May already?
April seemed to drag at the time and now it’s behind us, as are our days of full lockdown.
Beginning 4th May, there’s an easing of restrictions with a few stages of the overall process, meaning that the café and rooms are – according to current plan – due to re-open from 1st June. Social distancing between café tables imposed and staff to be kitted out in masks. As flights are still not operating and borders remaining closed I’ll not be in a rush to have beds made up and balcony shutters opened. There’s a suggestion that flights will start in July…..but that’s not official, it’s a tricky situation for decision makers to deal with, I shall continue waiting patiently for news.
In the meantime there’s the beauty of spring to take my mind off not having work! I can enjoy morning coffee paying more attention to what goes on around me. Maybe it’s the sudden calm when rowdy winds and crashing waves all take a break. Those are mornings to savour, looking out on a flat, exhausted sea with sun stars twinkling across the surface and a chance to hear the racket birds enjoy making at this time of year. Sparrows are definitely argumentative little creatures, screaming at each other from my balcony railings. Doves simply coo away all day long on the power line and during migration period the tamarisk tree outside another balcony is alive with a nameless variety of excited chattering, chirping visitors.
Over on the rocks, eager crows search for something worthwhile, a heron may stoop statue-like ready to pick out breakfast and come sunset there’s the high pitched kingfishers to listen out for.
The snow is slipping away as warmer currents reach the higher peaks, where a surprising fresh fall came in the early days of April – that was an uncomfortably cool period even down at sea level. For a while, what with all the other dramatic changes globally, we wondered if the weather was turning backwards, locking us into another winter. Thankfully warmer calm days followed the snowfall and when the wind returned it no longer suggested traces of icicles and mostly is gentle on the skin. Time to pack winter boots away……
Out of town, my first drive in a month, such eagerness to take in all that’s changed, but with destination Heraklion there’s no time. Instead I remind myself to pay attention (to the road!) and drive on, fantasising about skipping barefoot through the clover meadows or stopping to pick some elegant cerise wild gladioli or to see if the blossoming roadside bushes issue a scent or to lie under a tree with sunlight streaming through the neophyte leaves…….fantasies increase with each km……..
In my mind I’m travelling on the back of the massively winged Griffin Vultures, hovering on the thermals over the valley that’s surrounded by the stern mountains I mentioned last month. There’s a shimmer of green about them now and a much lighter atmosphere, as if spring has melted something in the granite……….pretty sure there was a wink and a friendly nod as I passed….were they really humming……’On the Road Again’?
I pulled myself together; somewhat. On the descent into Voukolies, kamikaze swallows darted dangerously across the road, right in front of the car. They’re a common sight in that area, I frequently wonder how they get the timing just so right. Then, before reaching the highway, a bright green lizard crossed the road, again, with impeccable timing. I’ve only seen an occasional one in the years I’ve lived here but over the course of the day I saw this happen a total of 5 times, lizards seeking a mate?..…or escaping a potential suitor?
With all this in mind, and keeping an eye open for police checks (ID and permission ready), I was unprepared for an apparition…as if one would ever be ready! So awkward initially to get a focus on what I thought I saw. It was late afternoon, heading home, not yet at Rethymno, the Lefka Ora (White Mountains) over Hania floated in the sky. It took a few moments to realise that a haze blocking out the lower slopes created the vision sustaining itself for many miles, much to my amusement and helping ease the pressures of a long day’s driving.
Just shows I don’t always have to fantasise, now I’m left to wonder if I will see real or imaginary friend-guests on the room balconies this summer……
Flora, May 6th 2020
