Day 50: A Welcome Visit

This morning the frost was once again covering everything, everywhere.  I was hoping to go out and take photos of it, but by the time I got out for my walk, the frost of this morning had become the water-droplets of this afternoon.   The air was cold, harsh against my skin.  All the frost and snow have melted, and there is a great deal of brown everywhere.  But I saw the first buds on the trees beginning to open! So that was exciting.  Spring is still coming, in case you thought perhaps it wasn't.

Today is day 50.  I was thinking it should probably have some sort of immense significance, and looked back at days 10, 20, 30, and 40.  They seemed to me to be a bit more 'significant' in a way:

Day 10 - Snow Feathers.  I never will forget the beauty of these incredible patterns in snow.

Day 20 - Handing Round Gifts.  What a joy that was, to show up like Father Christmas on everyone's doorsteps!

Day 30 - A Thief And A Robber.  The day I stole into the Kourion Theatre in Cyprus, leaping over the stone wall...only to find that everyone else had done the same thing.

Day 40 - Walking on Ice.  This was a dangerous day!  Nearly fell several times, and went out in spite of severe cold and many reasons not to go!

Today was, in comparison, fairly 'normal'.  I worked in the morning, met with a couple who are getting married next year, tidied the house, wrote a new post on my photography blog There's Beauty Everywhere, and went to visit one of the older members in the church who is housebound.  I guess in some ways that can seem like it's not very substantial, or significant, or important.  And yet, probably one of the most important parts of today was this visit.  To an older woman who is kept to her home and primarily her living-room chair, who has a few visitors here and there but some days spends all day just reading or watching tv, I suppose it was a great day.  Her hearing aid didn't work, so I wrote notes to her on the back of the paper we found lying about, and she made jokes and I laughed and she laughed and we defied old age to prevent us having a great time.

Yes, on second thought I'd say, it was a pretty momentous day.

Walk length:  20 minutes

Day 30: A Thief And A Robber

One of the places I wanted to go while in Cyprus was the Kourion Theatre.  I drove there, today, and was only mildly surprised to find it closed, as it was New Year's Day.  The gates were barred and shut and not a guard or tourist guide was in sight.  I tramped around the sides briefly, considered, and then with two big steps and a jump (and some justification in my mind), cleared the rock at the side of the gate and began walking up the path to the theatre.  'Only a thief and a robber climbs in over the walls,' I thought, but I didn't go back...and then I saw I was in the company of two other thieves and robbers, and pretty soon they were everywhere.  I wandered about to my heart's content while the sun played on the stone steps of the theatre and danced on the surface of the faraway sea.  Three cats made advances to me, purring like little outboard motors and following every step I made.  One even consented to be a model, momentarily.  I walked for a long time, including climbing, and went on later to Aphrodite's Birthplace, where the sun set in purple-and-pink splendour (quite splendour) and I watched it reflected on the waters.  On the hill nearby there were little love hearts made out of beach rocks.  Later tonight I walked the seafront, so I am now officially worn out, and expect I will enjoy my day of rest tomorrow immensely. 

Walk length: 2 hours+