"JUST A LINE TO SAY…"

What is this Donald McGill postcard-lady writing on her postcards home?

The postcard or the blog, the sentiments are the same: someone far away, for whom the job in hand is essentially one of relaxation and enjoyment, took time out to tell you that you were thought of and remembered…

The messages themselves are invariable trivial: something about sun, sea and sand, mention of local sites visited and customs noted - nothing monumental or life changing…

I doubt if anyone ever sent a postcard of the Clock Tower at Margate with a note on the back to the effect that contemplating the depth and limitlessness of the ocean had made them realise that their life is incredibly shallow and unbelievably narrow…

What would be the point? As with everything in our lives, there is nothing that one man can show or tell another that can truly convey his innermost emotions… We relate to others’ experiences and feelings only in terms of what we have experienced and felt ourselves - which, at best, may be similar but rarely identical…

I might tell you, for example, that last night I looked across at the towering blackness of Telendos island rising from the moon-dabbed sea and silhouetted against the star-studded sky and, in that fleeting moment, saw a shooting star race through the crowded thoroughfares of heavens in an arc of light and plunge suddenly into darkness…

But to try and tell you what I felt in that split second would be futile.

Sufficient to say, “Wish you were here…”

BOYS WILL BE BOYS...

The world over, they are the same…

Boys!

In and out of mischief more times than can be easily reckoned; riding the mood swings of a rollercoaster; sometimes leaning towards manhood and independence, but just as often falling back into vulnerability of being a child…

Making catapults, kicking footballs, building tree-houses, blowing bubblegum bubbles until they burst all over the face and, ideally, get so thoroughly stuck in the hair that the gum can only be removed by the application of ice-cubes!

Themelis demonstrated his bubblegum-blowing skills during our day trip to Telendos and - being a boy - showed considerable interest in the denizens of the island’s nude bathing beach. Whilst being hidden away in a tiny cove in order to avoid distressing locals of a nervous disposition, they are exposed to twice-daily viewing by the passengers on the passing Telendos boat - especially when Themelis has persuaded the skipper take his boat closer in to the shore than usual!

KATALOGUE

On a recent visit to Telendos I was able to add this kitty to my photo kollection of Kalymnian kats...


This waif was found inhabiting a half-built house in Vaithi...


And I can't resist posting this klassic kat shot from last year - since it is, probably, the best photograph I'll ever take of anything - especially for a photographer who's allergic to cats!

HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD (2)

In his famous Oxford Union address, the late Gerard Hoffnung, quoted from letters received in fractured English from Tyrolean landladies in reponse to enquiries about facilities for visitors.

"In the nearby village," was one response, "you can buy jolly memorials for when you pass away..."

We always refer to souvenirs as "jolly memorials" and, wherever you go in the world, it seems, there is never any shortage of them - even on a small island like Kalymnos...


Happily, you can often find items - such as these little fish painted on pieces of drift-wood washed up on the beaches of Telendos - that are hand-made and have a certain pleasant primitive charm that puts all the mass-produced tat in the shade.

The vibrant Grecian blue used by this local artist reminds me of the similarly rich Venetian blue and another of our jolly memorials...

This delightfully eccentric memento of one of our visits to Venice hangs on the wall of the loo at home: a glass-goldfish in a glass-drop of glass-water dripping from a glass-tap!

When it comes to glass-making, of course, the Venetians have only the one guiding principle: you can make anything whatsoever in glass, just so long as you don't ever think about tiresome irrelevancies --- such as functionality!