Today is July 1 and officially, I am no longer the President of Temple Etz Chaim. I've graduated to Immediate Past President for the next two years. What does an IPP do? Besides managing nomination of the Board slate each year, it's a flexible portfolio that supports the President.
If I do it like my friend and IPP Shari Mark has done it for the past two years, I'd be organizing donor thank-you events and ensuring High Holiday tickets are attractive colors and appropriately die-cut. I'm not sure I have Shari's skills and flair. Still, I can do what she has done so well for me for the past two years – be a strong, unwavering support, sounding board and friend to the President. At least we both do yoga as often as the other (and once in awhile together). So I have that going for me.
While I want to take a big sigh of relief and welcome newfound bandwidth to my life, it turns out it's not quite time. Felicia, the new President as of today, is still on vacation for another two days (in Greece, ironically) and asked me to stay in place until she's stateside. Unfortunately, there are a few important issues we're dealing with and that means I'm still on it – chairing meetings tonight (today back home).
Michelle wanted to take me to dinner to celebrate tonight. I decided it might be worth waiting to exhale before celebrating. Dinner will be Thursday night instead.
But wait…. Michelle's still here? Yes. Like many before her, she has fallen victim to Patmos' charms. She was supposed to fly tomorrow, July 2nd and we should have been spending the day in Athens today so she could see the main sights before departing. Then, like any sane person does, she saw the departure coming, looked at that ferry dock and thought better of it. We spent a portion of Saturday afternoon researching, canceling, rebooking airlines and ferries to form a new plan in which she departs on Saturday the 6th. Which means we can celebrate leisurely this Thursday night.
For now, my only real celebration might be running another load of dishes in the now functioning dishwasher. It still brings me great joy.
In fact, as Michelle pointed out yesterday, domesticity brings me a fair amount of joy. My cousin Laureen can testify that even during college and at various later stints living in Seattle, I enjoyed coming over to her house, playing with her kids and cooking – often making meals for them to heat during the week. Not typical college-kid behavior, but Arielle and Josh were super cute. Hosting holidays and dinner parties have also long been part of my repertoire.
Yesterday was a lazy Sunday without any plans or expectations. We slept until we woke up in the late morning. I went out briefly in the afternoon only to grab lunch and some groceries. We had a brief visit from the plumber who jump-started the dishwasher after which I took it for a joy ride cleaning as many items as I could find. I intermittently ran loads of laundry because appliances are smaller here. In the early evening, we went for a quick swim at Meloi Beach where we also met a nice British-American family and a donkey named Frank. By the time we got back at almost 8pm, it just didn't make sense to make the dinner I had bought earlier, so we put it off for a night and decided to instead order some take out from the gyro and kebab place, get caught up on different personal tasks on our computers and spend some time chilling on the sofa. The living room is so comfortable and inviting but somehow we rarely spend much time enjoying it.
It hit me that Michelle was not only right that I am quite domestic – feeling grounded when my home wherever it may be is functioning and in order – but this house on Patmos combines by love of travel with the domesticity that grounds me. Inside I can make dinner, run appliances and fret over a barbecue that needs more than a standard cleaning. Outside the door is a magic Greek island filled with fun and intrigue. I can have my spinach pie and eat it too.
My favorite version of a weekend day is one with no plans – where the day can unfold however it might. Yesterday was our first like that – and maybe the first I've had in quite some time. During summer, it feels almost like a crime to stay home. The bright sun is out, everything is vibrant and the island practically calls everyone to the beaches. How can anyone justify staying in on a Patmos summer day? At the same time, even the kids know there are only so many beach days in a row one can sustain. It's pretty common we take a day off from the beach every two to three days. Especially on a five or ten week timeline, it helps to treat Patmos more as a marathon than a sprint.
All of this to say a largely domestic Sunday was deeply gratifying. Moreover, it helped me realize the house doesn't have to be just a comfortable place to crash between beach runs and meals out. It doesn't have to be exclusively a vacation house – it can be a grounding home. Not that I haven't been flirting with this idea given how I've equipped the kitchen. Still, it also could have just made for a nice, practical Airbnb.
I'm now interested to see how the house feels when it's full. Is my Sunday domesticity something I can only have on my own or with Michelle? Or is it something my kids will take to? Can this become a family home part-time where sometimes sleeping in, hanging out around the house and playing in the neighborhood is a thing? Or will the beach always call too loudly to spend time putting together a piece of IKEA furniture, cooking dinner and running loads of laundry and dishes? Will we have our Sunday night movie like we do in Westlake?
It won't be long until I find out. Originally, I expected a two week gap between Michelle's departure and my mom's arrival which is the harbinger of the kids' arrival. I fly back to Los Angeles on the 14th (Bastille Day), leaving my mom here to enjoy Patmos while I retrieve the kids. The three of us hop a plane on the 17th, arriving in Patmos on the 19th after an overnight at the Athens airport on the 18th. What once felt far away is coming up quickly.
Perhaps had I been here by myself as I was for the second five weeks of the kids' summer break last year – the time would have felt slower. Instead, I've been having a really good time with Michelle. It's always fun to experience a place you love through someone else's fresh eyes and we're enjoying each other – which has been fantastic.
So time is moving – everyday closer to having my kids back, which I so want and everyday away from this new experience I'm enjoying. There are definitely worse problems to have.
Of course however you look at it, all of it highlights the necessity of taming the barbecue. Junk occupying my barbecue, you're in my crosshairs.
