Saturday, July 28, 2018

The Bitter and the Sweet


First the Bitter.





Now for the Sweet.










Me, Tassos, Renate and Thomas McKnight


Then came August.







It’s complicated, but real.











  1. Amen, brother. Touching. Your article is touching, touching is what keeps us human, and touching uplifts our spirits. Imagine yourself floating on the crystal clear cerlulean Mykonian waters with a forefinger from everyone you've ever touched gently pressing upon you. Such is the fruit of a life well lived. (It also requires that you grow much larger, to make room for all those fingers...)

  2. If anyone had told me that you were writing a comment on this piece, involving "spirits" and "fingers," what you produced is about as far from what I'd have guessed as imaginable. Thank you, bro, for inspiring me to grow larger...

    1. :-) My original reply simply used 'finger,' but then upon rereading what I'd written, I realized that 1) that left open an incorrect interpretation of what I was trying to convey, and 2) it would have been far too easy a straight line for you, which might have encouraged you to drift away from the tone of your original post. So, I had to specify FOREfinger, to avoid all of that. And now I've gone bruised the fruit anyway. Sigh. C'est la vie...

    2. Having been raised the son of a produceman, I appreciate all fruit, bruised or not. Even some nuts. So, thank you again.

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  4. Thanks, Jeff. Mourning becomes Mýkonos.

    1. Yes, as you know, no matter how much it changes, it is an extraordinarily special, electrifying place of indelible memories.

  5. What a beautifully written 'love story' and this one most definitely came from the heart! Your title of bitter and sweet is so very fitting for this week ~ this summer ~ in Greece.

    1. J & J, that means a lot to me, thank you. When I sat down to write the story for the magazine it just flowed, as if it had been trapped within me for a decade waiting to come out. But what really gave me chills, was that only after I'd posted it on MIE, did I realize that this week will be the anniversary of Tassos' death.

  6. Just lovely, my brother. Truly sweet. And about true love. A pean to your muse!

    1. Thanks, sis. I’m so happy you liked it, and thrilled to see you use the word “pean” rather than “pain” in describing my affect on you. :)

  7. This brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful friend you had.

    But I am very upset about these fires. Spoke to some workers at a nearby store who are from an island near Corfu. They think the cause could be arson. Who would do such a thing?

    My brain immediately switched to Golden Dawn. They would. They don't care about human life. But do you have any further insights on this tragedy?

  8. Thank you, Kathy for your kind thoughts on my tribute to my friend.

    On the fires, your friend's reference to arson is based on precedent. For years fires would be set in protected forest land, so that those interested in building there could claim the forest was now gone and building should proceed. That was sadly not uncommon. HOWEVER, in 2016 a law was passed that required burned land to be reforested...not built upon. As an interesting sidebar, the mayor of Marathon--a town devastated by the fires--is on record as opposed that that law!

    As for Golden Dawn, or for that matter any of the political motivations or conspiracy theories being bandied about as an the cause, who's to say...though I doubt it. Frankly, those who engage in conspiracy theories are giving a free pass to those truly responsible...government officials who did not plan or react responsibly in connection with an expected, typical summer phenomenon...regardless of the cause.

  9. Of course, the government should have taken precautions.

    But with the far-right ascending in Eastern Europe, I get nervous.

    1. Remember that the far left is in power in Greece, which leads me to think about what Sidney Carlton might have said today, “It’s a far, far better thing not to be governed by far, far anything”

  10. I don't agree about the far left being in office in Greece. It's a coalition government with a lot of groupings, including environmentalists, feminists, social democrats, communists and others. If the far left was in office, I don't think the officials would have caved in to the Germany and IMF bankers, but would have good up, not caved in, cutting pensions, laying off workers, etc.

    Also, people are mad at Tsipras for cutting pensions, laying off people, cutting other benefits. I see huge protests by the labor unions against austerity cutbacks.

    I don't think a real leftist government would have done that nor would people be protesting like they are. I think a real left government would have listened to them.

    1. Sorry to tell you this, Kathy, but if there is any farther left party in Greece than SYRIZA, it would be so far over as to have passed into the far right's orbit. In fact, that's precisely what you have, for in order to form a government, SYRIZA need a few more MPs and made a coalition with a tiny far right its leader the plum position of Minister of Defense.

      Respectfully, I think you're confusing philosophies with the behaviors of those who come to power claiming to champion them. There's no question SYRIZA is far left. As for the character and abilities of those who govern under its banners, the Greeks have a lot of questions.

  11. Oh, no, typing late at night. Not good. I mean that the officials would have stood up to the German and IMF bankers and not caved in and cut pensions and welfare benefits or laid off public sector workers.

    Nor would unions be demonstrating nor would so many people be mad at Tsipras for his caving in.

    A large percentage of the loans have gone to pay back banks, not used for the population. That would anger everyone.\

    1. As you may recall, Greece's then SYRIZA Finance Minister put on a big show of doing just that, before caving. Bottom line: From the attitudes I hear expressed here, I'd say Tsipras and his party are regarded as a far left mirror image of Trump and his on the right.

  12. Well, from what I have read, 25 MP's who were in the leftist section of Syrize, left in 2015 and formed the Popular Unity Party. They do not have seats in the legislature, I believe. Also, Varoufakis had to resign and someone more moderate was installed as Finance Minister.

    But descriptions of Syrize explain that it's a coalition government. Its flag is tri-color, representing different movements.

    Again, from my knowledge of left parties in Europe, they are often tied to the big unions and fight against austerity cutbacks. Tsipras has caved in on those cutbacks and the unions are mad at him for doing that as are their members.

    I would have thought that leftists would have stood up and opposed the German bankers and the IMF. They barely did anything.

    I don't compare the left and the right. The left here opposes the Trumpites' tax cuts for the super-rich; his anti-migrant policies, including caging and separating children; attacks on women's rights and health care; the racism, xenophobia, anti-Muslim and even anti-Jewish sentiments espoused, the Charlottesville comments that there are good neo-Nazis, the installing of Gorsuch on SCOTUS, the capitulation to the evangelical right, etc., etc.

    The left isn't homogenous, but generally agrees on these issues, as opposed to the extreme bigotry and anti-people policies of the White House and its cronies.