"Lampi has tsunamis! The waves at Lampi are like tsunamis!" Ailyn has said many times.
Lampi and Lefkes are two of the few usable beaches on the west side of Patmos which has pebble beaches and strong beaches – which in turn brings waves. Of course, waves are a relative thing. If the east side of Patmos didn't have such swimming pool still water, one would be unlikely to consider anything at Lampi a wave. And even then, only the right part of the beach has was. A good section remains almost still.
But for Ailyn, Lampi is a place of tsunamis and maybe even sea monsters. In 2019, when she was four, we took her in the water at Lampi on our first beach day and she got knocked over by a one to two foot wave. We pulled her up and carried her from there – but she never forgot and not only refused to return to Lampi for the remainder of those nine weeks, but even this trip.
Sennen, on the other hand, loves waves and Lampi. So today we split up. My mom took Ailyn over to the small beach in the front of Skala where Ailyn made her Greek friends yesterday and I took Sennen to Lampi where he "body surfed" to be generous about it. Whatever your definition of waves or body surfing, Lamp offers clean water, good swimming, fewer other beachgoers and a great taverna. When Emily and I spent a month on Patmos in 2010, the taverna at Lampi was always a great place to sit and work – breaking for the occasional dip in the Aegean.
After a taverna lunch of tzatziki, Greek salad, eggplant spread and saganaki, Sennen took to the beach like a Sennen in water. Freshly healed from his recent sunburn, he no longer resisted wearing a rash guard and was very compliant with careful use of sunscreen. In 2019, Sennen could easily spend seven hours at the beach and never grow tired or bored. Not much has changed. Something in the clear Aegean waters draws him in and he is happy with or without a companion.
"There's not that much to do on Patmos," Sennen reflected briefly last night. In a sense that's true. We go to the beach, walk around town, have nice meals, sometimes go to the park or soccer field or even the gym where the kids get a class from Coach Thanasis – a Patmian-Greek-American whose mom grew up in Ohio and whose family owns the only gym on Patmos, adjacent to their house. Sennen works a few hours a day, a few days a week at Nektar where his "boss" has decided it's time for him to learn Greek and has begun teaching him and Ailyn conversational phrases.
There's music everywhere on Patmos – from tavernas, gelaterias, bakeries and shops. We walk outside and the lounge-jazz selection from Cafe Mostra is playing and find music drifting everywhere we walk. Even at lamp the taverna plays traditional Greek music that sets a backdrop for your beach experience. But there is no need to go find music. In the evenings, kids play in the town square at the park and the soccer field. Sometimes they run between one another's homes. Patmos life is very simple.
Naturally, that's the joy of it. Life made simple and manageable.
If you know how it works. Today I have continued to untangle it in the hopes of accomplishing basic home improvements. I managed to order new furniture – though a shade darker than I thought yesterday thanks to advice of counsel (Conlan and Sharon) and the ordering process involved Christina the furniture lady and I going through a number of additional details until we had everything ironed out. The mattress for the new king bed will come from an artisan mattress and bed maker on Rhodes – so that's a separate set of details to coordinate.
And while one would think making it through the labyrinth of Greek furniture purchasing would bring an end to a challenging adventure, it really was just a segue into another. How do I part with the furniture I have? Christina gave me the name of Costas Vellas, "he's a man with a truck – he does this sort of thing. I don't have his number, but you can ask the man at Mostra, he should have it."
The man at Mostra speaks next to no English and really hasn't come through for me yet on the lawn and garden situation. So I didn't feel like relying on him for Costas' information. Instead, I turned to more tried and true allies. Dimitris who rents me my car – and has for years – seemed a more reliable source.
"Costas, of course I know Costas. He has the big yellow truck – it's right there!" he pointed out of his office. "Why do you need Costas?"
I explained and Dimitris agreed to text me Costas' contact information.
That's when his wife Christina jumped in, concerned about the wasted furniture. She said she knows some people who might want it and I told her I didn't know how things in Patmos work when one needs to get rid of furniture, but I would much rather it go to people who could use it. I told her Costas was just what the furniture Christina said to do, but I am very open to a better solution. Car rental Christina said she'll get back to me once she finds some takers for the furniture.
I then took her idea and let Manos the attorney know too as he represents some poorer immigrants. That feels a lot better than Costas and his yellow truck hauling a queen, twin and bunk bed into oblivion.
Unfortunately, Dimitris had some bad news to deliver. I reached out to him for a recommendation for a gardener to clear my overgrown lawn and garden. His father is "the best gardener on Patmos", but "because of his heart condition, he cannot work in the heat so much, so he takes it easy…" His father was going to recommend someone who could take on the work, so he decided to drop by my yard on his evening walk last night. Unfortunately, the people at Cafe Mostra who have been saying they have a guy to trim the yard for the past week and a half without results essentially chased Dimitris' dad away telling him they had someone already lined up to do the work.
"My dad knows this other man and likes him, so he didn't want to say anything….You need to talk to Mostra now."
So in essence, the cafe in front of my house not only didn't come through on their promise of someone to clear the overgrowth – which is fine, not their responsibility – but then chased away my alternate selection when I tried to take the project on myself.
"Daddy, how is that possible? Is that how things work? Why do they think that's okay?" Sennen asked.
"I don't know Sennen. I guess it is. I don't make up the rules here, I'm just learning them myself."
"But it's your house, shouldn't you choose who cuts the grass?"
"Maybe. I feel like it should work that way, but obviously that's not how it went. I'll try talking to them again with Google Translate."
I was assured the gardener is coming tomorrow.
At least I have the furniture victory for today – new beds, mattresses and a dresser are a place to start. The appliance repair man texted to say he ALMOST know if he can get the dryer parts and what their cost will be, but he definitely ordered the new circuitry for the oven. So that's promising-ish….
"Daddy, Patmos fits us really well," Sennen said today. "I want to come back every year. We can come home to it I could even live here all year. Patmos is great."
My heart burst.
Last night before bed, when I came inside feeling guilty my work call had gone so far overtime, I was greeted with, "Daddy, thank you for taking us to Patmos!" from each kid and "Daddy, I made you this laniard for your keychain to say thank you for taking us to Patmos," from Ailyn.
Apparently, it's not how much you have to do that matters – but what those things are and how you do them. And maybe the love you share - which is easier to feel when you have time to talk and listen.
