Greece 2008

23 Sept 2008

After only around 4 hours of sleep -we hiked and climbed and made it to the top of the ruins in Athens. Took the E95 bus to the plaka...a center area with gardens and ruins and of course the Acropolis. Took some great pictures, and heard 6 languages-not counting English. By the end of the day we were experts at riding the buses. And at finding WC's (water closets).

















24 Sept 2008

Our Olympic Air flight left very early in the morning and we stopped at one small airport before arriving at the island of Lesvos. Our driver was waiting and then.......a harrowing speed-demon, passing on hills and in no passing zones, accelerating around pedestrians, all the while talking and waving his hands.....you can tell that Jorhos (George) loves his taxi job! God! The retreat site is beautiful, on the lushest and most abundant side of the island. Pomegranites, pears, figs, apples, oleander, vanilla, roses, just beautiful. Our first practice was the night we arrived, not having our bodies quite on Greece time yet, the teacher (Barbara Voinar) led a very restorative class, plenty of breathing and time to think about the place we were in (disconnect from the distance we travelled, she told us). Dinner...........my, oh my, it will take an entire e-mail to describe it.........Zucchini blossoms stuffed with cheese, thin eggplant baked w/spices, potato and garlic, fresh yogurt w/honey and walnuts, fruit, a wonderful lentil spread on the hard crust bread. We went to bed so full and so tired. Our 'apartment' is merely a cabin with windows on four sides, so the airflow is amazing. Our own small kichenette area and bathroom. Some of the other 19 participants are in gypsy cabins and share a bathroom and common kitchen area. The owners are from Germany - Ursula and Ireni (who spend winters back home in Frankfurt). They love plants and trees, the place is a riot of growth and gardens, including the rock gardens/labyrinth/stonework.

























25 Sept - 27 Sept 2008

The town of Molyvos is terraced - from a castle high on a hill down to the sea. We climbed up the narrow cobbled streets, past shops and homes, dodging cats, scooters and cars -the drivers in Greece are legendary for their daring and speed. Some touristy stuff/junk but also tucked in among the shops, you can find great treasure. For E 6.10 I bought a small beautiful sculpture made of alabaster. Took our time looking out over the land, the red tile roofs and the sea below. We purchased gifts and Coke (in 7 oz glass bottles) and pita chips at a spot next to the Agean. After a short rain shower, we found two lawn/sun chairs by the water (E 2.50 for the day), and spent several hours hunting rocks, reading and napping. Part of the beach is topless, part is not. I had my first alcohol in Greece, not Ouzo, but a draft beer called Mythos (like the character in Highlander -the oldest of the immortal).




















28 Sept 2008

Efftalou - thermal springs......it was nearly dusk when the four taxi's dropped our group next to a crashing sea, the salt spray a fine mist of scent and feeling. Cold -but refreshing at first! I thought he was dumping us in the middle of nowhere.....yet tucked among the rocks is a domed concrete structure that is over 500 years old. Inside, the public bath.......our group had reserved it for this evening. With everyone already in suits and water shoes, we were encouraged to first take a cold shower (outside a small doorway was a showerhead....just open to the sea and the rocks, on a concrete platform, with a on/off handle) before entering the hot water. Oh my--- the sensation of being so vulnerable to the elements, and cold, really exposed! Then, back through the small doorway and down...down....down.....stone steps, ducking our heads and passing through an iron gate to see a square stone depression full of hot water that smelled like a volcano (which it is).......and hot! Oh my, very very hot. Pebbles and rocks covered the bottom, you could get all in or sit around the ledge with just your feet/legs in the water. We sang, we soaked, our voices echoed up to the small square openings in the roof of the "building". Then some awkwardness as we all figured out the best way to dress for dinner (there is only one wooden screen, and there were 16 people) then thankfully some cooperation as we held towels for each other. Barbara had told us the story of two rooms this week, both with a beautiful table, an abundant feast....but only one utensil - a spoon so long that you could not reach your mouth with the end......one room was complaining and spilling food and not happy with their circumstances, but the other room.....well, they were feeding each other and sharing and having a wonderful time. It's our interconnectedness and our perspective that is the secret to happiness. Dinner next to the sea - our first meal out in Greece, fresh Dorado and tuna, octopus in a wonderful red sauce (just one bite, but yum!). Wine and cats (yes, cats roam around everywhere, even next to your table at dinner). Taxi's back - a sound sleep like never before in my life.

no birds.......

I take a walk around the neighborhood near my office on as many consecutive days as I can during the workweek. I try to get up from my desk and take a short mile and a quarter walk at around 10:30 a.m. (in all kinds of weather). If it isn't raining and the winds are calm, it's a very quiet neighborhood. If the mowers aren't in the condo complex right up the street- Monday is their day- it's a beautiful nature walk. In this area, most residents are at work when I walk so there are hardly any animals, or people, or vehicles to contend with.

Today being a Monday in September (still grass-growing season), the mowers & trimmers were out in full force. But - what I noticed most of all during this mindfulness walk was that there were no birds. Yes, the city is nearby, traffic, sirens and back-up beepers can be faintly heard while I concentrate on my steps and my breath. These urban threads of sound fade easily into the background. Yes, it's Indian Summer in the midwest and so the drone of insects in the grass and late season locusts in the cottonwoods are still an undercurrent of sound to accompany my footfalls, but where were the birds?

Usually on this mindfulness walk I can hear all kinds of birds, far away, close by, making a sound with their throats, chattering in the trees, honking or chirping at each other, or I just hear the beating of their wings as they fly by and around the roofs and treetops....but today, September 15th, there wasn't one single bird in the sky, in the trees, or in the yards. That seems very strange to me. Is it migration morning? Are the crows coming early this year? I only noticed because of the lack.....

Where are the birds?

old people fall and break bones......

Monday, September 1
on Labor Day, just as we finished dropping our friends off at the airport for their respective flights, Daddy Bill fell off of the front porch and broke his right hip. We arrived just as the ambulance did. The porch sits above the driveway, two steep steps up. The trash bin had been rolled up next to the porch for easy access. There is no need to go down the steps to toss a plastic bag of trash into the bin. Daddy Bill reached out to move the bin closer, then made the decision to step down one step. He never made it....he fell all the way to the driveway.

Wednesday, September 3
Bill is in surgery today to repair his hip. I understand from talking to others who have had this experience that this is very, very serious....not the broken bone(s), not the hospitalization, not even the surgery, but the chances at a full recovery without major complications are slim...... Daddy Bill is 87 years old.

Friday, September 5
Bethie off work again today, she hasn't been at work since August 23rd. She was filling out the FMLA paperwork as I left this morning, page after page of it that must be signed by Bill's doctor. Bill is moving to a Wesley rehab facility at 13th and Ridge/Tyler as I write this. He should be in rehab about 20 days, which means we will leave for Greece before he gets out. There is much to do to prepare the house for his return -especially on the outside. The stairs have got to go, or be covered up. The bathrooms (already somewhat ready for handicapped) will need additional retro-fitting. There is the matter of getting him back and forth to additional rehab after he returns home. Seems overwhelming right about now.

One week later:
The rehab facility may release Bill to come home for four hours on Sunday the 14th. There is a checklist of tasks he will have to accomplish when home. Of course, getting him IN the house is our challenge - we are not ready yet. We spent the last two days looking for a handyman or carpenter to assist us with porch modifications. Beth is meeting with someone who might help us at 3:30 this afternoon. Hope it isn't raining, but probably will be. Hurricane Ike may dump 10+ inches of rain on Wichita over the next 3 days - - so tonight we will attempt to frame out the steps to the front porch ourselves -with or without help, in the rain if necessary. We both work for the next two days, so time is running short to get it done by Sunday. A Department of Aging representative met with the Wimbers at Euclid on Thursday and toured the home. She explained what needed to be done to the house (specifically the bathrooms). The Wimber's are eligible for assistance, but there is a deductible that has to be paid by the homeowner(s). Basically we need to ditch the bathroom doors (replacing them with pocket doors), stabilize and cut one tub, and there is something called a transfer bench we may have to purchase for the master bath.

Saturday, September 13
The rented ramp is in place. The transfer bench is ready. We are installing the grab bars today. I had to kid Bethie that she put the mirror in our hallway too low for me to see the top of my head, I can only see my nose....so I reminded her to raise the grab bar on the front porch HIGHER! grin.

The careful assistant......a made-up story.....or is it?

Imagine a park, with a forest of trees and a river running through it. The forest is open to the public but doesn't get much traffic.

Imagine a park ranger, and her careful assistant (CA) working together for years....managing the park, keeping the trash picked up, monitoring for fires, and generally enjoying life.

The park becomes more popular and special new rules allow float trips on the river. CA is assigned the job. The park buys rafts, life vests, paddles, coolers and all the gear they need to start managing float trips. The park hires expert guides to ride in the rafts with the customers. CA learns how to give safety instructions, assign gear, load the boats with customers, and then starts organizing the float trips at the launch site near the forest. She gets everyone settled and sends them down the river with their expert guides before turning her attention to the next group waiting in line.

It's late summer and the forest is dry.

Several campers are in the forest and they are being closely watched by the park ranger.

One day, the ranger notices fire - and sends CA into the forest to investigate. "You make sure that the fires are small and pose no problem" the park ranger tells her.

So off into the forest goes CA, and when she gets there, the campers start shouting at her to leave them alone. So she backs away. But she is nervous.....she smells smoke. Yes, the fires she can see are small and pose no threat, but she is reluctant to leave.....what if a bigger fire is just down the path? But.....the park ranger said to check, and that's what she did, and since there seemed to be no immediate danger.......CA goes back to the river.

Customers are still lining up ready to go on their float trip and that keeps the CA busy for awhile.

The next day, the park ranger comes over and tells CA that there was some trash blowing out of the forest this morning, and to get over there and make sure the trash is picked up.

So off into the forest goes CA, and when she gets there, she sees that the campers have youngsters. Now the youngsters have been told to keep the trash picked up and to watch the fires, but they are inexperienced. When CA explains that blowing trash gets into the river, and small fires can become big ones, the camper parents get mad and chase her out of the forest -calling her names. They scream that they are responsible, and it's under control.....so just leave them alone.

I wonder what CA can do about the campers and still keep the float trips running smoothly?

Is the park ranger willing to step in?

my job consumes me..........

My job consumes me at this point in my life. But it is only one spoke.

The spokes:

Spiritual, social, career, family, education, finances, health.

The time management seminar I attended was more like a yoga class! Maybe I hear the yoga in everyday speech, I don't know.

Anyway, the talk at the end of the seminar was about the seven spokes to our wheels (life)- better keep them in balance!

Time Flies.....

My intent was to blog at least once every month, where did March and April and now May go? Here's a short summary:

I'll be back with more in June.................

May: 11.6 inches of rain in Wichita in a single month, shattering the old record set back in 1935. My first vacation (camping trip to Marion over Memorial Day) since last October.

April: The earliest this or any other camper of ours has been out, Friday April 4th. Brrrrr. Again -we head out two weeks later for a sunburn at Afton.

March: The job consumes me, day after day, week after week. I was promoted to a position responsible for implementing new accounting software........and my life changed almost instantly. We hire several new accountants to handle the flood of new companies and one of them used to be my boss back at Bank IV.

My Hot Tub

Six years ago, we bought a hot tub. We noticed the vendor in a corner of the Sport, Boat, and Travel Show one weekend and stopped by to check out his product. What was interesting about this hot tub (a SoftTub), was that, unlike conventional hot tubs with powerful heating elements and the need for 220 wiring, the SoftTub brand plugs right into a normal outlet and uses an electric motor to heat the water. It's the inefficiency of the motor heating up during use as it pumps water through the tubes that creates the desired temperature.

After some consideration, a bit of haggling, and some creative cash movement, we purchased the tub. It fit perfectly inside of the "pool room" (once home to a Valley brand, bar-weary, coin-operated pool table) and we enjoyed it year-round every year.

At Christmas, the circuit board (mainly the thermostat part) faulted, and the tub would only heat to 90 degrees before shutting off. We located a dealer-authorized repair specialist in Tulsa, Oklahoma who agreed to not only repair the electronics (his best guess was the too-often power outages from Kansas' many storms might have weakened the GFI and delicate circuitry of the tub), but to order and install a brand new liner as well. The liner was not torn or discolored in any way but it did have a ring of harder, puffier material that had, over time, been chemically damaged right at or near the water line.

We got up very early one Sunday, loaded the tub in the Toyota and headed to Tulsa. Another great feature of the SoftTub is it's portablity. Once empty, the motor detached, the tub rolls like a big hula hoop. It doesn't weigh much at all.

So off we go. We leave our tub with Calvin, and head to the casino for some gambling. We returned about 4 hours later to pick up the tub, pay Calvin and head home.

All is well and we are happy tubbing - a welcome respite from the cold Kansas winter we are having this year.