Silent Night And Day

On Sunday evenings in April and May 2022 I found Patmians sitting at tables at all the outdoor cafes in Skala, having coffee, ouzo, wine and chatting. From it, I learned who was connected – the social circles they kept, which sometimes surprised me. Mostly, people socialized by gender, not as couples. Not unlike home – but perhaps more so – Sunday is when the most people have the day off. The morning is for church (for the religious), the afternoon for large family meals and get-togethers and the evenings for catching up with friends at the cafes and bars.

Even in the summer when more people work Sundays because they can't forgo that important tourist money, it's not unusual to see families enjoying long-lunches or slow, late dinners at slightly out-of-the-way restaurants like Ktima Petra. 

In the peak tourist months of July and especially August, sometimes town is busy – even on a Sunday. In fact, not long before the kids and I left there was a Sunday in which three cruise ships were anchored all at once. Skala was as crowded as I have ever seen and for two hours it was actually work to get around town. It was almost funny for me, but not as much for people like Eirini and Alessandro who worked hard like bears trying to catch salmon and they streamed by. Alessandro tried to chat people into their shop while Eirini and their assistant manned it. It was one of the few times I've seen Alessandro look stressed.

This Sunday it's hard to imagine any of that. The streets are practically empty to the point when a rare person passes, I can hear their footsteps. Same last night when I picked up gyros. Today I only ventured out for a spiral cheese pie and to use the ATM and on the way back I could actually hear a washer on spin cycle coming from an apartment above a shop. Unimaginable at other times of year.

"In the winter, it's like by five o'clock everyone goes into their holes," Theologia who is married to Michaelis at the laundry once told me. Having lived in Seattle where the sun begins its downward descent at 3:30 during the peak of Winter, I understood the concept. However, on a day like today – the first day after the recent rains – I was expecting people to at least be out during the day. 

Perhaps they're at home, enjoying Sunday afternoons together where it's warm – after all it is 54 degrees that feels like 44, according to Apple Weather. While that might not seem terrible to many, being an Angeleno and a former resident of several tropical countries – I understand why that's pretty cold to the people of Patmos. 

To my surprise, no matter what, a few businesses remain open that don't seem like they could possibly be making enough if not any money. It of course makes sense that food businesses like the grocery stores, butcher, produce trucks and bakery continue to make money and provide vital goods and services this time of year – but a boutique clothing shop, the fancy jeweler, the organic-olive-oil-based cosmetics shop and the children's clothing shop can't be bringing in enough to justify the hours. I can only figure there must either be some legal/tax advantage to claiming the open days and hours or  - as anyone who is a parent and/or spouse can relate to – maybe it's just nice to be out of the house?

Being in the middle of Skala in what one could loosely call the most densely populated part of the island makes me more attuned to the happenings, comings and goings of Patmians. Because all the island's key retail and services are in Skala, I have always assumed all the faces there are to know circulate through town. With all the tourists and seasonal workers removed, I'm starting to see there may be Patmians who take advantage of delivery services provided by groceries, certain coffee shops and key restaurants – and rarely come to town. I have seen faces and met people from Hora who I have never seen before. The same with families walking down the hill from the Kastelli neighborhood or who live in more remote "settlements" like the Kampos Beach area. For example, I have seen Nicholas driving back and forth to Kampos where his son Yannis and family live – but I haven't once seen Yiannis. 

If life feels quiet to me in the middle of Skala, what must it be like to stay up in Hora or out in Kampos and have your groceries, gyros and coffee delivered?

All of this has made me realize – one of the joys of life here on Patmos has been walking to do my errands or find a cafe. Life is simple and while I rented a motorscooter, I really haven't used it more than a handful of times – always to go out of town and look around. Typically, walking lifestyles are more common and available in dense urban areas. What makes my life on Patmos such a joy is having a walking lifestyle in a beautiful small town/island setting. 

Only when thinking about the scattered Kamposians, Petrians and hidden Horans, I realized – I am in the dense, urban area of Patmos. I'm on a mixed-zoning "street" which is arguably the busiest and most central in town. I'm living in a secret garden in the middle of downtown Skala.

And I have no complaints about it.

I suppose this period between Christmas and New Year is relatively quiet for many people and businesses across the globe. In my mind, that's what really makes it the most wonderful time of the year – and the reason Emily and I always took the kids on international vacations for Winter Break. 

This is my second Winter Break without the kids. Because Emily and I trade Winter Breaks, it means three weeks with them on odd years and without them on even. As this blog can verify from its maiden run, I went to Thailand, Singapore and Borneo for Winter Break 2022 and it was great in many ways. I licked my wounds on an island in Thailand, celebrated my friend Tony's wedding in Singapore and with my cousin Jacob, trekked through the jungle searching for orangutans in Borneo. It was fantastic except for the throbbing heartache underlying it all. 

This Winter Break without kids, I have Michelle with me – something I never would have imagined – and a level of quiet and peace I wouldn't have either. I have no near-sightings of orangutans to report or post-hot-yoga delirium walking around hot, tropical Singapore. Instead I'm pondering where all the locals went while grabbing a spiral cheese pie. Instead of raving about the amazingness of KFC's Macanese egg tarts in Thailand and Singapore, I'm impressed with possibly the most exotic thing on the island – a vegan green tea latte at Atherion, the cafe we've gravitated to most these past few weeks. Ironically, without thinking, I just cited one of the most European foods to be adopted into the Chinese cuisine and possibly the most Asian one to make its way onto a Greek menu. Talk among yourselves.

In the end, this time has been restorative. The emptiness of even Patmos' busiest streets has given me permission to feel good about sitting under a blanket on the sofa, writing and reading. I cook without summer restaurant FOMO. I keep up with the laundry and am lucky enough to bum the occasional massage from Michelle. It may not be mountain cabin, but it kinda' functions like one – only with tzatziki. 

I hope whatever my Patmian friends and neighbors are doing today, they're getting the most out of it. And that they come out tomorrow, because it's getting a little creepy.