Today we are inaugurating a new segment on our blog, Guest Posts, posts written by our readers! Many thanks to our first guest blogger, Mary Axiotis from the USA, for this lovely nostalgic contribution!
Elinda Beach, Chios
A beautiful day today – mid 80’s – clear blue sky – a slight breeze. It’s beautiful to sit outside for a change.
This weather reminds me of
Greece. When I look at the willow tree which
covers most of my back yard, I imagine that the Aegean Sea is behind it; and
when the wind picks up, I close my eyes and see the waves hitting the pebbled
shore, the small white caps crashing into one another.
I miss vacationing in Greece this
summer. I really miss it.
St Luke, Chios
There are so many things to do there. If the house feels that it’s suffocating you, you can go for a walk, visit a church, walk on the boardwalk, sit at a café for hours and nurse an iced coffee. Go to the beach, spend the day in the water, lie under the hot, scorching sun, or under a beach umbrella. Watch the jet skis, leisure boats and fishing boats come and go. Watch the young children play in the water, running in and out, the fun they have splashing each other. Or lie down on the sand, close your eyes, and listen. Listen to the sounds around you. Even with your eyes closed you can recognize the sounds, you can hear the heat simmering, the birds fluttering their wings inside the tree branches, taking cover from the heat. Listen to the cicadas that never stop. Sometimes, their sound is so strong that you don’t hear anything else around you. You don’t see them; even with your eyes open you can’t, because they are hidden in the trees, the evergreens, the acacia trees, the willows, the walnut trees.
Then someone, a young child, kicks
some sand on you while he runs into the water.
You open up your eyes and dust yourself off. Or if the sand is wet and can’t dust it off,
you decide to go in the water and in the process cool yourself off too. The water feels cool on your hot skin. You swim a few strokes, but it also feels
good to stand in there, or float. You
can see the bottom. The water is so
clear, you see the minnows swim between your legs; sometimes you see a school
of them. If you kick your legs they’ll
swim away breaking the school and gather again a few inches away from you.
Some of the stones in the water are
slippery. You walk carefully, so you
won’t slip and end up plunging into the water.
But if that happens it feels good.
Your body temperature drops. It’s
not as hot as it was before you got in.
You feel refreshed, rejuvenated, and finally you decide to get out of
the water, and lie in the sun to dry off.
An hour or so later you repeat the process. And the day goes by. It ends.
You spent a day at the beach, you did something you enjoy. It’s time to go home. Take a shower, eat, rest. Repeat, again tomorrow. Because you know that tomorrow will be as
beautiful, hot and sunny as it was today.
Chalkidiki
You’ll have endless days like this; endless days of a Greek summer...
Mary Axiotis
Mary was born in Greece but has lived in Michigan
and Canada
for 41 years combined. A freelance writer and photographer, she has travelled extensively - to Europe, Mexico, Canada and throughout the US. She has written 2 short children’s stories
looking for a publisher, and is currently working on a spy novel taking place
in Greece
in the ‘60’s. She wrote under her pen name as Mary
Rose-Sellers for www.Helium.com, and www.associatedcontent.com
Mary
started her Greek food blog http://greekfusioncuisine.
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