Gratitude for ordinary life

After the adventures of last night, I was in one of those moments when I've had enough of a shock that I am actually able to appreciate ordinary life.  And I was exhausted and I wanted to hang around to monitor the student (who is totally recovered).  So I allowed myself to sleep late.  I went grocery shopping, helped the student get his prescriptions and appropriate food, had a nap, did some laundry, caught up on some emails, and planned a dinner that I could cook with the kids. Phil was in Delphi with the students

It has been hot here, but today was a lovely breezy and relatively cool day (the 80s, I think).  The apartment, like most in Greece, takes advantage of natural cooling, as many people dislike the artificial cold and draftiness of air conditioning.  There are windows or doors that open onto balconies at both sides of the apartment, which is situated facing down the mountain both for the views and for the breezes that blow.  I washed dishes feeling a strong breeze on my face from the window over the sink.

The kitchen with its door and window facing down the mountain.

Walking to the store I enjoyed the lovely temperature and the Attic smell of pines and jasmine.  Even laundry felt pleasurable as I accomplished a chore and folded the warm clothes into our drawers. The feeling of restoring order to the apartment was rewarding. The kids were relaxed and happy, alternating their electronics with voluntary excursions into the yard to play soccer.

Making dinner we all enjoyed chopping, smashing, juicing, and cooking the rich smells and textures of the vegetables and the fragrant mint.  We made tomato balls, which is a multi-step dish with drained tomato-flesh, onions, feta, flour and fresh mint, parsley, fried in oil.  We also had fresh lamb from the butcher this morning, a horitatiki salad, and mashed potatoes.  Ellie made fresh mint lemonade.

The goggles protect Ellie's eyes from lemon spray.

Part of what made this such a lovely day was the sweetness of gratitude, but Greece helped it along with the weather, and more than that, the pace of the Greek schedule.  The long morning was work (lunch at 3), the afternoon included an hour nap, and then after I woke up refreshed at 5pm, we had a long, relaxing evening.  Dinner wasn't until 9:30, so between the energy from the nap and the length of time between waking from the nap and dinner, the evening is a wonderful time in Greece, and not the crazy, exhausted "witching hour" it is at home.

Master chef

Delicious!