Guest Blog: Gammy Arrives!

Guest Blog: gammy

 So I am sitting on the porch looking out at the beautiful island of Crete. While we are seeing centuries full of wonders and beauty the real joy in amazement for me is traveling with the GranoRenoWeber family.

I was so eager to see my three little, well… not so little, Paul, Sophia and Ava that I could hardly wait. My heart burst with joy to hug Ben,Theresa and kiddos. So dear to me. Of course having Theresa‘s mom and dad, Bill and Angela, and her warm funny brother Billy here with us has enriched every moment.

Being with family is primary joy for me in these first weeks. In fact literally the first two or three days I found myself bursting out crying with happiness. At first but this was a little stunning or even a little distressing to the Granos‘s but they got used to me and really believed me when I described my tears of joy.

One of the things that I call “happy family summer camp” is our usual morning routines on Crete. These include walking for at least 2 miles, doing cardio exercises followed by stretching and or yoga. This is made into lots of fun because anyone who wants to join in can, and the parents have devised a very funny way of rotating who is calling what the next exercise will be and how many times you must do it, with (very occasional) rest periods.

Shortly after that we get into two cars because we are a group of nine. We head to some amazing places, occasionally finding ourselves on little roads that were really meant for the goats or perhaps the sheep. That happens because GPS plays little tricks selecting the lesser number of kilometers with total disregard for dirt paths versus paved roads.

The drivers, Ben and Theresa, are good natured and at ease.

A few nights ago as we returned from the sea we decided to stop in a quaint little town for dinner. Parking was scarce. Theresa found a little turn-out and parked the car handily. Upon returning from an excellent dinner, we found her car surrounded by motorcycles. I mean it literally .The two or three cycles behind her car meant that she could not back up at all to ease out of this tight little spot. We all looked. We sort of laughed. We wondered for a moment or two. And then Theresa‘s brother Billy and Ben decided that there was nothing to do but to pick up the motorcycles and move them temporarily, allowing Theresa to back out of that spot. Later we thought that those signs in Greek may have said that this was parking for motorcycles only. Perhaps??? Just hilarious.

There are many fun things to share but one is about the animals here. There are cats everywhere. We probably have had five different cats visiting in our yard and on our patio. Also lots of dogs. Most entertaining to me is walking along or climbing strenuously upward to find five or six goats looking at us and we at them.  None of them seem to have cameras on their phones so I don’t think they record us…. as we do them.

Well this seems like a pretty long blog. I miss all of you dear ones at home. And I look forward to seeing you when I get home.  

But mostly I am profoundly grateful to be right here where I am. As Paul would say, “Present Moment, Wonderful Moment.”