Rights and Responsibilities

If We Have a Right to Our Opinions, then we Must Also Have a Responsibility for Them A Sermon, Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Athens Margaret E. Holt June 1996 John Wilcox read earlier these words from Vaclav Havel “This completely new circumstance makes new demands on the human spirit. It requires something that has never in history been required of it with such urgency, and which, moreover, goes quite beyond the spiritual framework of the very civilization that has created these requirements. It demands a completely new type of responsibility.. . . . .” According to Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Martin Du Bois in their book THE QUICKENING OF AMERICA: REBUILDING OUR NATION, REMAKING OUR LIVES, nearly 25 %, that’s right one-fourth, of the children in the United States are born into poverty, one in five teens carries a weapon, we have more citizens locked behind bars than any other country in the world, the number of billionaires doubles in only a decade while homelessness swells to stunt the lives of over a million Americans. Everyone in this room can create a long, long, long list of our problems: crime, racial tension, environmental degradation, AIDS, campaign financing, adequate health care, and on and on. We don’t need more blue ribbon commissions appointed by governors to tell us that the rate of teenage pregnancy is startling and too many kids are dropping out of school. We have too many people collecting data and too few people applying their minds, hearts and hands to these very real challenges. So what can we the citizens do? First, we have a responsibility to demand accuracy in the information we get about our communities, nation and world. We must cherish the democratic ideal of a free press, and when we believe the report in the paper, or on the radio or television is inaccurate we need to take the time to challenge what we are hearing and reading. Individuals should be prepared to explain their positions and to handle the consequences their actions create. This challenge can be mounted in a number of ways such as letters to editors, publishers, and producers or better yet, when possible, face-to-face conversations. Oh, yes, this will take time, energy, and a little money for stamps and gasoline. I think we should start asking more often the sources of information, and where people got the numbers they are using. HARPER’S MAGAZINE is quite responsible with this type of reporting when they do their famous index they are careful to have a followup on sources for each of the figures cited. To illustrate the January 1996 HARPER’S INDEX reported this figure: “Tons of trash generated last January by NFL-sponsored Super Bowl events: 313" Source: The National Football League, New York. Al Gore’s book, EARTH IN THE BALANCE, is one of the best documented writings I’ve ever read. You may not agree with all that he has to say, but you can count on his revelation of all the sources he turned to for his presentation of information. We should not believe everything we read or hear, and especially when what we read and hear has something to do with the state of our democracy, the health, safety and welfare of our citizens, we should be vigilant in pursuing the sources of this information. “Clarity and responsibility within communication, it seems, is not the sole concern of the speaker/writer/actor, but also a concern for the knower. Particularly when an action or declaration of value strikes a strong affective chord, there is cause for me to stop and consider, How am I making meaning of this, and why might I be doing so?” Terri Deems, Mon, 1 Jul l996 23:57:00 CDT Subject on Learning Organization Listserv: Learning and Lurking LO8247 Let me see if you believe this story. A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Picking through the objects on display he discovers a detailed life-size bronze sculpture of a rat. The sculpture is so interesting and unique that he picks it up and asks the shop owner what it costs. “Twelve dollars for the rat, sir,” says the shop owner,” and a thousand dollars more for the story behind it.” “You can keep the story, old man,” he replies, “but I’ll take the rat.” The transaction complete, the tourist leaves the store with the bronze rat under his arm. As he crosses the street in front of the store, two live rats emerge from a sewer drain and fall into step behind him. Nervously looking over his shoulder, he begins to walk faster, but every time he passes another sewer drain, more rats come out and follow him. By the time he’s walked two blocks, at least a hundred rats are at his heels, and people begin to point and shout. He walks even faster, and soon breaks into a trot as multitudes of rats swarm from sewers, basements, vacant lots, and abandoned cars. Rats by the thousands are at his heels, and as he sees the waterfront at the bottom of the hill, he panics and starts to run full tilt. No matter how fast he runs, the rats keep up, squealing hideously, now not just thousands but millions, so that by the time he comes rushing up to the water’s edge a trail of rats twelve city blocks long is behind him. Making a mighty leap, he jumps up onto a light post, grasping it with one arm while he hurls the bronze rat into San Francisco Bay with the other, as far as he an heave it. Pulling his legs up and clinging to the light post, he watches in amazement as the seething tide of rats surges over the breakwater into the sea, where they drown. Shaken and mumbling, he makes his way back to the antique shop. “Ah, so you’ve come back for the rest of the story,” says the owner. “No,” says the tourist, “I was wondering if you have a bronze lawyer?” No, I think if you checked for the accuracy of this story, you would find it was not true and at least at a dinner party with lawyers, it would not even be politically-correct. This brings me to a second solution to our nation’s woes. - reducing litigiousness. Note, I did not say tossing lawyers into the San Francisco Bay. I said reducing litigiousness. Sometimes by capping malpractice settlements. I have chatted with my ob-gyn, Dr. John Hill, here in Athens and others about the fact [check my sources, I said fact] the fewer and fewer doctors are willing to deliver babies, and this problem is most severe in our rural communities. Why? Enormous numbers of malpractice suits which means enormous fees for malpractice insurance which means fewer doctors who want the risks or the fees. George S. Spindler, Senior VP for Law and Corporation Affairs with the Amoco Corporation made a speech last October to the American Bar Association told these two litigation stories: “A psychic conducted a series of seances at which John Milton regularly appeared, speaking through her. However, when Milton fell silent, she determined that her psychic powers were being blotted out by a dye used in a CAT scan. She sued her doctor for impairing her ability to make a living. The jurors returned an award of $986,000.” By the way I believe that Shirley McLaine talks to the dead. I just don’t believe they answer her. Spindler’s other example of excessive litigation: “In Orlando, a man filed a law suit against a barber for a haircut he said was so bad it induced a panic anxiety attack. In his suit, he said the barber had deprived him of his ‘right to enjoy life.’ Spindler goes on to remark that “Perhaps an appropriate title for a history of our new age would be Victimhood and the Right to Retribution.” The contemporary abuses of the American legal system are unfortunate externalities of a sincere and serious effort to build a society where justice can prevail. We may readily wish to blame lawyers for a failing legal system, but our citizens have hastily and often ineptly sought courtroom settlements for many conflicts that more appropriately could be handled by alternative dispute-resolution measures, neighborhood justice center, arbitration hearings, or divorce mediation where parties achieve the opportunities to be heard, and neutral mediators work toward solutions avoiding the adversarial climate. We should not teach our children to so freely allow the expressions like“see-you-in-court” or “my-lawyer will talk to your lawyer” to roll off their lips. If we don’t alter this way of seeing and being in the world, in the future the luckiest of children will be born to a mother, father, and lawyer. By the way, “What do you have when you bury six lawyers up to their necks in sand?” Not enough sand. “Why does California have the most lawyers and New Jersey the most toxic dumps?” New Jersey got first choice. “How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?” How many can you afford? Our next civic responsibility is our need to persist in demanding that those who make policy and are elected to represent our society’s interests address candidly our concerns. In other words our responsibility is to demand that they be responsible. How do we do this? We should never be satisfied with clip form-letter/template responses to our inquiries. I’ll give a personal example of how this can work. I once wrote to the late Senator Tallmadge to ask his position on a certain bill. I got back a form letter that did not reveal his position but instead applauded my good citizenship in writing to him. That was not a satisfactory response. So I did what Jeannette Rankin said we should do, I wrote another letter and explained that I appreciated his valuing my civic nature but went to say that he had not answered my question. Soon I got a phone call from his staff providing me with much greater understanding of his position on this bill. This took more time and another stamp, but I feel that this is what we must do until the way we do democracy is elevated. You can be a participant by helping to put yourself and other people back into political thinking and decision-making. Many of you, but not all [and that’s okay] are sharpening your skills with the new electronic tools we have for communicating more frequently and widely with others in our society. There are some new thoughts about what it means to be in a neighborhood or civic community resulting from the building of an electronic superhighway. There are truly thousands of examples of people using their computers to participate in civic life. I’ll give just one example here. Minnesota Citizens Online. Its purpose is provide a focal point for Minnesota citizens and organizations to create free-to-the-user, public, electronic means of exchanging ideas and information in the public interest. The two primary goals of Minnesota Citizens Online are to 1) reduce the gap between the information rich and the information poor, and 2) Encourage Minnesota citizen participation in public decision-making. Of course, our own Athens-Clarke County Public Library has just announced that it is the first public library in the state to provide free Internet access to its patrons. Blacksburg, Virginia, has a massive project that has begun to wire the citizens across their community into an electronic neighborhood. These are just a few of thousands of examples of people beginning to use the Internet to carry out civic conversations and conduct public forums and hearings. David Mathews, president of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation continues in his writings and public addresses to tell us that we are in the midst of a citizens revolt, that we have found ourselves “without representation, voice, or agency.” Electronic town hall meetings offer one way to put more of us back into our public discussions. He goes further to say that we are disenchanted with professionalism - professionals haven’t solved our problems. Again, where is our, the citizens’ responsibility? Dr. Mathews said we were too quick to believe that the “expertise” professionals were selling would work . . . it hasn’t. We have gone into what he calls a “civic sleep” and it is time to come out of this hibernation. Part of his solution is to “create a new professionalism that has a civic character” and what this means is that the professionals have to engage and activate the public in a partnership to solve the problems - there has to be what he describes as “two-way traffic between citizens and professionals.” “Publics are formed by people voluntarily joining together,”, “out of a sense of shared responsibility. The sense of being responsible for our fate, the sense that we can’t wait around on someone else to save us,” be they so-called professionals, experts, or specialists. The press has a tendency to shut out the public as they prefer to talk about issues in legal or technical term. Mathews counters that “citizens usually have a different ‘take’ on issues than experts or institutions. They are more likely to respond to issues described in a public language that is based on everyday experiences and the things people consider most valuable.” He gives as an example the different cut everyday American have on the issue of drugs - they see this as a family and/or community concern, not simply a law enforcement issue. So we need to encourage those who represent the media to attempt to frame the issues in the language and with stories of everyday people. Next, I think we need to stop averting our eyes and pretending we have no problems in our communities because we happen to live in the better neighborhoods. . I say this in the spirit of Kennedy and Kant not Nietzsche. You decide which world views reflect your own philosophy In a very provocative speech titled The Widening Gap Between the Rich and The Poor by Andrew R. Cecil, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, the University of Texas at Austin, delivered this past November is included this story “The Wall Street Journal article chronicles the plight of such workers in the ‘boom town’ of Branson, Missouri, which has become a popular tourist destination as a Mecca for fans of country music. Don Mullins, a plumber from Austin, Texas, moved to Branson in 1993 with his wife, two unemployed sons, and their wives and children. They could not afford the security deposits or utility down payments that would have been necessary to rent an apartment, so all eleven family members continued to sleep in a 28-foot trailer for most of a year. At the time the story was written, members of the family held down five jobs. They had five children and about five square feet per person. The newborn baby slept in the sink. Other full-time workers in Branson found it necessary to seek even less satisfactory accommodations. Nancy and John Rogers and their four sons were living in a homeless shelter by the railroad tracks and eating their dinners in the shelter’s soup kitchen. Mr. Rogers was working a security guard on the night shift for minimum wage, and Mrs. Rogers had a job at local poultry plant. Those who were worse off-newcomers to town looking for jobs -- were sleeping in dumpsters, in their cars, or under bridges.” According to the Urban Institute about 16 percent of the population aged sixty and over --are either hungry or malnourished because they are poor or too infirm to shop or cook. I will offer the opinion that in fact we may choose to avert your eyes, we may choose to dismiss the people in next door who are marginalized and oppressed for the short-term, but our children and grandchildren will not be able to do so without increasing their own health, safety and well-being. If you read the late Christopher Lasch’s latest book, THE REVOLT OF THE ELITES, you will find a very convincing argument that only a small number of those very wealthy globetrotters will be able to barricade their homes with lots of security as they attempt to maintain their privacy and as they try to protect themselves from the starving masses. Recall the French Revolution. Perhaps it becomes more clear why the ancient Greek word for a private person was an idiot. Also, consider this adage from the French, “When you sow poverty you reap anger.” The next responsible behavior I think we can model and encourage is to move our students, friends, family, associates out of the thinking in dichotomies mold. Someone once said there are two types of people: those who think in dichotomies and those who don’t. Which led one other to reply, there are three types of people: Those who can count and those who can’t. It starts simply - things are either up or down, yes or no, local or global. . Most of life isn’t any of these - it’s somewhere in between up and down, yes or no, local or global. Here’s an example. You may hear people say something like, “well I think our government ought to take care of business here at home. We don’t have the resources or we have no business meddling in things globally.” Folks, the answer is not in a dichotomy - oh if it were so simple. The responsible citizen knows that we have to think and act locally and globally. The environment is local and it is global; crime is local and its is global, the population explosion is local and it’s global. John Warfield, a brilliant professor, at George Mason University recently wrote a wonderful primer he calls MENTOMOLOGY: THE IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF MINDBUGS. He has so far created four categories of mindbugs: mindbugs of misinterpretation, mindbugs of clanthink, mindbugs of habit, and mindbugs of error. He is considering a fifth category, mindbugs of specific human shortcomings. The first mindbug he defines is a Mindbug of Habit called Affinity to All-encompassing Dichotomies which is “the necessity of the academic propensity among philosophers to create dichotomies, and to choose one member of the dichotomy as superior to another, not recognizing the possibility that there is a continuum of which the two members may be at best end points. Up and down, yes and no, black and write, right and wrong, local and global are most often polar endpoints. I have just a few more thoughts this morning about politically responsible behavior. Attention to being whatever “politically correct” means is not healthy behavior in a democratic society. Saying and acting in ways that are expected to pander to some social norms that do not honestly represent what citizens are thinking and meaning results in shams, charades, and illusions. I believe the social good, no matter how difficult it is to understand social good, will be more closely achieved when people find it acceptable to say what they honestly think and believe about their nation, religion, ethnicity, sexual preferences, institutions and all matters of public life rather than be corrupted or prostituted by what others inform them to be politically correct.” More than ever we citizens have a responsibility to shout “qui bono” when the policy makers of institutions who uplift or degrade our lives and communities make choices and decisions that we and our children must live by. Who decided the Olympics was good for me as an individual, good for my community? Who gets to decide what is best for us? Us? representatives of our community? shareholders? corporate managers? Who gets to decide what is best for our environment? Do we have a democratic process in place to represent so many interests and weigh the many choices? Should we? Could we? These decisions involve hard work for responsible citizens - they should not be made only by people tagged as experts or specialists. Jonathan Dayton wrote “Each individual takes a different route to happiness; and being the best judge of his own case, has a right to do so. One mode of living and one system of pursuits will not produce every man’s happiness.” So I want to leave you today with the thought that we do have rights, but as of late we have overemphasized them in the scale of democracy. For democracy works best when we try to balance and perhaps temper our rights with our responsibilities. We live in a society that emphasizes rights; the majority, minorities, employers, employees, victims, and criminals all remind us of their rights. Indeed, central to the social political and legal fabric of the United States is the Bill of Rights. The codification into law of fundamental human rights is an essential safeguard against the corrupting influences of power and human weakness as manifested in bigotry and prejudice. However, focusing on rights as the basis of conduct and policy is to create a society that is driven by advocacy, leading to a loss of community and reducing the motivation to work for the common good. Perhaps we can learn from the philosophy of one of the world’s greatest teachers of all time. Gandhi’s life and teachings represent a different point of view- a focus on responsibilities, not rights..... Gandhi spent more than 50 years in active public service and understood the need for legal safeguards to protect fundamental rights. However, he believed that a commitment to personal responsibility, not insistence on rights, should govern conduct and social policy. H.G. Wells once asked for Gandhi’s views on a document Wells had co-authored entitled “Rights of Man.” Gandhi did not agree with the document’s emphasis on rights. He responded with a cable that said, “I suggest the right way. Begin with a charter of Duties of Man and I promise the rights will follows as spring follows winter” Gandhi asked us to remember that if our rights are inalienable, our responsibility is indisputable - given to us by every religion and culture - to treat others as ourselves. He focused on this most fundamental of human responsibilities. If we keep it as our ideal and try to move toward it, we reduce the emphasis on rights and bring personal responsibility to a higher level in guiding our thoughts and actions. In both the political and business arenas, commitment to responsibilities impacts leadership and creates a climate of cooperation in which individuals and groups look for ways to produce benefits for all. (Nair, 1995, p. 26) Gandhi was concerned with human misfortunes and shortcomings. I have read that every day he spent an hour with his grandson teaching him a philosophy of life. Once Gandhi delineated a list of seven blunders that he said led to violence in the world: 1) Wealth without work, 2) Pleasure without conscience, 3)knowledge without character, 4) Commerce without morality, 5) Science without humanity, 6) Worship without Sacrifice, and 7) Politics without Principle. His grandson Arun added an eighth: Rights without Responsibilities. Maybe we should all being to define our own list of responsibilities. I know of one attempt to do this by a man named John F. Smith, III. They were published in a Unitarian World Magazine not long ago and I hope you got a copy when you came in this morning. I think we have a right to our opinions . . . . and I think as much we have a responsibility for these opinions that we hold dear. To be ethical is to accept responsibility for one’s own acts. The Broader Social Context There are pragmatic reasons for all of us to focus on our responsibilities rather than our rights. A society driven by the former promotes service, tolerance, compromise, and progress, whereas a society driven by the latter is preoccupied with acquisition, confrontation, and advocacy. When we fail to meet our responsibilities to others, they are forced to insist on their rights. The founders of the United States were not accountable to women by denying them the right to vote, nor did they meet their duties to African Americans by allowing slavery. Until recently, we did not meet our obligations to those with physical disabilities. Each of these groups had to struggle for its rights and get them made into law, and these struggles strained the fabric of society. If we meet our responsibility to treat others as ourselves, the fabric of society need not be damaged in the effort to achieve rights. Gandhi took the concept one step further. He insisted that those being denied their rights also had to meet their responsibilities. Opponents were entitled to be treated as he would like to be treated - with courtesy and respect. . . . . He never forgot the human relationship in the political struggle. In today’s political environment, we see an escalation of personal attacks at all levels, creating a climate of animosity and distrust and making it difficult to work for the common good. In the formation of social policy, debate often takes place on the basis of the rights of individuals and groups. This creates a climate of confrontation. Gandhi always believed in helping the less fortunate. This was a responsibility based on his fundamental belief that one should treat others as oneself. However, he insisted that those who needed assistance were obligated to help themselves. . . . Focusing on responsibilities removes the mind-set of giving something without return and of taking something without making a contribution. Both these attitudes are detrimental to the human spirit and create a society that is neither productive nor caring. The concept of meeting obligations because it is the right thing to do seems to be declining. We need to reverse this trend. When we direct our attention to our responsibilities, we are forced to look inward and ask what contribution we can make to create something better. When Gandhi was asked about his message, he responded, “My life is my message.” This is true for each one of us - whether we like it or not - our life is our message. Meeting our responsibilities should be a way of life, not of gaining rewards. It should have its foundation in the family, where parents and elders set an example for their children, the leaders of the future. Looking at the world through the lens of personal responsibility creates a landscape of hard work, high standards, commitment to service, and compassion. (Nair, 1995, 30-31) Responsibilities Face it, nobody owes you a living. What you achieve or fail to achieve in your lifetime, is directly related to what you do, or fail to do. People don’t choose their parents or childhood, but you can choose your own direction. Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome, but that too is relative to each individual. Nothing is carved in stone, you can change anything in your life, if you want to badly enough. Excuses are for those who don’t take responsibility for their actions Those who do take responsibility for their actions are the real winners in life. Winners meet life’s challenges head on, knowing there are no guarantees, and give all they’ve got. And never think it’s too late or too early responsibilities plays no favorites and will pass whether you act or not Take control of your life. Dare to dream and take risks . . . Compete. Anonymous Printed in Vital Speeches of the Day, October l5, 1994, Vol. LXI, No. L, speech “Ten Suggestions for Making the Most of a College Education: Discovering the Value of College - the Bottom Line” by Richard L. Weaver II, pp. 11-13. I would like to conclude a final thought about all of these opinions you have allowed me to voice this afternoon with two final sentences from a speech by Bob Shacochis that was included in a Syracuse University publication: “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter from what culture, or skin, or gender, the voice of consciousness comes. It only matters that it does come and, when it arrives, that we recognize it.” Nair, Keshavan. (May 1995). A Clue from Gandhi. Sky, v. 24, no. 5, pp. 26- -31. Right now we’re indulging ourselves in an orgy of ‘rights’ - we have animal rights, children’s rights, the right to housing, to education, to day care, to time-off, to perfume-free zones, (ugh!), the right to be protected from the wonderful aroma shed by bakeries . . . even the right to artificial insemination - as 14 - count ‘em, 14- killers on death row in California sued for their right to leave their heirs attained by artificial insemination. p. 414. John F. Budd, Jr., Speech delivered at Avon Old Farms School in the Barnes Group Lectures, Avon, Connecticut, December l, 1994, “Ambition is Not a ‘Right’ In April l5, l995 Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol. LXI, No. 13, pp. 412-416.

Nothing to Read

Chapter I

Who needs a muse, where there is a mirror? Joyce Carol Oates

N
ormally I wouldn’t be writing a book. Be sure that the idea has crossed my mind and some friends have suggested there is a book in me. I don’t know if this is because I was an English major and they think English majors have books inside of them or because I’ve had some unique experiences in my life that should be expressed for an audience. Well for sure I’ve lived in Greece for long stints of twenty summers and I’ve kept a journal for almost every year. Twenty summers in Greece has resulted in vignettes about lives and issues in Ierissos and Halkidiki but no more exciting than those told by foreigners living in and enjoying Italy and France.

No, I’m writing this book because for the moment I’ve run out of books to read. Well yes, I bring a stash with me each summer, but the problem is I’ve made the mistake of having most mailed from the States and none of the three boxes have arrived. So I’m experiencing one of the most severe situations for an obsessive reader – a void of books. I’m sure there is a name for this in the Psychiatric Encyclopedia of Psychological Disorders. Probably something like BDS -biblio deprivation syndrome. I can’t read the Greek phone directory, because I can’t read Greek. I don’t wish to read my husband’s business texts – there are plenty here but management, marketing, family business and micro-economics will numb my mind, and the places that sell newspapers and magazines don’t have anything in English.

Obviously this means I have another immediate problem. What will I write? First, I thought I might write something short and funny. Perhaps a story about how women behave when they have their comma, exclamation point or semi-colon. Well, so much has been said and written about when women have their period that I thought writing about what they do when they have their other punctuation marks might make a contribution to the literature. But the more I’ve thought about this, the more I thought this might be something to propose as a writing project with other friends – Julie, Mitty, Addie, Mary Agnes, Heather or the full membership of the Trashy Book Club. Indeed I don’t think I could make this topic last for a full book.

August 10, 2002, Ierissos, Greece

I learned last night that the slang used for when girls are having their periods is Gorbachev. I’ll let you figure out why. Sometimes when men are out together having beers, ouzo, or coffees, they say they aren’t going home because of Gorbachev.

I really would like to write a book that I would see people reading on the airplane when I travel to Dayton, Ohio. I’d like to walk by that nice little bookstore in the Dayton International Airport and see it propped up on one of those tables, even if the sign said 30% off these bestsellers. My Kettering colleagues would buy copies for themselves and their friends. I could go to a book signing with my Kettering identification – “May this writing cause you long hours of deliberation”, Mholt.

DJ= Deliberation Joke

It seems a town in Greece had a terrible pothole (Shirley Franklin, mayor of Atlanta should have been consulted I suspect). The pothole was so dangerous that many people ended up in bad car accidents and had to be taken to the hospital. So the city council met and several “approaches” were proposed to dealing with the pothole problem. One astute member of the council felt they should simply build a new hospital next to the pothole. That way when the accidents occur the injured would be close to the emergency room. A second thought that it would be more cost-effective to park an ambulance near the pothole to be always ready to transfer the injured efficiently. The final approach (which was approved by the council) was to fill in the pothole and make a new pothole near the existing hospital. Clearly the modern Greeks use deliberation as wisely as the ancients.


The other topic I have in mind is dark and dreary and is probably a result of the heat wave for the past five days and the problems with water and plumbing. (The water has been shut off at least three times in the city and Costas was jumping around like a banshee in his restaurant last night because of some sewage odor that was wafting in the area. He didn’t have his shirt on and was waving his arms violently and saying some unrepeatable things about the mayor.) One of the good things about not knowing the language well is that I don’t have to seriously deal with local grievances. Although you should know I’ve read Learn Greek in Twenty Five Years cover to cover (a gift from my husband).

Well, the dark and dreary book would be my projections of how things are going to unfold in the world with the escalation of global warming, shortage of water, pissing away of oil, desertification, environmental degradation, gaping and growing abyss dividing rich and poor, uncontrolled spreading of drug resistant diseases, condom-avoiding reproductive habits of most of the earth’s human population, and wars in the Middle East. I’ve never had a therapist or psychiatrist (I’m not bragging mind you. Many would say I should have acquired serious professional help years ago), but I believe writing a book on these matters will assure employing one or both.

Warning signal of bad things to come:

Finding a parking space in Thessaloniki, even in the summer, is like finding a grain of salt in a bag of flour.

The drive to their home was horrendous traffic and the development and abundance of tourists on Cassandra offers a preview to hell. Ierissos, August 23, 2003.

Excerpt from July 28, 2002 Ierissos Journal:

We must be in Delphi September 5-8, where Stell will present at the 2nd International Multidisiciplinary Delphi Conference. The title is: Ecological Dynamics and Human Nature: The risk of a mass extinction of life on the planet. The mover and shaker is this old man, an oncologist, who Stell loves, Dr. Razis. Dr. Razis is the President of the Delphi Society. Here is his letter that is inside the program brochure:

“The 2nd International Delphi Conference will take place on September 5-8, 2002 at Delphi. It will be held under the auspices of the Hellenic Cultural Heritage S.S. Cultural Olympiad 2001-2004 and is organized by the Delphi Society and the National Hellenic Research Foundation.

The topic of the Conference is again the deep social and ecological crisis caused by the human irresponsibility. The recent tragic events in the USA and the polemic response that followed, a dramatic climax of the crisis, make the topic of the conference more timely than ever before. It is now the imminent threat of the use of atomic, biological, and chemical weapons by extremist groups, or even by states. And the specter of a 3rd world war is hovering over the planet. Now anything is possible.

The risks of major catastrophies and extinction of life on planet earth by the population explosion, the paranoid consumption of material goods and energy in the West, the loss of forests and biodiversity, the threat of environmental collapse and the risk from wars with means of mass destruction, are all anthropogenic. These risks are the “side-effects” of the “progress” in physical sciences, technology and biology and, more recently, of the “progress” in robotics, nanotechnology and genetics.

The concept of “progress” is now questioned and a sizable part of scientists and of the laymen is well are of the risks of major catastrophies. They realize that science without ethics is dangerous.

Finally, the negative characteristics of all human Societies from the Athenian Democracy till Modern Western Societies – the abject poverty, imperialism, slavery, insane warfare and genocide – represent the most barbaric characteristics of human behavior and have degraded life in abysmal depths.

The Delphi Society’s approach to these problems is multidisciplinary and is based on understanding human nature and on a unifying biological concert. The design, based on this approach, of a New Global Ethic and of a New Humanism is imperative. The high priority is the preservation of life on the planet. A parallel goal is the attempt to understand and modulate the negative characteristics of Human Societies.

Are all these utopian? Is Human Nature the main cause of pessimism? Yet, Man acquired in the course of his evolution some remarkable characteristics. These gave him not only the ability to adapt, the capacity to understand and plan, the skills to built [sic] and create, but above all, the faculty of self conscience, the intellectual power to ask questions.

Can Man change Humanity? Humanity has actually changed 2 – 3 times during human history. Why can’t it change again?”

We do talk about some very deep, biological and philosophical issues while we watch the sunset here in Greece. Just to give you an idea of the conversations a cool breeze and a scotch can bring out in you, I will provide this short list of some of the 2006 topics:

Do fish sleep?
How did butterflies get their name?
How long is the reproductive power of a seed sustained? That is when should you just toss them aside and not anticipate anything popping through the dirt?
Do birds sneeze?
What is the lifespan of a grasshopper?
And this year’s favorite: What is the real purpose of pubic hair?

We look up lots of words in our Webster’s Dictionary as well, and each morning and evening we read a poem. Recently we’ve been reading poetry of Billy Collins, who was once upon a time, poet laureate of the United States. This was a gift from my friend Julie in Colorado, and I must boast that it is autographed by the author. He wrote a poem (which would be most appropriate to read on Mother’s Day if you attend a Unitarian Fellowship or similar liberal community gathering) about a lanyard. We had to look that word up in the dictionary.

We also use the Webster’s a lot. Stell said he felt like my “pimp” the other day because as we drove through the village guys would stop to embrace and kiss me. You may be interested to know that the origin of “pimp” is unknown. One of the guys was Tolis and the other Courtsula (a nickname for Yannis Bless which translates: chickenpoop). We looked up lope and elope, because I always tell Stell that the fox lopes. Lope led us to elope and you might be surprised to learn that the first definition is a married woman who runs off with her lover, and the second definition is a couple running away to marry generally without the okay of parents. We did “helm” and “stern” again, because even though Stell (Captain Omega) sails, we get them confused. (Ierissos,July 19, 2003)

Stellios has not been too happy with most of the poems I carted to Greece this year, because the language in several was crude or they were about morbid topics. (He too has run out of books and is anxiously awaiting the boxes I mailed because they include a few of his business magazines.) I tried convincing him to read Lovely Bones, but after a couple of chapters he was grimacing like he does when we hit upon a poem containing words like fart, fuck, or shit. Of course he does have the advantage of being able to read Greek newspapers, although he said there wasn’t anything in the Sunday paper that he hadn’t already heard on the BBC. You know it is similar to the echolalia of a news-breaking story on CNN. Echolalia is one of Theroux’s favorite words in Hotel Honolulu, by the way. (Does anyone know if Paul Theroux and Gay Talese are friends? If not somebody needs to introduce them. I won’t go into why except to say you will understand if you read what they write. Their Muses are bent in the same sort of way.)

Explanation of a poem written by an older man here in Ierissos:

Two brothers bought a bottle of ouzo on credit to take to a religious festival to sell and make some money. On their way they agreed not to sell it to anyone unless they had drachmas(money). They stopped under a tree to catch their breath. One brother searches his pockets and finds one drachma. He said to his brother, “Demetri, I’ve got one drachma. Let me have a glass of ouzo.” After a while Demetri hands the drachma to his brother and says, “Georgio, I have one drachma, let me have a glass of ouzo.” So the same drachma goes back and forth until the bottle is empty. When they went back to the man from whom they bought the ouzo on credit and told him the story, he got a chuckle out of it and gave them more ouzo and they repeated their good time. Ierissos, August 4, 2003

Other topics which have some sustaining power for me are how much most people like to control other people, and most of the ideas explored by Isaiah Berlin, Amartya Sen, Robert Kaplan, and sometimes Thomas Friedman. If I choose the dark and dreary route I described a few paragraphs ago, it would counter the hopefulness of Friedman, who still thinks if we can get all the angry young Iraqi boys in college and then have them land lucrative jobs in computer companies, all will turn out well and democracy will flourish. This high hopes attitude is the same that pops out at the end of Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth. If the people have a will to stop global warming and execute everything in the laundry list that is bulleted in the credits at the end of the movie, then we can turn this Earthship around. Definitely the wish of educated grandparents, but not consistent with what I observe in Athens, Georgia or Athens, Greece. “Whoops, there goes another rubber tree plant.”
(Being from Akron, Ohio, that little jingle has far graver meaning to me than a lot of other people.)

Jeez, Louise. None of these topics are grabbing me. It’s 11:30 a.m. at Stavraqu (the name of our Greek home), and time to put on the bathing suits go for an ouzo and swim and hopefully the Muse of Ierissos will land in the sand by my towel and when I return the topic of this book will be made clear and what follows will be worthy of a spot in the Dayton bookstore.

A line Stell read to me from a journal he was reading: “I have all the money I’ll ever need if I die by four o’clock this afternoon.”] (Ierissos, July 28, 2002)

Chapter II

M
y Muse is still missing. I stayed by my towel in the hot sun as long as I could endure, but there was not the slightest flash of an idea. I had all the natural stimulants a girl could ask for. The deep silky blue Aegean, tinkling goat bells, a huge hunting hawk gliding over the fields and a special pizza at the Casa Ni. Nothing worked. When I get in this idea-less state I really come to value those who have a weekly job to create a cartoon, write a column, or prepare a sermon. They have somehow learned the wine bars or Starbucks where their Muses hang out. I don’t think my Muse is a barfly, and I’m sure she doesn’t listen to rock or rap, but just where the hell she’s lolly-gagging escapes me. I’m not A-Mused. Is my Muse tired, bored, lazy, dumb, pre-occupied or just one of those types who gets their jollies out of seeing someone suffer? My Muse is probably a schadenfreude. Why can’t I have a Muse of some dignity and stature? Maybe I can convince Barbara Kingsolver to loan me her Muse for a week. I mean what harm would that do?

I’ve been thinking of taking the easy way out. I could do some kind of qualitative analysis of my journal entries for the past twenty years, categorize the topics, dust them off and put them in the following chapters. Most people won’t notice. I also thought I would have a few pages at the end of this book of my twenty-favorite photographs. If pictures say a thousand words those twenty pictures could count for about ten pages, if I run two per page. Or five pages if I run four per page. Do the math.

When my Muse didn’t show yesterday I started making a list of titles of these photos, but didn’t finish:

· The Old Woman and the Umbrella
· The Little Girl with the Ice-Cream
· Man with his Tomato Cart
· Stell on the End of the Dock in a Speedo (my son doesn’t think it is a good idea to make this public)
· Pregnant Bride
· Three generations of the Karavasillis Family
· Elaine Karavasillis (modern version of Cleopatra)
· A Wine Cellar in Kassandra
· Me being kissed by Chickenpoop (Greek friend’s nickname)

I could have another chapter that describes all the books I’ve read in Greece over twenty years. But let’s be honest, does anyone really care? That’s about as stimulating as looking at people’s summer vacation slides. Have you ever met anyone who said they had such a fun evening looking at two wheels of slides of other people walking around Disneyland looking for Mickey Mouse or hiking through Rock City? About as exhilarating as burnt toast.

Sex, politics, and religion are really overworked. I’m beginning to think that my Muse has a learning disorder and only sends me signals of what won’t work.

Greek “sex” and “religion” jokes:

What are the characteristics you should look for toward a good marriage? There are four criteria:

1)a wife who is an excellent cook and homemaker, 2) a wife with money, 3) a wife who is a dynamic sexual partner, and 4) a snowball’s chance in hell that these three women will meet one another.

One of our cousins, Evenia, was giving me some tomatoes from her garden. She also tossed in a large, long zucchini and with a huge grin explained it was “in case of an emergency.”

One man says to another- Is your wife hot in bed?
Reply: Some say yes, some say no.

With the euro being used as the currency in Greece now, the drachma had all died and wanted to go to heaven. The one drachma got to the Pearly Gates and St. Peter said, welcome go on in. The same happened for the five drachma and ten drachma all the way up to the 5000. When the l0,000 drachma note started to move through the gates, St. Peter said “whoa, wait a minute. Where are you headed?” Following the l0,000 drachma were many of the even higher denominations. They all replied “we are going into heaven.” “Oh no, you aren’t,” said St. Peter. “But why not the smaller change has been accepted” they cried. St. Peter said “that’s right. But I have never seen you in church.”



Chapter Three

D
o you think people who don’t read can write books? Maybe if my book parcels that are obviously lost in the bowels of some post office in Dusseldorf or being held hostage in a mailbag in Perugia could escape, just the sight of them would set my creative juices flowing. I’m having a flare-up of my BDS. I did play a game of free-cell like they tell people combating Alzheimer’s to do, but I can’t do any crossword puzzles, because they’re all in Greek. Do you know what it like to not do a single crossword puzzle in six weeks? Synapses stop firing and your brain takes annual leave.

I held out the rare hope that listening to the BBC this morning might work. Neither the massive task of holding elections in the Congo, the culture of Google, nor the forthcoming sabbatical of the President of Latvia fertilized any ideas that would set my keyboard afire. Although the story about Dell computers being recalled because of experiences of spontaneous combustion held a little promise. Can you imagine what it would be like to be typing on your laptop and all of a sudden it burst into flames? What would you think? Your ideas were too hot? This was the first signal of the rapture? Or how stupid not to buy the extra insurance policy when you purchased your computer? And think of the advertising slogans Dell now has at its disposal: Dell is Hell, No Wonder People have a Burning Desire for Dell, or Let Dell Light Up your Life!
Stellios says it is not fair for me to poke fun at Dell, because it was really the Sony battery causing the laptops to burst into flames. Problem is, Sony doesn’t rhyme with hell.

So for a moment I thought my Muse might be disguised as the BBC, but alas this was not the case. I just shut down with the sports news, especially stories of cricket or disqualifications of athletes because of steroids. It boggles my mind that newspapers may have one section devoted to “books” and at least two sections on “sports”. Maybe I should have a little section here describing what I won’t write about:

· Sports (although I find the thought of a book about luging or bowling rather captivating. And look at the success of Putnam’s Bowling Alone. Maybe the clue to getting your book in the Dayton International Airport Bookstore is to have a sports word in the title? Hmmm – beach volley scholarships, synchronized diving and undocumented workers, use and abuse of clay pigeons, pub darts and friendly fire.) Maybe my BDS is lifting.

Yesterday we took the ferryboat from Tripiti to the island closest to Ierissos called Amulani. Very expensive (62¢ per person ). For about ten minutes we walked around the island trying to find the home of our friend from Augusta, Georgia, Christos Daglis. He was born on this island and just considers it incredible that he eventually found his way to the U.S. and into a sales job with GE. Now he’s retired and has a beautiful home in Augusta. Keeps trying to convince Stell and me to accompany him to the Masters. Although we like Christos and his wife Ioanna a lot, we both have as much interest in golf as a mouse fart ( a new expression I got from reading The Sportswriter, Ierissos, July 20, 2003).

I’m about as interested in seeing another monastery as I am excited about Georgia football. Reminds me of visiting forts in the U.S. Ierissos, August 2, 2003

· Pets (Everyone who knows me realizes I won’t write about pets. No point in even talking about it.)
Sex, Religion, Politics (as mentioned earlier) .

Beginning August l there can be no parties or weddings until after August l5th. Also, the fasting will begin. Here, as I think, almost everywhere only the women and the holy men fast. The men are supposed, too, but they just don’t take religion as seriously as the women. They start showing up at church in their eighth decade if they don’t succumb earlier to the dark side of ouzo. Stell said the youth are less and less inclined to participate, too. (Ierissos, July 28, 2002)

Now is the fasting period until August 15th. Mostly a few women fast, occasionally a man or two, but like in most places the women tend to practice the religious observations most. Ierissos, August 6, 2003
We came back to Ierissos after lunch and slept for just an hour before we had to get dressed for the memorial. When we got to the church, no one was in the church, but they were all in the adjacent church hall. The room was full of little old ladies, most of them dressed in black. We had to sit at the head table with the priest because we were family. Nothing was said. The liturgy had already happened at the church. Church women served little boxes of orange juice, a sweet mixture with wheat in a dixie cup, Greek coffee, little cookies and other sweet snacks. The mixture in the dixie cup is a common funeral food. Almost as soon as we got there the memorial was over. Several people came to the head table to pay their respects. Stell said the priest was the son of Greek Romanians, and he was like Father Anthony in Athens, Georgia, studying in Thessaloniki. (Ierissos, July 15, 2002)

The Ierissos party was cancelled on Saturday, so it has been rescheduled for August 10th – this surprises me because I thought we couldn’t have parties in this period until August l5th, but Stell says as long as we don’t eat meat and stick with fish all is well. Mary Caravassillis starts her fasting today. I imagine Vanessa is doing the same. Almost none of the men fast here except for the priests and monks. Also, the young adults here don’t appear to be participating in this religious practice. Makis was all in a frenzy the other night because his best friend, Alecos, said he had sinned because he had sex with his wife on Good Friday. Alecos told Makis he would go to hell. Makis wanted Stell to affirm that this would not be the case. (Ierissos, August 1, 2002).


· Daily Pill Ingestion of Elderly People in Greece and the US: A Comparative Analyses
· Life Cycles of Anything
· Criminals
· North or South Dakota
· Weather Conditions
· Driving Directions and Divorce
· Car Engines

I guess what a person won’t write about tells you something about him or her. I did hear an American writer interviewed on Chinese Radio International, however, talking about something he called “deep space.” He said what we intentionally declare we won’t write about is what becomes central. Reminded me of one of William Irwin Thompson’s books (At the Edge of History?) with a chapter called “We Become What We Hate.” A frightening thought. Think if this were so of all the children who would become lima beans.

Chapter IV

T
he heat wave has lifted and the only thing bothering me is my right sinus, so this may be the day my Muse strikes.

I do like the topic of “attention” a lot. I’ve read one book only, but it was from a perspective of marketing and how to bring attention to your product or your message. I do find the consideration of how to bring attention to your message good, but not in a marketing sense. I like the inscription on the Gandhi statue in DC, for example, that reads “My life is my message.” Most would agree he got a lot of worthy attention with his life.

Today is laiki (open markets) in Ierissos – a flea market with food and clothing, everything. There will be a lot of traffic congestion, but it fun to wander through the stalls and to hear the merchants’ attempts to engage you in purchasing. You can get just about anything from a brassiere to a banana. (Ierissos, August 5, 2003)

Don’t you think most people have perspectives they want other people to notice? Lots of people have underdeveloped notions of what they want other people to do. This is where I have noticed this control objective in the behavior of way too many individuals. Their thinking seems more to be I want you to do this or that rather than I would hope you would consider this or that. Some display such a confidence that they have figured life out in such a way that if we all don’t follow their insights things will only get worse.
Suicide bombers are probably the best examples of this zealotry. You’ve got to admit a suicide bomber can muster a lot of attention.

A really fascinating consideration for me is it appears most people work hard, often unconsciously, to get the attention of other people, so much so that their concentration on what anybody else is trying to convey is diminished. The other day I watched about six Greek guys drinking ouzo at Sultana’s. Everyone was talking at once about the best route from Ierissos to Ionnina. It looked at little like the scene in the Lake Wobegon movie with Meryl Streep and Lilly Tomlin talking across one another, only multiplied by three. Each concentrated fully on his evidence, six mouths moving, twelve ears closed for business. Had any of them actually been to Ionnina I wondered?

I doubt if anyone has researched the topic of cultural differences in attention. A lot of Greeks, I’ve noticed, seemed to be totally oblivious to your physical proximity if you are out of context. That is, if you know them from a taverna or shop and then see them in the grocery store, they may not acknowledge your presence unless you say “hello”. Once you do that, a big smile will come across their faces followed by a lively exchange. People in big cities generally display this characteristic, but in Greece it is true in the small villages as well. More specifically the matter of “eye contact” with others in different cultures is intriguing to me.
But more, I wonder what kinds of things people are thinking and observing when they walk down the street. “Who are the people in your neighborhood? The people who you meet as your walking down the street each day?” (Sesame Street jingle).

On Friday morning (in Thessaloniki) we had coffee, and I had to shove aside a Turkish woman and her daughter who kept trying to swipe Stell’s chair while he was getting our coffee. They were with a huge group waiting for the Turkish consulate to open. Normally I would not behave this way, but in some situations you have to learn to push and shove or people will really take advantage of you. I’ve learned you just have to do this sometime to survive in the city. (Ierissos, August 2, 2003).

I learned early on how to shove in airports, because if I didn’t I’d miss my flight or never get my bags. I don’t have to shove in the bank anymore because they’ve adopted “take a number”, although some people still try to squeeze ahead. When they do a lot of snarling occurs.

As much as those who teach yoga applaud breathing exercises, I do think it would be good to teach “attention” exercises. Has the world become so crowded, or so arrogant, that we fail to notice and acknowledge our neighbors? Does it bother you when you hear that people of any country do not acknowledge the existence of others?
I mean those Palestinians aren’t very convincing are they. Israel is right there, but they don’t see it. Isn’t there some irony in the statement, “I can see you, but you don’t exist.” What should the UN do? Assign ghost status to certain areas?

Of course there are many gender implications for this topic as well. In many places if a woman were to make eye contact or speak out with a greeting this would be interpreted as fresh or flirtatious. Often gender recognition trumps humanity.

Without a doubt we have too many people in the U.S. who are not paying attention. The Senate Report from a committee chaired by a slow poke Republican has confirmed there were no weapons of mass destruction, Hussein was not linked to the terrorists of 9/11, and he was not manufacturing the ingredients essential to develop nuclear weaponry. People fret about drugs in America, and they should. A majority of the population is clearly over-dosed and over-dozed. It’s pretty pathetic when most of the “citizens” are tuned into Reality TV and American Idol and oblivious to the catastrophe on the horizon. If I produced a “reality” tv show, the background music would be fiddled by Nero. Maybe I’d name my program “When in Rome.”

My friend Dan Mulhern, the First Gentleman of Michigan (he’s married to the Governor) writes a great column and once wrote about a quality of wise people he called “emotional wisdom”:

EMOTIONAL WISDOM

Positive self-regard is related to maturity… emotional wisdom
Leaders seem to retain many of the positive characteristics of a child: enthusiasm for people; spontaneity, imagination, and unlimited capacity to learn new behaviors.

Emotional wisdom reflects itself in the way people relate to others.

The Five Skills

· The ability to accept people as they are.
· The capacity to approach relationships and problems in terms of the present rather than the past.
· The ability to treat those who are close to you with the same courteous attention that you extend to strangers and casual acquaintances.
· The ability to trust others, even if the risk seems great.
· The ability to do without constant approval and recognition from others.

Chapter V

I
just reread the stuff about attention in Chapter IV and dozed off, so I’ve got to try something else. It’s not right to pick up the favorite topics of your significant others either. Nic writes a lot about time travel, Stacy and Paris are learned in parapsychology. They know the difference between spirits and ghosts for example, and I can’t delve into international business systems because Stell got there first and monopolizes and thinks he owns that one. I’ve thought of putting them all together and with this synergy have something truly unique. To be sure ghosts, spirits and time travel relate well, but I haven’t figured out how to make that work with international business systems. Some suggest who buy into the TOE Theory (Theory of Everything) that there is a relationship between all ideas. Stacy and Paris say the difference between spirits and ghosts is that spirits are the ever-lingering presence of people who died naturally with things pretty positively resolved in their lives. Ghosts however are the ones who left with some ugly unresolved issues.(Casper must have been misclassified in that case.) I guess you could create an excel file of international business luminaries and using some axis of time travel (knowledge of their past and predictions of their future) predict who would end up a spirit and who would end up a ghost. That would surely land some bright, aspiring doctoral student a Proxmire Award.

In a way, Charles Dickens did some good work on this with the Ghosts of Christmas theme, and although Scrooge and the others weren’t really into international business, capital was a central problem.

I guess if I really pursue this idea there will have to be some questionnaire created to collect data:

Check the appropriate box:
Futures

Spirit
Ghost
Purgatory
Bill Gates



Warren Buffett



George Soros



Martha Stewart



Ted Turner




Chapter VI

M
y Muse stinks. I’ve let at least three days pass thinking that I was just a little obsessed about finding an idea for this book, and that like people trying too hard to get pregnant, if I just stopped concentrating so hard, it would just happen. Well no inspired mental sperm has pinged my egg. I tried to relax my cerebral ovaries by reading two books and some of Billy Collins’ poetry but this has resulted in no writing rapture. I find nothing to move me to words on the BBC. The top news story today was about an Israeli study that found higher rates of autism in children who were begat of older men. Intriguing, but I don’t see me weaving this into a novel or some philosophical piece. Some writers talk about dry spells. My Muse has left me in a desert at the height of global warming.

It is really nice to have electricity again. What a concept. (Ierissos, July 28, 2002 )

Stell has gone to the village this morning to see if he can purchase a water heater. He just can’t endure the cold showers, but I can adjust to them with no problem. We both are getting a little stinky however, since we haven’t been swimming or bathed for two days. I imagine we will take showers today or I will develop a crust. (Ierissos, July 28, 2002)

So on the “to do” list is to have Christos come up and see what supplies he will need to repair the solar water heater (I mean to tell you the shower last night was even colder than a witch’s tit). (Ierissos, July 30, 2002. )

Imagine I’ve had only cold showers since I arrived July 9 – I do just fine, but Stell wimps out and is crying for hot showers. (Ierissos,August 1, 2002)
I just had to suspend typing here for a few minutes because Stell wanted me to get a photograph of Lakis and Christos on the roof with the new solar panel. Stell is all excited because he feels tonight he will be able to take a hot shower. (Ierissos, August 4, 2002).

Two nights ago we had a tepid shower as the solar voltaic began to kick into gear, and last night we had a HOT shower for the first time since I’ve been in Greece. It almost felt wrong. (Ierissos, August 6, 2002)

Of course we always have to have a challenge at the house. This time it has something to do with the water heater, so a new something or other has to be ordered. We went down to the apartment last night to take showers. No matter what, we always work it out . . . but the challenges are not for the faint of heart or those who demand creature comforts on a continual basis. For me these minor and temporary hassles never overwhelm the good stuff. (Ierissos, July 20, 2006)

Oh, in case you are wondering about the water situation, we have had the new boiler installed – the plumber was finally able to get the guy with the crane up here. Vassilly, the plumber, has had a little trouble with the setup, because the boiler was designed to be connected to two solar panels and we only have one. However, yesterday and today he did some jerry-rigging, and says that he is 99% certain we will have hot water tonight. Last night I took a cold shower, which is really not as bad as it sounds. Stellios, however, our new prince and the pea, wants a hot shower, so he’s staying on task to make it happen. (Ierissos, August 6, 2006)

All’s well here, and as a matter of fact there is a big surprise. We have had the ditch dug today for the pipes for city water, and Stell has also decided to hook up to electricity. After twenty years it is just going to be so weird to have uninterrupted water and electricity. (Ierissos, July 22, 2006)

Really hot, and we haven’t had water for two weeks. Well of course we have drinking water, but Stell had to buy a new boiler, which finally arrived, but now we need a guy with a crane to put it on the roof. The line is completely installed for a hook up to city water, but the city workers are very busy so that might take weeks. However, once the boiler is installed we can use the water in the water tank and resume showers. I have learned to be very creative in washing my hair. (Ierissos, July 28, 2006)

Perhaps a useful piece would be one that would inspire people to think of how they are going to manage when we slide below peak oil. How are people going to try and adjust when they can’t move about because there simply is no fuel? Think about where you now live. Now suppose next Wednesday you drive to the BP Station and instead of one of the pumps being covered, all twelve pumps are covered, and this not so pretty picture is repeated at all the petrol shops within a twenty mile radius of your home. Don’t think this through much farther to all the parts of the system that will be wiped out or changed when this happens unless you have readily available medication for severe depression or a big bottle of Johnny Walker Black.

This new depression is going to make the one your folks told you about seem like a cakewalk. It’s not too early to begin figuring out which parts of your yard you might turn into your vegetable garden or where you will house your chickens, sow, and goat. Makes me so glad my Aunt Vi taught me how to pluck the boiled feathers from the chickens, and my Dad taught me how to skin a rabbit. These skills have gone rusty, but I’m sure just like riding a bike (which is another great skill to have) these self-preservation skills will return with some practice. In the meantime you may see some of your neighbors running about like those proverbial chickens with their heads cut off when their Hummers and SUVs are running on empty. And for goodness sakes don’t Seven Dust your dandelions. They’re delicious stewed in a little goat cream sauce or simply tossed into a salad.

We continue to listen to the Vatican News and/or BBC so we get all the reports on the mideast turmoil- Baghdad, Lebanon. Sure sounds like the start of WWIII. (Ierissos, July 28, 2006)

Maybe that Altoid I sucked before writing the above could be renamed aMuseMint. Although there is little amusing about this message and hearing George W. Bush talk about nuclear power, battery operated cars, and ethanol is like hearing Hugh Hefner is attending a tent revival in Branson, Missouri.


Email from my friend Natalie, May 23, 2007 :

Great one Auntie M. Thankfully, I can at least walk to the grocery store in an emergency. I don't consider it far-fetched that the government may need to go back to the fuel lines and rationing strategies of the 70's. Although a vague recollection, waiting in line with my parents and only going to the gas station on certain days of the week was a curious adventure.

Americans are so clueless about the very thin membrane of security (economic, social, national, etc) that currently supports and connects us. Reality comes and goes so quickly here, just as tragedies pass like the bad dreams of a small child. Traumatic while happening-- but soon forgotten for the next aMuseMint!

Just saw a report today that people are trading in their SUVs for hybrids. When that isn't enough, what next? The land of convenience, instant gratification, and easy credit will be hard pressed to make new global friends to ease the pain--goodness knows that changing our way of life will only happen AFTER it is way too late. It feels like America may become like a cheap date, in a dive bar, taking a watered-down drink from anyone who's offering.

Oh I yearn for the good old days! Whenever those were.

See you soon!

N

Chapter VII

S
eptember has slipped into Greece with nice cool mornings and warm afternoons – and at its beginning is capped off each night with a mesmerizing full moon. I have been hoping that I will find my Muse on that Moon, but the face is just the same old man. With a little paranoia you can imagine him chortling some snooty pleasure over my missing Muse. I’ve considered Mooning the Moon, but Stellios is always around and I cannot think of how to justify such an act to your husband. I don’t have any sense of what a psychiatric ward is like in Thessaloniki and I don’t want to chance it. Paris would understand my urge to moon something, but he’s not here.

The moon is definitely arrogant because it has been worshipped by writers, rhymers and poets ad nauseam. Lovers, Dracula, Cows and Pies all have been elevated because of their association with the moon. The name “moon” is silly, to be sure. It sounds like a cow-sound. That is probably why that one cow jumped over it. Some Montana herder said “moon, moon” and poor Elsie was in heat and the rest is history. In Greek it is called figari. So much lovelier, I think. Languages that end in vowels are definitely superior to those that end in consonants. That is why you have never heard of the Dutch Opera. They were smart to stick with tulips and cheese.

Chapter VIII

S
tavraqu and life in Greece generally has afforded much contact with flora and fauna. The best book in the world to read on this topic is Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals which offers a great description of his experiences with creatures on Corfu, a Greek Island that is over-run with Brits. Here are some excerpts from my journals of some of these encounters:

We have an outbreak of wasps and a salamander made it into the bathroom last night. It was tiny and if it was trying to be frightening, it failed. Stell has just tied an old cloth onto the end of a long stick which he will he will set afire to burn the wasps and their homes. He’s tried spraying with something like Raid, but that seems just to kill those who are the direct victims and have no effect on the troops off the front lines. So Stell has resolved to use the incineration process. There are innumerable hawks soaring over the wheat fields trying to spot mice, snakes, and other hawk-cuisine. (at this moment the wasps have been cremated). (Ierissos, August 5, 2003).

Should mention that the fox crossed the road on the way to the village last night. I think I will call him Elvis and say this was my fourth sighting. (Ierissos, August 6, 2003)

Right now as I sit at this computer I can hear the bells of the cows and the Albanian herder who is obviously annoyed with the herd and is swearing his head off. Sometimes when they are moving through, the herders sing and this is beautiful. (Ierissos, August 8, 2003)

The house was great. Giant rose bushes loaded with roses, oleander in full bloom, spartinas so tall they blocked the view of the sea. (Ierissos, July 11, 2002)

As I sit here typing the cowherd has passed through and now a few hundred goats are being herded across the golden wheat fields. There are so many birds this year and they are noisy. Stell thinks more and more wildlife is returning because of the banning of DDT. (July 11, 2002)

I took photos of the roses, the vineyard (Malcolm will be pleased to know that the vines have grown dramatically and there are a few grapes.) I do know from the Caravasillis that the grapes are red – I’m glad. This would have been my choice. A pear tree Stell has grafted is loaded with pears. We picked two bags and took one to Maria. Most of the others are in the refrigerator. (Ierissos, July 11, 2002).

Last night was probably the funniest event of the trip so far. We decided to walk down to the sea, and we found Haris, Vetta, and Demetri (Nic stayed once with Demetri in Thessaloniki). They were having a fish dinner at Mitakos. While we sat talking with them, a tiny Albanian man came to our table with a plastic bag. Something was moving in the bag - a hedgehog. He handed the bag to Stell. I guessed that Stell just wanted a closer look, but in fact he was accepting the hedgehog. He planned to bring him to Stavraqu to live with us. He carried him back up town in the plastic bag. The hedgehog was edgy. Well wouldn’t you be if somebody toted you through town in a plastic bag? Finally at a kiosk we found a cardboard box, so he was transferred to the box where he stayed next to us while we had a retsina at Galitsanos. Then we brought him up the bumpy dirt road and deposited him? Her? underneath the pear tree. Stell said they love fruit. I’m sure Isaiah Berlin would appreciate knowing that we reside with the Fox and the Hedgehog. We have not seen the Allipoo, yet, but the hunter Stelios is hoping I spot her, because he promised not to shoot her if I brought him a bottle of Johnny Walker Black. I have the scotch, but I won’t deliver until I see her sleeking across the field or catch her in the headlights one night. (Ierissos, July 11, 2002)

As long as you live near only a Hedgehog and a Fox, anything goes. The only other “animal events” have been the removal of a couple of swallows who flew inside. Fortunately Stell rescued them before they broke their necks flying into the windows. (Ierissos, July 11, 2002)

While we were having lunch (wonderful green beans, salad, fried potatoes and eggs, a type of octopus fixed like beef jerky), and pita, another guy came by and had a couple of beers. It turns out he is a beekeeper. He has 400 hives, so we got a lot of information on raising bees. He’s in love with these insects. I have requested some local honey. I learned that he gathers honey about five times a year. (Ierissos, July 11, 2002)

· Stell caught a little mouse last night. There isn’t much evidence of many of them this year. (Ierissos, July 12, 2002)

· We still haven’t spotted the fox, and the hedgehog likewise has not showed his face. Perhaps they have a conference underway honoring Isaiah Berlin? (Ierissos, July 14, 2002)

· Before I close, I should tell you that Stell spent about thirty minutes working to snip back the spartina. It was terribly difficult. His clippers weren’t quite up to the task, but he managed to cut some of them back a little. I had to help him get out of the black rubber boots when he stopped. He was covered with scratches from the jungle. (Ierissos, July 14, 2002)

· There is still no sign of the fox and Stelios the Hunter is getting anxious for his Johnny Walker Black – but no fox no scotch is my motto. (Ierissos, July 15, 2002)

· As you can see by the date it has been quite a long time since I wrote in this journal. The main reason is that we haven’t had electricity for several days at the house. Some mice have discovered they like the taste of one of the cables that connects to the solar power and Stell also had to have a fuse replaced in the inverter. (Ierissos, July 24, 2002)

· Our house is full of crickets, an occasional mouse that has the skill to get the cheese in the trap without doing harm to himself, and a bird or two that sweeps in when we the door open. When this happens, Stell goes on a rescue mission and corners the bird and then throws it out the door. We have also rescued one frog downtown that was hopping across the main drag where there is lots of traffic. We shooed him into the park. He didn’t even offer a croak of thanks. (Ierissos, July 24, 2002)

· Yannis had too much to drink when we saw him at Galitsanos, so we gave him a lift home. His brilliant dog, Hectar, followed the jeep all the way home. If you see Hectar you know Yannis is close by. (Ierissos, July 24, 2002)

· Stell captured one more snake outside the kitchen door. He traps them in fishing net. It was almost six feet. We also trap at least one mouse a day. Stell always believes this is the last mouse. I have tried to explain the reproductive prowess of mice, but he seems assured that there will be an end to them going for the cheese. The experience here gives a whole new meaning to “Who Moved My Cheese.” (Ierissos, July 28, 2002)

· About 200 goats, I “Kid” you not, are moving down the road away from our house – brown, white, black, and calico. Yes, many goats are calico. Is calico restricted to cats? I think not. (August 1, 2002)

Cleaning The Ass. I know that sounds like a crude title but it actually is appropriate for a new story. Aggelos The Shepherd bought a new donkey. When he needed to do some tending to his sheep he ask his four-year-old grandson, Aggelos The Micro, to watch the donkey so that know one would steal it. When he finished with the sheep and got back to his grandson, he discovered the child washing the donkey with the garden hose. He said it needed a bath like his bicycle! (Ierissos, August 6, 2002)

Years ago I read My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, a book I might reread. I decided it was time to tell you about the “fauna” situation here at our places. We don’t seem to be catching as many mice as in previous years, although we have trapped three or four – babies. Every other day a little bird seems to get inside the house . . . little sparrows. Most of the time, if they don’t overdo their imitation of kamikaze pilots and crash into the windows, Stell can corner them and release to the great outdoors. Of course there are grasshoppers everywhere, inside and out. Once in a while we feed a dead one to the parade of ants that go back and forth across the seams of the patio. They drag the carcass along in for them what has to be a moveable feast. We have seen a few turtles, and the fox as I’ve already said has been spotted twice. Also, the herders bring the cows, goats, and sheep across the fields, and the sound of their little bells is our favorite lullaby. There are horses and occasionally a donkey in the fields on the drive to the village. George Bless took us to his garden a couple of days ago and we saw his wonderful chickens and ducks (in a row). He gave us a good supply of eggs and tomatoes. A cat had recently birthed four kittens and they were in a little nest on the edge of the garden. Stell is going to tell the hunters, Nicos and Stellios, to be on the lookout for porcupines, and if they find a pair to put them in a bag and release them up here. So far no snakes, but we usually see one or two before I leave. One likes to hang out near the water depository. We don’t kill them because they are helping control the mice population. Lots of seagulls fly back and forth our property to the different sides of this peninsula and they have discovered the remaining wheat and other grains. Of course, daily we see the hawks for which this place is named. Hummingbirds have discovered the blossoms of the mimosas. Our environmental observation is that the plentiful rains and the reduced use of pesticides are allowing a return of animals to the area. The fishermen, however, report an unbelievable decline in their catch. I guess the last word on this topic for now is that the damn birds are so loud in the morning that Stell will often open the door and scream at them to get lost. They quiet for a few seconds and then immediately resume their screaming. My view is they were here first. (Ierrisos, July 29, 2003)

Aggelos brought our lawn mowers (his herd of sheep) up to start their job on the grass this morning. It will probably take a couple of days for them to complete all the nibble-mowing. When you think about it they are excellent machines, because not only do they mow but simultaneously they fertilize the yard. (Ierrisos, July 30, 2003)

Oh, there is one very exciting piece of news from Stavraqu. Last night before we made our way down to the Village, we were sitting here sipping our scotch and out of the bushes and on their way to my vineyard were three little foxes. At first they seemed skittish, but the skittish turned into curious and they pranced around in the driveway as if they owned the place. We now suspect that there are several nests circling the house. Maybe we will have to consider renaming the property from Stavraqu to Foxrun or Allipo Acres. (Ierissos, July 31, 2006)

While I have been typing this the background noise has been a hundred bells from the little goat symphony and the Albanian herder recently has been singing dramatically (except when he stops to ream out the goats if they move in the wrong direction). When Nic first saw all the goats across the valley on a hillside, he said, “what are all those little dots”. So watching them move from field to field now making me think I am following the dots. (August 6, 2006)

Yesterday we had a good sighting in our driveway. A young turtle that had a pattern of the two we rescued a couple of years ago was crossing from one side to the other, so who knows? We do know for a fact that there are lots of coyotes in dens around the house, because whenever a military plane flies over, they start to howl in one continuous chorus. Hunting season will begin in a few days, but we won’t allow hunters on the property so I’m trying to send vibes and signals to all the critters to move onto this sanctuary at least until the hunting ends. (Ierissos, August 16, 2006)

So that’s all the news that’s fit to print here at Stavraqu, except perhaps that we saw a hawk fly into my vineyard. This is good because the hawk won’t eat the grapes, but it will pursue the other birds that do eat the grapes. (August 16, 2006)



Chapter IX

F
amily life has undergone enormous changes since I’ve been coming to Greece. Here are some excerpts that speak of elderly, children, and marital relationships:

One piece of sad news I forgot to write was that several nights ago we saw smoke rising from a spot in the village and we heard the fire siren. Stell guessed it was a parquet shop, but this was incorrect. An older man set his house afire and he died inside. He had made a statement earlier that he had cared for his four children, but now that they were older and married they seemed uncommitted to him. A Greek tragedy. We drove by the house – black, gutted and then we heard the knell, which always reminds me of Donnes’ For Whom the Bell Tolls – do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. (Ierissos, August 5, 2003)

Anna, Georgios’ bride-to-be has started living at the Caravasillis with her husband-to-be. This reminds me of the Amish practice of bundling, except nobody requires the bundling.(Ierissos, July 11, 2002).

We have adopted a new “waiter-of-the-season”, Vassilly at Galitsano’s. Stelios Galitsano who hired him, says he is from a broken home, and sometimes at the end of the evening he asks if he can take left over souvlaki or gyros home for his mother. He’s l5, and needless to say Stell and I are giving him some special attention. (July 15, 2002)

Our most fascinating evolving story is the young waiter, Vassilly, at Galitsanos. Vasso sat with us last night and told us more of his circumstances. He’s fifteen, she thinks his father is in jail, and his mother neglects him. Vassilly had a bad case of acne, so when Vasso got medicine for her own daughter, she also got some for Vassilly, and every day he looks better and better. Stelios, her husband, has gotten glasses for Vassilly. Vasso scolded his mother the other day. She said, your son has been working for us for one month and you haven’t come by to ask how he’s doing. He adores Stell, and he loves to tease both of us. Stelios Galitsanos is a hero. He frequently finds these kids who have some kind of problems and he hires them, trains them to work at his restaurant, and in so many other ways gives them a “way” to move ahead with a little better life. (Ierissos, July 17, 2002).

Vassilis has been wearing his glasses and really hanging close to Stell and me. I still think Vasso and Stelios Galitsanos should receive a gold metal for the interest in this l5 year old boy – we think his father is somewhere in jail and his mother doesn’t seem to care about him at all. He’s working very hard at the restaurant, and he has a great attitude despite his circumstances. I just hope he can realize that his life can get better. His glasses are so strong that I can understand completely why he had not bee doing well in school. (Ierissos, July 24, 2002)

Nine boys (young men) in the village will be leaving for their army stint in the next few days, so that means every night there are massive parties given by their parents. They are actually like rowdy wedding banquets, with a band, a singer, tons of food and drink, and endless circle dancing. They often go until 4 in the morning. The one we’ve been too even had a fireworks display that Scott Kleiner would have appreciated. And always they fire their guns into the air. The hilarious part is that after their first two weeks of basic training they come home to be coddled by their mommies. One girl who had been in a motorcycle accident a couple of weeks ago danced in her sling because her boyfriend and I think also her brother are in the group of nine. (Ierissos, July 24, 2002)

Vassilly was in Ierissos because his 98 year old uncle, Nikos, had died. He said Uncle Nick looked like an angel. The centerpiece of the dinner was Vassilly’s mother, who is a mere 91. Although she had a little difficulty standing, she was amazing – extremely alert, a huge smile and she kept stroking Stell’s arm and holding his hand. I told her to leave my man alone, Vassilly translated, and she just grinned this huge grin. When we were ready to go she hugged and kissed us both and was almost unwilling to release us. (Ierissos, July 28, 2002)



Chapter X

D
ifficult Issues. Greece like every other country in the world has difficult challenges. Ones that we have talked about in many of our sunset conversations concern health, parenting, education, immigration, and the economy.

I forgot to say that a young girl who works at the bank, Maria, asked us to join her and her Dad for coffee because she wanted Stell’s advice on something. Her dilemma is that she studied maybe seven years ago to be an elementary school teacher, but the lines of people waiting to do this job and so many other careers are long in Greece. This means that people graduating from college often don’t find a slot for five or more years to do what they’ve studied to do. Obviously, they find other jobs. Hers has been working at the bank. Now a teaching position has opened in Crete, but she is concerned about leaving the bank where she has accumulated several years. She wonders how she will feel if she accepts the teaching position and doesn’t like it. We are so lucky to have the plethora of opportunities for employment in the States. (Ierissos, July 29, 2002).

A very petite woman was in a small wooded park with a few little children as we passed by. She hollered at Stell to stop the car. We both got out. She was Andreas’ daughter, the woman whose son had died in a freak motorcycle accident the second day of Easter. There were no other vehicles involved. Obviously, she remained in deep grief and she kept clinging to us both. Nowhere in the world are there words to convey how deeply painful such interactions are. She wanted to say that I had taken a picture of her son with two other boys two years ago at the St. Elias Festival, and in fact this was the only picture she had. Her younger daughter kept kissing this picture of her brother and it has become very smudged, so she wanted to know if I could send her another. Needless to say, I will do this in September before I unpack, but next I had to find a way to know which of the three boys was her son. I can recall the picture, because one of the boys is Natasha’s brother, Georgios. Last night at dinner at Mitakos, I saw Natasha and she told me that this boy, also named Georgios, is the one on the left. I despise motorcycles. There are always terrible accidents and awful deaths. I was thrilled years ago when Stell told Paris under no circumstances would he purchase a motorcycle for him. Usually I don’t interfere in Stell’s decisions about his son (unless I’m asked), but in this case Paris knew I completely supported his Dad. I’d rather have him mad at me for awhile than hurt seriously or dead. (Ierissos, July 30, 2002).

Our dinner last night was also very impressive. We had dinner with the two Albanian workers who have fixed the apartment, Petros and Georgios. They do excellent work. Stelios Psemmas, Stell’s cousin joined us for awhile. Petros and Georgios both have two daughters. Petros’, who is about 62, daughters are studying in Thessaloniki. One speaks four languages. I think their names are Demetra and Elena. Georgios’ [who is 50] daughters go to high school with Natasha, and they hang out with her in a group of about ten young girls. One daughter is Katerina, but in excellent English she tells me it is Katherine. Today we will have lunch with Georgios and his family. His wife, who has a degree in economics, works in the kitchen at Mitakos. Petros, by the way, our painter, has a degree in mechanical engineering, but like many refugees from Albania, these people take whatever jobs they can get to upgrade their lives and put the atrocious Albania behind them. Stell wanted to pay them for the work on the apartment. This is how it is done in Greece with workers. While they are working people take them coffee and sweets. When they complete the job, the employer takes them for a drink and/or dinner. Stell was awed with their stories. One of Petros’ daughters was diagnosed with a serious heart problem while still in Albania. He was told she would only live briefly unless she had some surgery that would have probably cost about $60,000 drachma. Stell said he probably didn’t have a dollar. However, guess who came to his rescue – Father Manolis, who I think resembles and behaves like Jesus. I LOVE FATHER MANOLIS. The girl had to walk 6 hours through the mountains of Albania to get to Greece and to have this surgery. Today she is alive and well. So our day yesterday was a combination of loss and recovery. (Ierissos, July 20, 2002)

The integration of Albanian people into the Greek communities – touchy business, but Stell has been surprised that it has been accomplished so smoothly in Ierissos. He said at the onset of waves of Albanians coming here he anticipated a couple of murders/lynchings. Thank goodness that has not occurred. The Albanian children tend to do very well in school. They are not pampered by their parents like the Greek children. For one thing, the parents have no way of pampering them. (August 1, 2002)

Needless to say, Stell and I have a lot of time to talk in these months, so I thought I’d offer a short list of some of our more common topics:

-How people who were “dirt poor” in the village have worked diligently and persistently to overcome their poverty. Usually Stell identifies some individuals to me who had “nothing” forty and fifty years ago, but today have homes, cars, and other evidence of material accomplishment

-Smoking. The millions and zillions of dollars that are expended on cigarettes. You see constantly the toll smoking has taken on people’s bodies. Lots of very young girls and boys smoke. Cigarettes are terribly expensive here, too.

-Family feuds over property – this is so incredibly common – adult children who don’t speak and haven’t spoken to one another over years because of fights about the distribution of their parents’ properties. In 2006 we heard of two brothers who started speaking with one another again after three years of not exchanging a word.

-How people raise children. Children are central to Greek people, and although they whine about the euros they spend each day on their children for frappes and cigarettes, they rarely refuse their children. The parents will sacrifice going out for a meal in order for their children to be given wasteful luxuries. (August 1, 2002).

Following the party we drove around the village, but most of the shops were empty or near so. Tourism sees really low wherever we travel. Stell has a theory that in recent years Greeks have unwisely put their euros into fixed assets like cars. In other words, they’ve used cash on hand or sold property to buy material things that will deteriorate and then they will have fewer and fewer euros for things like travel. The big test comes in 2006 when the EC stops subsidizing Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Gather ye rosebuds . . . (Ierissos, July 25, 2003)


Chapter XI

J
oys and Kindnes

o I gave one older woman a beautiful picture of her husband. She reached in her apron and gave me four fresh eggs. Such a beautiful system of exchange. July 19, 2003

o I spotted one man for whom I had a tremendous photo. I took it to him and he handed it back, so I thought I’d made a mistake. But his wife grinned and told him “filaki” “filaki” (translated: kiss, kiss), and he took back the picture and obliged. Later he told Stell that he was so honored that he was shocked and mostly honored that someone would take his picture. This year more and more people are coming up and asking me to take pictures. Happy to oblige. (Ierissos, July 20, 2003)

o Rambo liked his picture with his grandson so much that he bought us a round of drinks at Olga’s last night. (Ierrisos, July 30, 2003)



Chapter XII

B
ooks I’ve read in my travels to and from Greece over twenty years (with occasional commentary):

The Lexus and the Olive Tree. Thomas Friedman does his homework. He has high regard for the economic success of North Italy. He is about as keen of the French as I am, and has not much more regard for the Germans. He said if consumers indicated to the French, Germans and Italian an interest in buying purple cheese, the French would respond that everyone knows there is not such thing as purple cheese, the Germans would say it is not in the catalog this year, and the Italians would ask what shade you would prefer. Magenta?

Sunrises with Seamonsters. Paul Theroux

Sincerely. Andy Rooney. I don’t of course agree with all of Rooney’s positions, but Curtis Ulmer says he is right on when it comes to his disgust with George Patton. What I do like about Rooney is he leaves no doubt about his position on anything he chooses to write/speak about and I admire him for never agreeing to do “commercials.”

Dark Star Safari. Paul Theroux

Paris to the Moon.

Cane River. Lalita Tademy.

In a Sunburnt Country. Bill Bryson. Bryson’s adventures in Australia

The Red Tent.

Traveling Mercies. Anne Lamott

Renalto’s Luck. Jeff Shapiro. It takes place in Tuscany in a village called Sant’Angelo D’Asso. If “feels like” where I’m actually living now.

The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems. Billy Collins

Jim, The Boy. Tom Earley. . Leisha gave me this for my birthday. I didn’t realize until yesterday that it is autographed by the author. Pretty exciting. I asked Leisha why she chose this for me, and she said she read a few pages and decided it was my kind of book. She’s right. It’s a sweet, simple, and very touching story.

The Hand I Fan With. Tin Ansa.

The Root Worker. Ranielle Burton.

The Sportswriter. Richard Ford. Loaned to me by Mary Larson. Excellent Salinger-like writing

The Tipping Point. Malcolm Gladwell.

The Universe and How We See It.

Confessions of a Shopaholic. Which I don’t recommend, because there are only about two sentences that will make you laugh aloud. However, if you want to understand the psychology of people who can’t resist buying and learn how their minds work, this is the book.

Cracking India. just as Pam (Athena) Kleiber predicted I am truly enjoying the fine writing.

I’m in the midst of Cracking India and will include a short passage here for your amusement (keep in mind this book is told from the eyes of a young girl, Lenny, and the period of time is the Gandhi era and the desire for home rule and discontent with British rule. The situation is there is a strong political debate at Lenny’s parents’ dinner table and her father is trying to calm the situation by telling what she calls an “emergency joke”:

“A British soldier and a turbaned native find themselves sharing a compartment. They are traveling by the Khyber Mail to Peshawar. The Indian lifts a bottle of Scotch to his mouth frequently. He does not offer any to the soldier. When the Indian leaves the compartment for a moment the soldier steals a hasty draught from the bottle. Again the Indian goes out, and the tommy sneaks another swig. They get to talking. The solider confides he took a draw or two from the Indian’s bottle of Scotch. ‘Since you didn’t offer it to me, old chap, I helped myself!’ he says companionably. The native is aghast. ‘But that is my urine in the bottle!’ he exclaims. ‘My hakim prescribed it for syphilis . . .’ Poor solider.” (Ierissos, July 30, 2003)

Reading Lolita in Tehran.

The Poisonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver.

Baby of the Family. Tina Ansa

I Capture the Castle. Dodie Smith.

Dressed for Death. Donna Leone. Addie picks these Venetian murder mysteries for my plane books, and Stell and I both enjoy them.

Identity and Violence. Amartya Sen.
I like his work as much as Isaiah Berlin’s writing.
(My note to Bob Daley at the Kettering Foundation:)
Hi Bob,

I’m here in Greece and once again having a chance to read a lot. I’ve started my serious reading with Amartya Sen’s Indentity and Violence, which I think many of our Kettering colleagues would find congruent with our work. Many of the sections remind me of matters David and Hal have spoken in the past. Since, I’m in Greece, and I’m reading a section about the practice of democracy in the world, I’ll include this excerpt:

“Third, democracy is not just about ballots and votes, but also about public deliberation and reasoning, what – to use an old phrase – is often called ‘government by discussion.’ While public reasoning did flourish in ancient Greece, it did so also in several other ancient civilizations – sometimes spectacularly so. For example, some of the earliest open general meetings aimed specifically at settling disputes between different points of view took place in India in the so-called Buddhist councils, where adherents of different points of view got together to argue out their differences. Emperor Ashoka, referred to earlier, who hosted the third—and largest—Buddhist council in the third century B.C. in the then capital of India, viz. Pataliputra (what is now Patna), also tired to codify and propagate what were among the earliest formulations of rules for public discussion (some kind of an early version of the nineteenth-century ‘Roberts rules of order’). The tradition of public discussion can be found across the world. To choose another historical example, in early seventh-century Japan, the Buddhist prince Shotoku, who was regent to his mother, Empress Suiko, insisted in ‘the constitution of seventeen articles,’ promulgated in A.D. 604: ‘Decisions on important matters should not be made by one person alone. They should be discussed with many.’ This, as it happens, is six hundred years earlier than the Magna Carta signed in the thirteenth century. The Japanese constitution of seventeen articles went on to explain the reason why plural reasoning was so important: ‘Nor let us be resentful when others differ from us. For all men have hearts, and each heart has its own learnings. Their right is our wrong, and our right is their wrong.’6 Not surprisingly, some commentators have seen in this seventh-century constitution Japan’s ‘first step of gradual development toward democracy.’7

There is a long history of public discussion across the world. Even the all-conquering Alexander was treated to a good example of public criticism as he roamed around in northwest India around 325 B.C. When Alexander asked a group of Jain philosophers why they were neglecting to pay any attention to the great conqueror (Alexander was clearly disappointed by these Indian philosophers’ lack of interest in him), he received the following forceful reply:

King Alexander, every man can possess only so much of the earth’s surface as this we are standing on. You are but human like the rest of us, save that you are always busy and up to no good, traveling so many miles from your home, a nuisance to yourself and to others! . . . You will soon be dead, and then you will own just as much of the earth as will suffice to bury you.8

Middle Eastern history and the history of Muslim people also include a great many accounts of public discussion and political participation through dialogues. In Muslim kingdoms centered around Cairo, Baghdad, and Istanbul, or in Iran, India, or for that matter Spain, there were many champions of public discussion (such as Caliph Abd al-Rahman III of Córdoba in the tenth century, or Emperor Akbar of India in the sixteenth). I shall come back to this issue in the next chapter when discussing the systematic misinterpretation of Muslim history that can be found in the pronouncements both of religious fundamentalists and of Western cultural simplifiers.

The Western world has no proprietary right over democratic ideas. While modern institutional forms of democracy are relatively new everywhere, the history of democracy in the form of public participation and reasoning is spread across the world. As Alexis de Tocqueville noted in 1835 in his classic book on democracy, while the ‘great democratic revolution’ which he observed taking place in American could be seen, from one point of view, as ‘a new thing’ it could also be seen, from a broader perspective, as a part of the ‘most continuous, ancient, and permanent tendency known to history.’9 Although Tocqueville confined his historical examples to Europe’s past (pointing, for instance, to the powerful contribution toward democratization made by the admission of common people to the ranks of the clergy in ‘the state of France seven hundred years ago’), his general argument has immensely broader relevance.

In his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela describes how influenced he was, as a young boy, by seeing the democratic nature of the proceedings of the local meetings held in his African hometown:

Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form. There may have been a hierarchy of importance among the speakers, but everyone was heard, chief and subject, warrior and medicine man, shopkeeper and farmer, landowner and laborer.10

Mandela’s quest for democracy did not emerge from any Western ‘imposition.’ It began distinctly at his African home, though he did fight to ‘impose’ it on ‘the Europeans’ (as the white rulers in apartheid-based South Africa, it may be recollected, used to call themselves.) Mandela’s ultimate victory was a triumph of humanity –not a specifically European idea.” (pp. 53-55)

In writing of faith and reason, Sen proposes this: “Reason had to be supreme, since even in disputing reason, we would have to give reasons.”

My views resonate so much with Sen’s that I would read anything he writes the same as I have done with the writings of Isaiah Berlin. Indeed Sen was “right on” related to predictions about Israel and Palestine. I listen to the BBC as much as possible, so we know that the U.S. and Greece and who knows who else are evacuating Americans from Lebanon into Cyprus as I type. However, Sen was wrong about the absence of violence in India, since just before I arrived the trains were blown apart in Mumbai (Bombay). Although I’m sure he is right about the better practice of multiculturalism in India, this did not stop the fundamentalist sectors from resorting to violence. Also, although I agree with him that it is generally harmful to assign singular identity to others, and I try not to do this, I think a good singular identity is to assume as I wrote in my earlier years that people start out as the combination of an egg and a sperm which I don’t believe contain codes of categorization. Those codes are taught by the parents, family, community, state, etc. So I do think there is an innocent singular identity that only gets negatively warped as far as judgments by the contexts in which it finds itself.

Here’s one more passage from Sen, I found important (he mentions several times in the book his disaffection for partisan and sectarian schooling):

“The importance of nonsectarian and nonparochial school education that expands, rather than reduces, the reach of reasoning (including critical scrutiny) would be hard to exaggerate. Shakespeare gave voice to the concern that ‘some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.’ In the schooling of children, it is necessary to make sure that smallness is not ‘thrust upon’ the young, whose lives lie ahead of them. Much is at stake here.” (p. 119)

Farewell to Salonica: City at the Crossroads. Leon Sciaky. Heather gave me this book over a year ago, but when I mailed a box of books last summer they did not arrive before I returned to the States. – the story of Thessaloniki in the early 1900s through the eyes of a young Jewish boy. Sad ending with the persecutions in WWII. The man who wrote the book, Leon Sciaky ended up in New York City when his family escaped the horrors of the Nazis here. The book is yet another story that juxtaposes the happy times of harmony among the Muslims, Bulgarians, Jews, Greeks, and Turks that is eventually disrupted and catapults into hell as different agents and despots volley for power.

What I find uncanny with all of this reading is how the message of one book can be conveyed in another seemingly unrelated reading. For example, as I mentioned in an earlier post this year, Amartya Sen writes of the downside of parochial and sectarian schooling for youth. The same message is beautifully illuminated in Sciaky’s writing:

Le Petit Lycee, which a few years later was to be taken over by the Mission Laique Francaise, and offer a course of study leading to the Baccalaureat, accomplished what the missionary schools could not. The Lycee was untrammeled by religion, unhampered by the zeal of disseminating faith, save that in the ultimate good of knowledge.

The teachers were men of competence and vision, men who fervently believed in the ability of the individual, whether religious or agnostic, and irrespective of his nationality, to achieve, through a sincere search for truth, understanding and tolerance. No, not tolerance, for the word connotes a smug belief in one’s having sole possession of the truth, and a condescending and benevolent sufferance of the errors in others. But rather the respect for beliefs, customs, and thoughts of peoples which must follow the realization of each one’s contribution to the progress of all. P. 157

When people direct their affairs by consulting among themselves, they shall get their reward. – Koran

The Lake of Dead Languages. Carol Goodman. Addie gave it to me/loaned it to me – Kate or Mary if you speak with Addie ask her if she wants me to bring this book back to the States. Her post-it on the book read “I liked this book and my Goddaughter who was a classics major at Vassar says it’s dead-on.” It is very intriguing – I’m already more than a third of the way though this novel which concerns adolescent (troubled) girls at a private high school and matters of body mutilation, suicide, lesbianism, etc. told through the eyes of their young Latin teacher who had also been a student at this private school. Some of her past comes back to haunt her through the experiences of these girls. The writer’s superb knowledge of classics is transformed into contemporary adolescent psychology.

Sight Hound. Pam Houston. It was another I had mailed last year, but it didn’t arrive until after I left in September. So many people give me books for this annual trip that I was having some trouble recalling the source of this one. I just couldn’t make out the signature. It was addressed to Margaret and Stell with warm wishes, then I remembered that this was a gift from Julie Bailey in Colorado, and the signature was the autograph of the author.

Hotel Honolulu. Paul Theroux. which I’m enjoying because I like Paul Theroux, but I will say this if “for adults only.” It is done a bit like Canterbury Tales, since the narrator is a writer who is managing a sleazy old hotel in Honolulu. The chapters are vignettes describing multiple funny, bizarre, weird, kinky characters. It helps if you have experienced Hawaiian culture a little, although I must say I didn’t experience the underbelly that Theroux obviously has encountered. In his real life he alternates living between Cape Cod and Hawaii.

The Soprano Sorceress. L.E. Modestitt, Jr. Mary Larson loaned it to me several years ago, so I’ll return it to her when I’m back in Georgia. She didn’t recommend it because she thought it would be a good read, but she and I know a person who is connected to the story through SREB work. The book is written by this man’s ex-wife’s new husband, and some of the story takes jabs at the man we know regarding his previous marriage to the writer’s wife.

Fart Proudly (Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School) edited by Carl Japikse. A great little read with a last chapter that is worthy of a lengthy discussion at the Kettering Foundation.

Flying Crows. Jim Leher.

The Metaphysical Club. Louis Menand.

Summer Sisters

America 24/7. Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen.

The River Midnight. Lilian Nattel.

Neither Wolf Nor Dog. Kent Nerburn.

The Pact. Jodi Picoult.

Isaiah Berlin. Michael Ignatieff.

Sophie’s World. Jostein Gaarder.

Blinding Light. Paul Theroux.

Common Nonsense. Andy Rooney.

The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold.

The Clock Winder. Anne Tyler.

Nights of Rain and Stars. Maeve Binchy.

King of the Mild Frontier. Chris. Crutcher.

Middlesex. Jeffrey Eugenides.

The Meaning of Consuelo. Judith Ortiz Cofer.

The Great Railway Bazaar. Paul Theroux.

Reefer Madness. Eric Schlosser.

The Chatham School Affair. Thomas H. Cook.

Circle of Three. Patricia Gaffney.

Meetings of the Mind. David Damrosch.

Millroy the Magician. Paul Theroux.

Women Heroes: Six Short Plays from the Women’s Project. Edited by Julia Miles.

A Free and Ordered Space: The Real World of the University. A. Bartlett Giamatti.

The Matisse Stories. A.S. Byatt

Republic.com. Cass Sunstein.

The Tin Can Tree. Anne Tyler.

The Priest Fainted. Catherine Temma Davidson.

High Tide in Tucson. Barbara Kingsolver.

The Hungry Ocean. Linda Greenlaw.

Queen Noor.

The Tiger in the Grass. Harriet Doerr.

Theater of War. Lewis Lapham.

Good Poems. Selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor.

That Old Ace in the Hole. Annie Proulx.

Longitudes and Attitudes. Thomas Friedman.

The Hedgehog and the Fox. Isaiah Berlin.

Kowloon Tong. Paul Theroux.

Charming Billy. Alice McDermont.

Salonica, City of Ghosts. Mark Mazower.