view on black

i struggled to find a title, but nothing will do. i shot this the year i lost my mother, four years ago today.

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view in the dark

reprocessing a detail from my visit a couple of years ago -- you can see several more images from the town of mesta here and from chios island here.

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please view on black

my mom lived in a little apartment in athens. after we lost her, we decided to ship her belongings back to her family's house in chios. they had been delivered to the moving company's warehouse a couple of weeks ago, but i had to go unlock the old, unlived-in, stone house, and let the movers in.

i had just visited the place over the summer with my immediate family and mom... i remember thinking that i might not go to chios again. i never thought that it would be mom who would never return.

there was no point sleeping tuesday night because i had to start early wednesday morning to catch a 6:15 flight. we landed at 7, i picked up the rented car and started to drive towards vrontados. the cold and rain matched my bitter mood as i followed the east coast. i glanced over towards turkey as the world turned blue. there was to be no glorious sunrise -- just troubled, turbulent sky.

i stopped next to the familiar windmills and tried to get a few shots. having no umbrella, i limited my attempts to brief lulls in the rain. finally, it was time for businesses to start their day, so i made my way up to the house and made the phone call to the movers that i'd arrived.

the house is on the slopes of mount epos and faces east. it's very old, built in the 1860s, and not the most comfortable of places -- but we sometimes visit in the summer. in fact, i'd never seen it in the winter. it looked different... the colors were dark and rich -- some trees were stark and brittle, but the normally dry wild grass in the yard was lush.

the movers came and left.

i hugged our neighbor, despina, when i saw her. she had just lost her own mother last year -- and she loved my mom too -- so we had a good deal to talk about, strangely, for the very first time. she was kind to me and even cooked a wonderful lunch. she cried, i cried. it was hard.

as evening fell, i took a last look at the house. this time, i wanted to save a mental picture only. i said goodbye to despina and drove back to the airport. i felt shattered but still wanted to stop at the harbor along the way to snap a few -- i haven't even looked at them yet. i doubt they're ok but, if they're even halfway decent, i'll post them.

i've placed this on the map.

on the blog: toomanytribbles.blogspot.com/2010/01/windmills-of-her-min...

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please view on black

i'm feeling a bit ill today and don't have the energy to process a whole lot of my more recent images -- the best i can offer today is this image of a tavern that's hidden away at the windmills area in chios (tolis has a beautiful gallery). i couldn't see it from the road -- i spotted it only when i was walking around the windmills themselves.

i don't know how, but my train of thought led me to imagine a huge party for flickr friends and contacts, with everyone holding a camera, shooting each other and looking for something interesting.

i'll try to get around to your streams today -- (it cheers me up!) -- but i hope you forgive me if i don't succeed.

on the blog: toomanytribbles.blogspot.com/2009/09/friends-of-gold.html

EDIT: hey, look where my moon candy landed! www.focus.it/natura/gallery/10092009-1252-113-astronomi-p...

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on black

this was a helpful little rail on an abruptly sloped lane in my neighborhood in chios.

i noticed it because this is the kind of attention to detail and compassion for others that is lost and, unfortunately, not even missed by most in contemporary athens.

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