Postcard from Anathema
• Rosemary North

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Couldn't stand English winter any longer so have fled snowstorms in search of sun. Travel agent suggested Anathema, on island of Kaos in Aegenic Sea. Actually not very hygienic sea - lots of Unidentified Floating Objects - but too cold to swim anyway with this wind . . . Have hired car to tour island. Coast road flooded - combination of exceptionally high tides and torrential rain which everybody says is unusually heavy for time of year - so headed inland. Everybody really friendly - they all smile when they see us and sometimes nearly fall off their chairs laughing. Such happy people! One kind man spoke English so I asked if there was anywhere it wasn't raining.
' At the top of the mountain you will not find it is raining', he said.
He was right. As we drove up narrow mountain road, rain turned to sleet. Then hail. Then snow.
Must remember to pack snowchains and salopettes next time head off to sun. Island of Kaos completely unspoiled, no petty bureaucratic rules governing development here! Instead peasants can till fields or tend vines in peace. Or they can replace traditional cash crops with fields of condominiums. 'Cutting down your vines to erect villas', I quipped to one local, but he rushed away looking offended. Later discovered that word "villa" in Greek is not a house, but the male organ . . .



© Rosemary North in a bleak mid-springer


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