From Dartford, UK to New York, USA via Katelios, Kefalonia: more than a Geographic Hyberbole

WHO WAS IT THAT SAID "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL?"

It started in August of 2011.

But it didn't start with a kiss, the kisses and hugs came much later! It all started with a message in my FB inbox:
"Hi Eleni , hope you don't mind me sending you this but I've just been reading your Kefalonia World! My husband and I have been going to Katelios for 20 years now —every summer without fail! We love your island! ... I just wanted to say I enjoyed your May blog after coming home to UK and rain yesterday!"

It was a message from Pam, a reader who had stumbled upon this blog and wanted to let me know that she enjoyed it. I accepted that friendship request and the rest, as they say, is history. I became "FB friends" with Graham, her husband, as well. I was still living in Kefalonia at the time and, after several virtual exchanges, we were to finally meet in the summer of 2012 when they were to visit the island once again. However, I relocated to New York in the spring of that year and the meeting never took place.

Sunrise over Katelios as seen from Markopoulo, Kefalonia

In October of 2012, Pam and Graham visited New York and we renewed our plans to get together. Well, you know what they say about "the best laid plans of mice and men.." Hurricane Sandy decided to put a damper on those plans (pun intended).

They were stranded in Manhattan and I was keeping my head above water out on Long Island. After surviving dangling cranes, submerged subways, and an emergency evacuation from their hotel, my - still - virtual friends finally made their way back to England. Plans were postponed once again.

October 2013 rolled around. Pam and Graham were to visit again, and we made plans once again. We were determined - but so were the elements of Nature! St. Jude, a long lost cousin of our Lady Sandy, made his way to the other side of the big pond this time. Fortunately, Pam and Graham's flight managed to take off before the storm became nasty, and we FINALLY got to meet in Manhattan!

I will stop the story here and let the images speak for themselves. Anything else would be an OXYMORON. But that's an inside joke that I cannot even start to explain in this limited space.
Suffice it to say that this is the first time I post photos on this blog that were not taken on Kefalonia.
But I think you'll understand...

Finally! Only a red light and the pavement of W 59th St.- Central Park South between us

Pam and Graham - from virtual to real friends

New York this time, Katelios next time?

P.S. I'm overjoyed and proud that this blog is about so much more than page views and all those numbers on Google Analytics. It's about views of cherished places, colors, sunrises, sunsets - and the feelings they evoke - shared with those who understand.
And Pam 'n Graham understand... just like Emma 'n Neal and Lynn 'n Andy do.
I feel fortunate in knowing each one of them.

Telltale Images of Seasonal Downshift

Megali Petra - Avythos Beach, Kefalonia

Signs of seasonal transition

Some are subtle, others stare you in the face.
Some are more colorful than others.

Regardless of their discretion, or lack thereof, the signs of transition from Summer to Fall are everywhere.

⛅ Sunlight adopts a diffused, slightly orange cast; the sea assumes the deeper shades of the blue palette.
⛅ The sky becomes increasingly decisive in color as the temperatures dip and eliminate the summer haze.
⛅ The beach is reclaimed by its natural inhabitants—pebbles, seaweed, and the white froth of bolder waves.
⛅ The sun-scorched rocks finally quench their thirst when the first Fall springs timidly begin to release their waters that flow to meet the sea, forming tiny cascades over green plants on the way.

Agios Thomas, Karavados

 It's a natural slowdown, a change of gears ,not a reversal. This replenishing and welcome repose for nature signals the beginning of the season that, while introvert in character, has a  stunning palette of its own. A bit more muted, perhaps, but certainly more varied.

Avythos Beach

'Tis the time to recompose and bask in the tenacious, still warm—though less aggressive—sunlight.

Antisamos Beach, Kefalonia

Xenopoulo, Kefalonia
And if the calm sea and deceivingly blue skies lull you into thinking that it's still Summer,
the chrysanthemums everywhere will certainly remind you that it is not.

An Island of Applied Gestalt and Natural Inkblot Tests

Let's have some fun!

Take a quick look at the images and answer the question!
(no cheating, please - just say the very first thing that comes to mind)

Somewhere along the southern shores of Kefalonia. Look for it!

What do you see in the first image? Is it a seal, a dog, a dolphin, an eagle, or something else?
What about the second image? Is it a dog's paw, an elephant's foot, or something else?
Do you see a wimpy cloud or an eagle taking off in the third image?

From Myrtos to Assos, or vice versa!

I'm sure that most of us have had these "eureka" kind of flashes. You know, that cry of joy or satisfaction when one finds or discovers something unexpected. 

Who remembers Behavioral Psy 101?

I have vivid memories of those "splats" of the Rorschach evaluation method that seemed so ridiculous at first, back in college. A person's reaction or response to these ambiguous forms was supposed to reveal significant information for the evaluation of his/her personality and perceptions. 

On the other hand, Gestalt theory—and all its sub theories of grouping, similarity, proximity, emergence, symmetry, closure, e.t.c.,—was the hottest topic in management, marketing and behavioral psychology lecture halls. After all, it did make a difference—or so the instructors claimed—whether a person "saw" an old woman rather than a young girl depicted in the drawing being passed around. Or, seeing a circle in an incomplete arc, or a square in four incomplete perpendicular lines! 

Of course, as diligent students, we memorized all the pertinent facts: the human eye "sees and perceives objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts," and our senses do have the "form-generating capability" to fill the gaps in information presented. 

When applied to stimuli in the environment, this simply means that we understand them as a whole rather than the sums of their parts. And this "whole" is greater than the sum of its parts. Sounds very scientific, doesn't it? I'm pretty sure that most of us, at that tender age, wondered how in the name of heavens would all this ever be applicable to anything in the real world. 

Well,  I finally do see the light! 

Storms and birds of prey over Sissia Monastery
Sometimes, though, all this science comes down to seeing with the eyes of the heart.  
And, speaking of hearts...

Mt. Aenos' misty heart

Snow-capped Mt. Aenos as seen from Xenopoulo, Kefalonia

Sunrise over Poros viewed from Xenopoulo, Kefalonia

The smooth curves forming Poros Ravine viewed from Xenopoulo, Kefalonia

A grafting cut or a message on this walnut tree?

I've learned to decipher the natural inkblots in the Kefalonian sky in a way that would blow my professor's mind:
IT ALL DEPENDS!!!

An aging Greek God looking down on Kefalonia, a vagabond heart, or just a cloud?

Is that an old witch with its back to the Livatho skyline, or a black sheep trying to find its way back home?

A happy poodle following a camel, with both flying over Vardiani Islet? Or, do I need to have my head examined?

At last! An inkblot with only one interpretation: Just another majestic sunset at Avythos Beach!

The Earth Moved.. and then, There was Silence

Defiant geraniums thriving in the sun and dressing the wounds inflicted on a traditional Kefalonian home by the merciless earthquake  of 1953 (Vlahata, Kefalonia)

 Recounting a traumatic past

It seems inappropriate for someone born after August of 1953 to write about the most devastating time for Kefalonia— not to mention the risk of sounding superficial.
So, I avoid writing about the massive earthquakes that literally destroyed the island.

Not that there haven't been first hand accounts—on the contrary, I've had plenty—as my parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts were all there. They've relayed detailed accounts of their own encounter with the force that made the earth roar and heave, again and again, until everything was reduced to piles of ruins, clouds of dust, heaps of pain, and unending streams of tears.

True resistance to the ravages of the elements and time  (on the road to Fiskardo - Erissos, Kefalonia)

 Every account of the horror begins the same way:
❝I remember exactly where I was when the earth started to shake—❞

They all end their narrative with a list of names of  loved ones or neighbors who were buried in the rubble, or were rescued from under it as if by miracle.

No family was spared, although some suffered losses far greater than the destruction of property. The hundreds of lives lost remain a perpetually open wound for the survivors, long after the homes, churches, schools were rebuilt and towns were reconstructed.

>>> 60 YEARS LATER <<<

Today, on the anniversary of the horrendous earthquake that caused more than ceilings to collapse and walls to crumble, I need to write about it for the first time.

I cannot write about the people who were lost, as my immediate family did not lose any members in the destruction.

But I can share with you some representative remnants of the beauty that was wiped out in a few seconds. Remnants of another time and another world, which, to this day, emerge here and there—defying gravity and the relentless passage of time—as reminders of resistance to hardships and triumph in the face of ultimate adversity.  

And, of course, as non-designated but genuine memorials to all those souls who perished. 

What remains of the once magnificent church of St. Spyridon is still stunning—in architectural aesthetics and admirable resistance to gravity and the passage of time (Kastro, Kefalonia)

Dispersed throughout Kefalonia— and hidden in village alleyways, waiting to be discovered— are some fine samples of traditional island architecture (Pessada, Kefalonia)

Wst-facing window of the original church (Sissia Monastery, Kefalonia)

Another sample of traditional architecture found on the road leading from Agia Efimia to Myrtos

Remnants of the Archangels Church at Old Valsamata Village, Kefalonia

Another alleyway, another gem (Pessada, Kefalonia)

Ruins of the Dimitratos family cluster of homes at Xenopoulo, Kefalonia
Nowadays, our own "daisy factory"

Losing the Candles

A tray of traditional "treats"

JULY 15th is an annual milestone for me.

It is the date by which I usually review the first half of the year, panic at the realization of all the things I haven't done yet, curse the heat while I question my dislike of winter, and do lots of rethinking and reshuffling on my plans for the second half of the year.

It is also MY BIRTHDAY! (which may explain the mid-summer, self-inflicted mental cruelty described above).

All those years in Kefalonia, I usually spent the day in flip-flops, on the beach, among friends. This year I'm celebrating my second birthday since returning to New York, in normal sandals, on land.

There are other differences. In Greece, the custom is to treat your friends on your birthday, in contrast to the New World where friends treat you or take you out on your special day. Thinking that maybe I should stick to the Old World tradition, I've also decided to do away with the candles on the birthday cake (for practical reasons, you understand!)

Today, I feel the need to treat all of you for your loyalty to this blog throughout my less prolific period. But no cake, and certainly no candles!

Instead, the most traditional of Kefalonian treats or kerasma... a cup of Greek coffee, a glass of fresh spring water—necessary to sip while waiting for the coffee grounds to "settle"—and some homemade spoon sweets.
Like pitted grapes in syrup (photo).

Thank you for your loyalty and patience!
Returning to regular posting is part of my reshuffling.

I'm Back... and Sending Some New Magic Your Way

I feel the need to apologize (once again) for the long hiatus in posting. 
The year following my relocation to New York was a time of adjustment and tremendous workload. Then, extensive and unauthorized copying of material on this blog caused me to  consider shutting it down. However, the driving force behind my decision to continue (Oh, yes!) has been the over 2000 unique visits per month—for each of the months that I've been off the keyboard! I have made some adjustments to the blog security-wise to keep everyone honest...

Having said that, LET'S GET BACK TO OUR BUSINESS OF ENJOYING KEFALONIA, UNCUT & UNEDITED.

 And I see no better way of recapturing the MAGIC than starting with the gorgeous new cover of Paul Dillon's book THE MAGIC IN THE RECEIVER!
It's so... how can I say this? It's so KEFALONIA!

The Magic in the Receiver, and its new cover

Just to bring you up to date: A lot has happened since I first introduced you to the book.
(previous post: The Magic in the Receiver.)

It went on to become an AMAZON BESTSELLER and just about the best advertising Kefalonia could wish for. Suffice it to say that the book was downloaded by over 25000 readers during a 3 day promotion by Amazon in May, shooting up to the #1 position in its category. Nice, Paul!

During this time, Paul also had his guest blog hosted on the official site of The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).
All great stuff!

My tiny contribution to the back cover

Not to mention that I got to brainstorm with Paul a bit—over skype as we are on opposite coasts of the U.S.—and had the chance and the honor of getting to know (virtually, for now) this gentleman of a writer.

I take this opportunity to thank him publicly for including my humble but heartfelt words on the back cover of the book edition for Greece.

💬 and a little note for the suspicious minds out there: no, this is not a work project or a commission for me... It's a labor of love, an honor, and a pleasure—in that order! 💬