Sunday, July 31, 2011

Life and light through open windows...

It is Saturday, early evening, at around 8.00 pm. I pass throught the quiet and empty alleys of the village around this time. Never felt lonely or without contact. I know most of the people behind the curtains of the open windows, where the voices of diálogos are easily heard, and the first lamp is being turned on, indicating the evening around the corner. It is very peaceful, very comforting and it makes me feel being a part of the "family" here.



Saturday, July 30, 2011

Ingenuity and low cost thinking...

I can recall that sometimes I have bought things, right now thinking about a shirt once, that I did not use for half a year at least, because I liked it so much that I never wanted it to "get old", so kept it in the drawer! The owner of this 125cc motor bike is perhaps in that same kind of thinking world, because it has not been touched for the last four months at least. Nevertheless, it stays there in the alley close to the house and noone can complain about the owner's ingenuity in protecting his gem either! I have learnt a lot of things on this island, and now I also know that there are no limits to find out ways to keep your costs down! 


Friday, July 29, 2011

Taxiarxis, revisited...

Just a coincidence? Who knows, but the post put in last night, became a reality today, when we quite coincidentally decided to go to Mandamados, my closest ones and myself. Hard and harsh light outside, making some pictures "cold", 40 degrees in the shade, but cool and with tranquility inside. The church is like a precious museum, with ceilings and lamps and marble decorations that I can never get enough of watching. Like I have said before, you do not joke with this guy...

His face and silver wings is a part of a whole figure, locked up inside a huge cabinet, located just to the right of the main entrance. Tightly sealed and very well protected, of course. During the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the time the fighting went on, before a truce was decided, something extraordinary happened. The same morning the invasion took place, the priest on duty in the church, found the cabinet empty. Archelologists and other experts went to examine the cabinet, but nothing was broken or any sign of burglary could be found. It was simply empty. On the day after the truce, Taxiarxis was back in his cabinet again...A tall tale? Up to you to believe in or not... 










Thursday, July 28, 2011

Spirituality, affirmingly...

Coming from a secular world like Sweden, it was a very spectacular experience to meet people on this island, where spirituality is something that is a natural part of life. It does not mean you have to be an active Christian in a strict sense. "You believe in what you believe in and it is not so complicated", is a common expression I often heard and hear. One of the most beloved "figures" on "my" island is the Arch Angel Michael, or "Taxiarxis Mixalis" and his Monastery Church in the village of Mandamados. I went there several times with friends, like taking a normal break and I have continued to do so. For peace and tranquility of mind. I even made a real pilgrimage walk once, before I had to make a very serious decision in my life. It was not long ago. I walked about 30 kms, through dry land, forests and valleys and normal roads and visited the holy place and icon of Taxiarxis. It was a good experience, full of energies! Afterwards, I had the traditional frappé coffea and loukoumades, a tempting sweet dipped in honey and ice cold water on the side. Google on Mandamados, to find out more. It is worth it! Take my word for it! 

I was not allowed to take any photos in the church, but did so anyway and had to hide the camera so the angle of the picture looks a bit weird! I apologize, Taxiarxis!






Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Timolís, my Catcher in the Rye...

Timolís!
What would I and so many others around here do, if you were not present for so many hours, day in and day out and during all the seasons of the year?
I know you cannot sell me a Porsche, or lend me your Harley D, the gem of your eye, but more or less anything else that is necessary for the every-day life! You even write my name on the milk packs that you deliver every Tuesday and Friday. And thanks to your father, I get the best eggs there are and thanks to your friend the baker, I get the bread I want every day and thanks to all the farmers you know, I get the best feta there is and tomatoes that taste like fruit! And you do it all with a genuine smile and always with a joke and some small talk every time we meet! Another dimension to the simple things in life...










Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Real stuff, an eternity to Nescafé...


Papagálos coffea in their own cups, that are collectors items, made on an El Greco burner... is more Greek than most other things I think of. I can just imagine how much coffee people drink in kafeníons in the morning before going to work, especially the older gentlemen, as well as in homes. Greeks do not eat breakfast in general, but at my local Taverna down the road, The Alonia, my old friend Vangelis, the former ownr of the taverna, once invented a small breakfast, consisting of one cup of Greek coffea and 2 cigarettes... It was important for him to really offer proper services to everyone...

I seldom lock the door to the house...

This is not the door to the house where I am. It belongs to a friend of a friend, but she always keep it like this at night. It feels like this is how I want to start my day, with an open door to myself and to whatever might happen! if I lock it, not much will happen! It is easier here on the island than in most other places...

Monday, July 25, 2011

Creative solution...



Community trash cans are available, but at a distance for many, but why bother, when you have a simple man from the village with a creative mind and his friend? Through the alley that leads from one street up the village, 142 looong steps down to the main road, there are plenty of houses where elderly people live. Our creative man comes early in the morning, picks up the trash bags from people waiting, or bags that are hanging on nails, all along the alley. Once a month, he collects his salary from many grateful neighbors. All tax free, of course. I have noticed that he never has to tell his friend when to stop. He knows exactly where. Great to have talented friends!!!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Quiet Sundays and peace of mind...

The day of no shopping-sprees! I watch the the time a few times, to reassure myself that silence everywhere, does not mean it is in the middle of a very early morning. It's about 9. I open the terrace doors, I let the light in, I greet the sea and the mountains, I log in on the Mac, (there might be somebody who wants me for something, even on a Sunday, you never know...), then coffea, the squeaking chair, taking a deap breath. Just vanish into this incredible silence, while watching the speedy swallows in the air, in their morning acrobatic show! The silence reminds me of quiet Sundays when I was a kid. Very little was said. It felt kind of odd. Unnatural silence. Just the sounds of my father's slurping, when he had his porridge. - Here, the silence is like a friendly handshake. To a sometimes worried mind!     

Never too old for dancing...

He sits in the same place at Taverna Alonia alone, every day and every night, especially Wednesdays and Saturdays, when there is live Greek music. He waits for his time to come. 

He shouts to the musicians that  the text in a song he wants them to play for him, about having to pay for your committed sins, does not apply to him, "because I have never committed one, so i do not pay!" and the musicians play his zeibekiko song, always the same song, at the same time and with willingness The night is his on the entrance floor, dancing for a couple of minutes with stumbling moves, slowly and convincingly. Later on he walks out into the dark. No "good nights". Just gone. But back tomorrow.


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Aghia Paraskevi, helping you to see with clarity...

In "every" corner, on top of mountains, from countryside to sidewalks, always a room for contemplation in any of the numerous handmade chapels, or just a moment on your own. She helps those where the eye sight is failing and she has such a pretty and incredibly kind face. Just outside my Pergola cafenion, in the middle of the sacral village, always available for you! For a peaceful mind, with no strings attached! I go there often. Lesvian peacefulness!




Friday, July 22, 2011

Easygoing in the heat!


I had been out for a power walk. Sat down on the stairs to the alley leading to the office. Took off my shoes. Noticed the sounds of a dog approaching. He saw me, just stared and fell down on the warm street, like an empty sack and a looong sigh of relief... The laziest and most "yes-to-life-right-now" posture I have ever experienced. Dogs can do that. Had a chat with him at a distance. He breathed heavily now and then, as a reply to what I said to him. We merely talked about how pleasant it was to relax. Anywhere. Even in the middle of a road. With roaring motor bikes passing by. He did not move. Just enjoyed....

Αντώνης ο Μέγας, quality, not quantity...




My friend and everybodys friend, Andonis, or Andonis the Great, lives a life that drills deeply inside of me. I see him in the morning after an occasional coffee at Taverna Alonia, with many of the farmers around, where they relax and talk about nothing but the heat, (in the summer that is) and all of a sudden one leaves, but seldom is there anyone who says "bibi". They simply leave, for a long day's work in the sizzling heat of the day. Andonis takes his huge, blue tractor, drives a Formula 1 lap and disappears up in to the forest and on uphill, on the dusty and curvy roads, to sandy and rocky fields with bushes, where all his sheep are. I met him on my motorbike one day up there on one of my rather wild excursions in the silence of the forest and hills and creeks. "Welcome, my friend. It will be hot day, Torsten, and I do not know what you are doing up here, nothing here but a very hot today, I think around 45. Very hot. Very, very hot".
I smiled, because he looked like he just came out of the shower and I felt like a dustbin. No deo in the world would have helped! - At night he sometimes gets back to the taverna for an ouzo and always with a happy smile. What is life quality?
His age? Well, around 85 and he complains a bit about his knees, it hurts more when he sits down than when he stands up...that is all, the rest are smiles to everyone. I know him and I do not really know him, but he gives me new dimensions on my own every-day life and valuations. What a contact in energies=emotions! It might sound a bit pathetic, but I look at him as the symbol for the strength and vitality that this island radiates...

The many faces of "thálassa"


Thálassa means "sea" in Greek. Living and working on an island like Lesvos, has always meant a close relation to the sea for me. With it's many faces shown from morning, midday and into the night, the many colors,  the winds and the seasons of course, always offer numerous, never-ending variations of evertything from mirrorlike calmness to brutal force. It was hard to choose even a few of her faces...but there will be more





Thursday, July 21, 2011

Humility

These are my first and cautious steps into a world of imprints, that solely are my own! My pictures will hopefully do the work. My words will be short additions! After well over 30 years on this island, so little recognized or even known by name by too many, it is simply not possible to avoid becoming a part of it. Every village visited, every candle lit for friends and foes in numerous chapels, tavernas with friendly faces and laughter greeting you, the silence on the terrace in the morning light, Sappho and Elytis always present, waves of silvery leaves of thousands upon thousands of magic olive trees. Just a few imprints to begin with...