The First Day

The first day is always the hardest – in a very relative sense. Blue Star 2 pulled into Patmos at 2:30 am, meaning I got into the house at 2:40 am. But the time I had put away a few things, showered, caught up on texts, etc, it was almost 4am. Only my body was ambivalent about sleep. It needed it – but also thought it might still be 6pm. And then there was the anxious voice reminding me not to allow myself to sleep too late – both to adjust to the time and also because the first day back has lots of little, but important things to do.

Luckily, my body and psyche allowed themselves to be lulled by the incredibly comfortable custom-made mattress and pillows here and came to a sort-of agreement to sleep for a little more than four hours. Combined with the two hours I got on the ferry, it was just enough to make the day workable. 

My unofficial schedule was quite full: emails, texts, unpacking, taking inventory of what was in the house (a lot more sunscreen than I realized), buying cat food, breakfast, making iced tea, buying kombucha (of which there was also a forgotten residual supply from winter), a work call, picking up the motor scooter, greeting the neighbors, tracking down my Amazon packages, inspecting the paint job and new yard lights, trying to find the cat food bowls, testing the well water and opening shutters. And now writing this blog post from one of my favorite lunch spots, Ktima Petra – near Petra Beach. After a day of cheap on-the-go food yesterday, a nice meal from the restaurant with its own organic farm and a view on the water is a nice change. The eggplant salad/spread is hands-down the best I've ever had and something I often long for the rest of the year. What do these wizards do with eggplant (a vegetable/fruit I'm usually ambivalent about) that makes it so superb? No one will ever know (except them and whoever they tell). 

Of course, the first day is much easier without the kids. No one hungry, no one I'm waiting on to shower or get dressed, no trip to the supermarket where everyone wants silly, unnecessary stuff, no one dragging or complaining when we walk because they're so tired. 

The kids will be happy to learn Eirini who has the nearby shop wants to employ BOTH kids this summer and to have them do their bag stamping work in secret, from home – so they labor inspectors never know. Fun. Equally if not more importantly, Gingos and Ketchup – the two most resident cats – reported for duty this morning, greeting me and immediately letting me know they needed food. The community of cats in our yard is VERY important to the kids. Within an hour of getting cat food Caramel and Caramello (wrongly identified as a boy who was Caramel's boyfriend, but the name persists) showed up too.

In short, within a brief amount time, I got everything in operational order. Now I can relax.

The house here fills me with peace and a sense of fulfillment – especially as each year it improves a little. Of course, I notice more things to be done. Why is the shower curtain rod still on the ceiling when the new shower doesn't need a curtain? Mohammad painted the patio railing the same color of blue it was – which is nice, but I wanted it to match the blue inside the house. The yard is not only not mowed, but needs a landscaping revamp. I've gotta figure that out. But these things don't weigh on me  - they're part of an ongoing adventure. 

More positively, the lack of railing on the roof looks good as does the new yard lighting. Much nicer quality than what was there before. The retractable awnings are still missing – gone to Leros for repair. The house needs more art, but there's a canvas and paints waiting for Ailyn's next contribution – adding to her collection that charms the house. 

At some point, the really big move will be to expand the house – adding another bedroom and bathroom – and then building an upstairs. I have rights to do both things already. Only that project will have to wait until I have the time, patience and money.

June is a lovely time on Patmos. It's summer, but not hot. There are tourists, but not that many. There are cruise ships making stops, but smaller boutique lines with a few hundred passengers, not a few thousand. The tourists staying are often French – usually quiet and polite. The cruise passengers are older  - often British and French – and highly identifiable in their cruise tourist outfits and gear.

As Natalie Merchant said, "These are the days…." The tourism and the weather will slowly bubble in July and come to a boil in August. So there's only one thing to do – enjoy the not terribly busy beaches and pleasant pace of the island while it's practically ideal.

Yesterday and the day before I read several articles discussing backlash from locals in European tourist destinations – especially in Spain and parts of Italy. One "travel expert" interviewed predicted the phenomenon will spread throughout Europe and that Greece is likely to be soon if not next. And while Patmos is not Santorini – which really gets overrun – I don't get the sense the Greeks plan to bite the hand that feeds them.

"Tourism is the only industry that works!" the lady in the Olive Era shop in Athens told me yesterday. "The rest of the year, the city is dead."

Athens isn't a one-horse town, but from what I saw on the two off-season occasions I killed days in Athens, it is certainly a lot quieter with far fewer businesses open in certain neighborhoods. The city may not be pleasant when it's packed to the gills in three-digit heat in July and August, but then residents also like incomes. And that's Athens which is far from the nicest part of Greece.

Nearby Kos is the third largest Greek island and has a resting population 37,000. In summer it swells to roughly 75,000. Patmos' roughly 3,000 residents host an additional 17,000 people in August. In exchange, roughly half the population works five months a year and makes enough to take the rest of the year off. I don't think anyone wants to change that arrangement. Those summer population explosions literally butter everyone's bread – or maybe olive oil it. I've seen both.

All of that to say, in these beautiful days with perfect weather, a moderate amount of visitors, my bags unpacked, the cabinet full of sunscreen, the cats now fed and motorscooter both rented and gassed up – I plan to eat a lot of eggplant salad overlooking the beach. Sure, I'll work on my writing projects, I'll work on my paid work and I'll chase down the appliance repair guy about a new air-conditioning unit for the living room. I'll also appreciate what's here, take time to enjoy the beaches while they are less in demand and feel the gentle breeze of June.

When I lived in Bali, there were many nights when I stood in the gardens of my house, staring up into the giant, starlit skies, smelling the fragrant air and enjoying its gentle touch. Bali is so sensual and seductive. I used to think, "Enjoy this because you don't get to stay in this heaven forever." Thanks to the house, I may have more years of Patmos than I got in Bali. Only neither place is normal. Best to soak it in, enjoy all its many forms of beauty and be grateful.