Sat 27.Oct.2012
Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes, like all Europe, sets the clocks back tonight to standard time. Just in time for
tomorrow's No Day, a major national holiday here in Greece. The holiday
commemorates the refusal of the Greek dictator Metaxas to unite his country with
Mussolini's Italy. The story goes that Metaxas' reply to Mussolini consisted of the
single word "Oxi!" (No!). This apparently apocyphal tale underpins a deeply
patriotic holiday.
Ripples and Reflections
Funny furrin' spelling of familiar words: Red carpet for the new James Bond
An amiable ginger-and-white cat has adopted the pub here, and vice-versa.
We call him Ginger
He still needs to learn some table manners, but he is a decent soul.
The same cannot be said of an obnoxious black-and-white cat who lives down at the
end of the street. This one, named Fang, approaches people, allows them to
pet him for a few seconds, then bites hard and deep. In past years, Fang kept to his own
end of the street, we never saw him in the pub.
This season, Mr nasty cat Fang has taken to hanging around the pub here, biting
people whom he can sucker into petting him, and bullying the house cat Ginger for
no good reason.
All of which goes to explain why I have bought my first water pistol in 30 years
or more. A garish, livid green thing with two bulbous yellow reserve chambers, and a
range of maybe 15 or 20 feet. Aversion therapy for a gata non grata,
not to harass him indiscriminitely, but to get him in the habit of not coming in here.
So far, it seems to be working. His Unwelcomness still comes around out front,
but I have not seen him in the patio or inside for a couple of days.
Interestingly, I have moral, or at least ethical, qualms about this water pistol
project. I would not like to discover some kind of schadenfreude in harassing a
fellow mammal, especially a less powerful one. In short, I am in danger of becoming
a bully myself if I am not careful. Yeesh!
Home Sweet Pub
Interiors
Credit: Today's title is from a song by Robert Hunter
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf