A few nights ago I was scraping ice from the windscreen of the car before I could use it….no silly – not in Paleochora! I was on a break and enjoying some of the delights of the Scottish Borders, perhaps the frozen up car was not one of them but the daily drive through tree lined roads was beautiful. All the splendour of autumn colours were on full view. Returning on Sunday, the trip over the mountains from Hania was alive with a similar display of trees in rust, scarlet, yellow and ochre along with surprise swathes of mountainsides purple with heather. And just to ensure I retain the connection with my homeland – the sky on Monday was thick and heavily grey with more than enough torrential rain to keep my garden ‘moisturised’ for a while. That’s how it can be here in the autumn/winter, doses of weather more typical of northern countries and then, like today, when clouds have parted – a warm sun pops out, encouraging many of us outdoors to soak up the welcome rays….and for yours truly to prune some of the plants and bushes that were damaged by sea salt during recent strong winds.
Meanwhile, away from where the sea spray reaches, garden and wild flowers are blooming and, like ourselves, are relishing the November warmth. It all happens so quickly. From the parched arid landscape of late summer, immediately the first rain falls, tiny fresh shoots pop up and we’re greeted by a refreshing shimmering green which very quickly grows into the variety of colours we now have.
In similar fashion the shift from the town in full summer-like swing to dozy out of season mode was particularly abrupt this year. Partly due to an extremely busy October where the roads were jammed with parked little hire cars, the beaches remained full of sunbeds…….then, as if a whistle (maybe last flight out of Crete whistle?) was blown, the roads were free to drive and park on, cafes and restaurants closed up and packed away all their outside seating areas………in the space of a few days it was clear that summer season 2017 had come to an end. It was a long season, late March until early November, and sometimes incredibly hard to keep going in the long hours required. I’ve often wondered how we all manage to keep going, really : what makes it possible to keep the smile and the standard in place?
The guests! That’s who or what makes it possible. In general, the visitors to Paleochora are those who love and respect our town and our combined efforts to offer services of satisfaction………….kind of obvious when I think about it! How many visitors to Paleochora become close friends with those who live here? How lucky we are that those connections from all over the world shape our lives!…and help make our long days often feel more like fun than labour.
While the sun still shines I must head back to the garden but not before mentioning another colour that was evident in Scotland last week – white. The white of snow covering the hills and mountains just as there is today on the high peaks of the Lekfa Ori (white mountains), we’re able to see the early sprinkling of snow while clouds have moved away………..much to the surprise of the guests out on their balconies soaking up the late November sun…………..
Flora, November 29th, 2017
