It's taken me awhile to process this trip... so I am going to start with... the people of Greece! I will always remember Michali and his trick called The Parrot
. Then there's the spectacular Stelana who can single-handedly discuss European politics, divulge interesting details about the scenery, and order her favorite dessert without skipping a beat.
Then there's Themi, the caretaker and master food-ordered. Nothing escapes his specificity when it comes to ordering a meal. I don't know what it is about Crete men, but they are marvelous and passionate about everything. Food. Perfume. Lunch. Fish. How to eat the brain of a lamb. Customs. Rolling cigarettes. Wine. Ouzo. Renaissance men indeed!
All in all, the people are beautiful, rustic and funny. The food and landscapes
amazing. Please check out the gallery as it has many more images. Yiamas to a beautiful place and to the trip of a lifetime!
I love my vineyard. It's a beautiful patch of land outside Santa Rita hills near Buelleton. A great place to invite friends and have weekend picnics.
Okay, it's not really my vineyard and those aren't strangers but my friends. Alas, it was another lovely time w/the Jaffurs winery gang at the Ampaloos Vineyard where we learned about the labor of love put into one of our favorite wines - Upslope by Jaffurs Winery .
It's remarkable to see the transformation from one type of insect to another. Below are images from the process. Previous to this the caterpillar busily spends a week or two completely eating every scrap of vegatation off of the butterfly bush to prepare for the 15 days in the cocoon.
Life is running in technicolor these days. Doesn't seem to matter what channel or day or time as all is more vivid - the blues bluer the days longer... imagination becoming reality on a daily basis.
While there is still no sign of Xola, i know for sure he is gone. I think of him every time i consider leaving something out on the counter top and realize sadly that it will be "safe" because no one is there to lick the butter, steal Shaloob sausages out of the frying pan, or run off w/a chicken leg leftover. He is now a predator in another world and i hope the biggest bad-ass that no other creature would even consider snacking on him; that He is hunting coyotes and not the other way around.
And life goes on.
I've started commuting to work. A nice 10.5 miles round trip on my 21 year old Coral Pink Lotus Esprit 600 Triathalon Series road bike now turned Franken-cycle that my father bought me. Pimped with kevlar-lined hybrid tires, new grocery panniers, and a Down Low Glow neon amber bike light (yet to arrive). The best thing about the ride would be the treking through Goleta Beach and then the wild bunnies which live on the other side of "bone-cracker" bridge. Riding to-and-fro work these past two weeks i now recgonize the other commuters and walkers and runners... almost all of them smiling. I myself cannot stop grinning while riding my coral pink contraption.
If all of that doesn't convince you that indeed i am living in a techicolor parallel universe, then this time-lapse video taken on my backyard deck of the Kangaroo Paw plant and it's guest emerging should; it's amazing.
This past week my most joyful and beloved cat named Xola moved on...
On Tuesday July 16th at 3:30am I awoke to the sounds of a horrific cat vs. ? fight, silence, several quick meows and then more silence. I immediatly sprang outside with a flashlight and started looking for him, and have every day since.
Posters were made and plastered throughout the neighborhood. Shelters and wildrooms visited. Daily treks to find him and we never found anything. No fur or his collar or any sign - he simply disappeared.
I learned, after speaking to the
animal shelter lady, that if you live near any of the dry creek
beds that they turn into a coyote freeway at night... especially these
days after the Goleta Gap fire when they were all pushed lower off the mountain.
The creek bed is a block away. I believe that he was fighting for his
life and those last parting meows were the end of him. I don't want to
think that but there is no evidence of him anywhere; he was taken away
by something. On Thursday night my friends came over and we walked up and
down the creek beds looking for any sign of him; looking for his collar
and tags... we found nothing.
I will miss him dearly. He had many many friends who loved him and took care of him. As my dear friend put it: "He was a super BigMan with a super
BigBag and there will never be another butter lickin' turkey stealin' faucet
addict like him again."
So nothing makes one's head spin faster than being in the presence of greatness - to see a glimer of the fantastic and know what it tastes like, which in this case would be the taste of Renaud's almond croissant from Renaud's Patisserie & Bistro in Santa Barbara.
Call me crazy but i can't stop myself from trying every new (or old) restaurant in this city! Did some one say "best burrito?"; well, yeah, "Super Something" was quite good. Or wait, did you mean those crazy twigs and nuts (aka healthy bags of sprouts and happiness) they sell at the Farmer's Market on Saturday's - simply sublime; or hang-on, perhaps it was just a GREAT bowl of spicy miso ramen from Itsuki's.
Sigh. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy living here. But the thing i can't really believe is how much i love my job. I never knew what that was like... i'm serious. I now work in a place that is engaging, respectful, vibrant, and nurturing. And life, as you know, is not only about where one has been, but also where one is going... All that to say - i like this ship, i love the crew, and I'm happy to travel on this shared path, happy to be apart of it's daily creation.
