war in Afghanistan. A military one. Spent billions of dollars and lost many American lives. We fought a second war. One to combat opium growth. Afghanistan’s opium ultimately finds its way to our streets.

Recent figures indicate the United States has spent $7.6 billion on the drug war. At the same time, recent figures indicate opium production at a record high. 516 planted acres last year yielding $3 billion.

I was under the impression that people joined al Qaeda and ISIS for religious reasons. Maybe for al Qaeda. Not ISIS.

ISIS is attracting members because of sex and aggression. Not religion. Most are young men. They join to fight. Youthful aggression finds a way out. Sexually, not a bad deal either.  If a young girl is other than an Iraqi, she can go to to a center where she signs up to marry one of the fighters. If the fighter does not want a wife, a sex slave is provided. Generally from captured Iraqi women.

ISIS also pays its soldiers.

These fighters have it made. They have frequent sex, give vent to their natural fighting aggressions, and get paid besides.

Enjoy your day!

THE BREEZE AND I…..

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The wind is fantastic! Never stops blowing! Strong! Last night bent me over when hitting me from behind. Pushed me back when I was walking into it.

I have never felt wind this strong. The exception of course would be a hurricane. However, who goes out in a hurricane!

The locals tell me the wind comes in three day cycles. Last night was the fifth day in a row. Apparently no one told the wind its three days were up.

Yet, it is interesting. No one lets it inhibit their activities. The only change is in attire. You dress for it. The wind is cold. A sweatshirt for me.

My landlord Elini changed the Wi Fi system. Her previous one sucked. Of little use. Low frequency/power. The system has been upgraded. Yesterday and today I have been able to do the blog from my kitchen table. No need to wait till 10 for the internet store to open.

I intend to continue visiting and chatting with Spyros, however.

I just heard a strange noise. I am working with the door open. Two goats! Yesterday the albino. Today, what appear to be a father and child. Two weeks no goats where I am living. All of a sudden, they are my neighbors.

They looked at me with sad eyes. I thought they might be hungry. Ran in and got some bread. They would not eat it. What do I know? A goat expert I am not.

Yesterday morning was easy. I sat on the terrace and read. Went for a swim. Back to reading. I love it!

Lunched in. Made myself a sandwich. Then napped. Napping a lot.

The goats are back. Baying. Is that the proper word? They are eating the greenery around the terrace. Bread no, shrubbery yes.

Flora and I had coffee together at the end of her work day. I wanted her to read Flora’s Story. It will be available in the Florida keys in this week’s KONK Life which comes out tomorrow. I have decided to run Flora’s Story as my blog for tomorrow, also. For those outside the keys who might be interested.

This blog is far reaching. The last statistics I saw indicated in was being viewed in 49 countries. Amazing! An example is a woman who I heard from today. She lives in Ireland.

Yesterday, I wrote about having observed two Greek women rolling their own cigarettes. Apparently rolling your own is not uncommon in Ireland. Cost being the reason. Cigarettes are cheaper that way. I can understand. Cigarettes have gotten very expensive in the United States. Eight to $13 a pack depending where you are. Cost alone should be enough make smokers give it up!

Flora enjoyed the article. She wants me to mail a hard copy to her at her home in Albania.

Walked to the other side of the bay in the evening. In the dark of the night.

The Le Grand Bleu Restaurant was showing the Le Grand Bleu movie. Outside. About 40 people sitting around watching. I stopped for a while.

Le Grand Bleu is a French film that was made in English with French subtitles. Last night’s version was in French with English subtitles.

It was after 10. I had not eaten since my sandwich at lunch. I was hungry. Stopped at Mythos. Spaghetti bolognese. The same taste and texture as a few evenings earlier. Good!

Nothing like a pasta filled stomach when going to bed!

Vangelis’ wife’s name is Susanna. Learned it for the first time last night. A strange name for a Greek. Is Susanna from the deep South? She speaks excellent English. I will have to chat with her to learn from whence she comes. She is at the restaurant all the time. The cook. A very good one.

Met Claudia yesterday. Two times. First in the morning when I was coming out of the water after my swim. Then last night when I was walking around.

Fate?

Claudia is Italian. From Verona. Thirtyish. Thin. All Italinas are thin. Tall. Taller than me. She had to be around 6′ 3″. Spoke excellent English. More than bilingual. She speaks several languages fluently. She has spent a significant amount of time working in Austria. I never got around to learning what her work was.

Enjoy your day!

AMORGOS THE KEY WEST OF GREECE

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Amorgos is the Key West of Greece.

It is not the night life that compels that judgment. There is no night life on Amorgos. It is the laid back atmosphere that Key West is so famous for. The locals here have the same laid back attitude.

The observation was arrived at last night while I was having dinner at Mythos.

The view from Mythos suggested a further similarity. The feeling, not the actual eye view itself. The same feeling you get at the Reach Restaurant’s back porch and the Pier House deck.

The wind is back. Blew last night. It was a cold wind. I had to wear a sweatshirt. This morning the wind is even stronger. You can hear it whistling. There are small whitecaps all over. The sun keeps you warm by day. A t-shirt suffices. The nights are another story.

Tonight, I intend to visit Chora. The oldest city on Amorgos. There is a Chora on every Greek island. Always the oldest town. Always on top of a hill. Always old white buildings. Always with Greek seniors sitting in front of their tiny white houses dressed in black.

The top of the mountain means cold. Colder. Definitely a sweatshirt or jacket.

I did Chora last year. The steps are steep and too many. Up, up and away! For me, it was no fun. We shall see if I can handle it better this year. My plan is to have dinner somewhere in Chora.

I carried through yesterday morning on my plan to walk immediately on arising. Forty five whole minutes. Up and down, some steep steps included. I thought I would try for a whole hour this morning.

Good luck! I never made it out of bed!

My computer system is now generally working. No thanks to Verizon. It still goes in and out. I am told the problem is with Vodaphone. Vodaphone is Verizon’s partner in Europe. The Verizon signal is strong. I have to get Verizon first. The Vodaphone signal weak. I cannot understand.

I sat and talked with Flora yesterday afternoon. The cleaning lady. Her story is fantastic! Guaranteed you will enjoy. I will do it as a blog one morning soon. We in the United States do not know how good we have it. Even the least of our citizens are in a better place than Albanians.

Cats have never been a favorite of mine. One appears to have adopted me yesterday.

All of a sudden, there was a cat curled up under one of the terrace chairs. Escaping the sun. I said get out. The cat apparently did not understand English. The cat stayed with me the rest of the afternoon. Later, I went inside to nap. I leave the door open so the ocean breeze runs in and cools the apartment. I forgot about the cat. No, the cat did not come in. However, when I woke the cat was laid out sleeping in front of the door stoop.

My visitor was nowhere to be seen this morning. I have a feeling he/she will be there when I return in a couple of hours.

My choices were twofold for dinner last night. Fried smelts at Dimitris’ or grilled vegetables at Mythos. Mythos won out. I wanted a drink. Dimitris has no hard liquor. Mythos has gin.

Grilled vegetables were an appetizer. My main course was fried calamari. Not like in the United States! Here like big pieces of octopus. Not what I wanted. I was hoping small breaded pieces as in the States. Still good, however. My problem was vision. Big pieces of head, tentacles and body. Affected my enjoyment.

My pants are staying up. I am not sure why. Either I lost weight or gained. At first, I thought lost. Now I am not sure. I am not drinking that much. Eating big time, however. Whatever, I no longer worry about losing my drawers.

Enjoy your day!

ISAAC ONE MORE TIME

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Isaac is long gone. The aftermath good weather. Yesterday was magnificent. Today will be also.

I said yesterday that Isaac had been a nothing. I was wrong. It did cause some problems. I did not know till last night when I visited the Chart Room.

Before I tell you, let me say that whenever it rains heavy, the street in front of my home is flooded. One foot or more. It did not flood at all during or after Isaac.

Duval did, however! Front street, too! Plus some side streets. Anywhere from one to three feet.

I did not know. I never read yesterday’s local newspaper. At the Chart Room everyone was talking about the street flooding. Some showed me pics on their cell phones.

Two vessels took a beating. One was a large power boat. Sank in the water at the dock. Ass end up.The other was a sailing boat that somehow sailed off unmanned and got damaged.

Wind direction has been peculiar the past two days since Isaac passed. It is coming from the southeast. The wind normally comes from the east, northeast or northwest. When it comes from a southerly direction, bad weather is on its way. There was no bad weather yesterday and none is anticipated today.

I am sure this southerly wind has something to do with Isaac. Just cannot figure it out. Isaac is now way to the northwest of us heading for New Orleans.

Good friends Don and Chris are in town. We got together last night at the Chart Room. They hail from the Syracuse area. Don is involved with solar panels. He spends most of his time in China selling solar panel products. Chris works for the same company. She is in charge of marketing. The two travel together on many of the China trips.

Don got promoted! He is now a Vice-President. Congratulations, my friend.

Sheila, Sean and Katherine were at the Chart Room, also. Three great people. We chatted a bit.

The honeymoon is over. Robert and Ally return to school tomorrow. I am taking them to lunch today to celebrate either the end of their summer vacation or the beginning of school.

Enjoy your day!