Back, sort of

I'm back in a way..

The tent was pitched, in the middle of a huge "square" in the city of Kerkyra on the island of corfu

I haven'y had time since Thursday to upload the fotos

There were moments of bliss, the tent full of people listening, entranced, to stories

There were moments of exhaustion ..driving the van by a river in the mountains..8 hrs drive..arriving to find there was no provision for electricity(how else would the drill work? or would we be hammering into tarmac, 45 holes?) and then the police hadn't been notified so we had to stop until that got sorted out..

and then having to be there, watching, guarding, telling, cleaning rugs and pillows for 16 out of 24 hours

but it was all ok in the end,

more than ok

magic

yes, I believe in magic

moments:

storks clacking away in their treetops at dawn

a tiny bird stealing wool from a flokati rug to line its nest

the lizard that stood guard next to me for hours looking at the tent from its stone, there in the park

the children talking to the genie of the lamp, they saw it, they really did

the swallows swooping and crying to each other every morning and evening

the people from morocco and afganistan and albania who gathered in and around the tent to tell me their stories after everyone had left

Thodoris and Alekos who catered for an "official" event in the tent who fed anyone who asked for food after the mayor and the ambassadors had had their fill of couscous and hummus

the way the young men looked at the meat before making the courage to ask for some

oh the stories I heard...

my cup runneth over

magic of telling

it is my riches

telling under trees..paradise (looking through this years photos)

there is a family staying with me. a completely non dysfunctional family. we are not related by blood, they speak a different language, there is a cultural affinity - they are a balkanic family, neighbours now, 200 years ago there were no borders between our countries. then there were borders, cutting off families, regions, pastures, deadly borders guarded by killer dogs and men with killing weapons

now we are both in the shengen agreement and they are free to travel

it is a long story

first the men came, workers, labourers,legal, illegal, crossing mountains on foot, coming from hunger to..where?the promised land of imagination

what did they find?

what did they leave behind

long story, I 've already said that huh?

now the families left behind are coming and seeing where their men were all these years, they see the places and the people they had only heard about, imagination is meeting reality (one kind, at least)

what are they seeing?

what will they take back home?

long stories

stories in the making

life

she is a doer

she cooks, cleans,washes, cleans, cooks, she takes care of them all

pitta from scratch, at least once a week she says, (when I say from scratch I mean from the gathering of dandelions and other weeds) there were quince in my fridge, waiting..(for what I don't know) now they are marmelade
there are lots of smiles, there is a lot of talking, and laughing, and the doing is done. just like that. soul searching at a minimum. It is a priviledge to be part of this, to see, observe, be, do in this company. mmm, and the food is good.
carols on Christmas Eve, a tradition. (ok since we're on the subject, 2nd generation immigrant..) children bring joy and luck to the household..the natives don't usually venture as far as here, remember, we are on the wild side..
the star, finished, travelled to spain, to my far away stars, first son and his dad. these are on sale.. waiting for the crisis to blow over most likely
for anyone interested in the subject of borders this is a book I strongly recommend.. A Short Border Handbook by Gazmend Kapllani