Out and about

Its Good Friday. Well, not if you are Greek, but we are not too religious in this family. At least not in the usual sense. I am absolutely , how would you call it?, inspired by facets of all religions, I love a God that has many faces, never tires of surprises, has a godly sense of humour, is neither male nor female, and is usually around so I can bend his/her ear. But there is wonderous beauty in some of the rituals and narratives of many religions, including the Greek Orthodox Christian Church. Greek Easter is one that totally fascinates me in its unfolding both as a narrative and as a weekly, ongoing ritual. I have nothing better to offer young Lucy as an introduction to meditations on death, sacrifice, love, transformation, freedom of choice, devotion, imperfection, perfection, continuity after death, the beauty of a whole community participating in a ritual (the ancestor of theatrical performances where the audience participates in the play-yes?). In Greece many people still fast during the Holy Week, and that is another fascinating practice, pretty healthy as well. The original practice was to fast for forty days before Easter Sunday, so people would basically avoid meat and become vegetarians for at least some part of the year, there is so much wisdom in this not only in terms of physical health but also psychological- boundaries, balance-, political- bonding a community (horizontaly, now, and vertically, through history), and also in terms of the current favorite "sustainability", it expresses an awareness of the way we as humans interact with our enviroment and need to put some stop sings here and there. One could make a whole lot of artwork about all this stuff, I just love it, but what kind of artwork can replace this brilliant play that is performed every year for thousands of years by whole towns and villages? And I didn't even mention the music, oh! the best part of Byzantine music was made for the Easter services. Amongst all the death and mourning the concept of spring, and regeneration, brings out an unbelievable and unforgetable sweetness in the music.

Lucy out for lunch with mom and dad. Pancake with bananas, strawberries and chocolate sauce...

Downtown. The trees. I always fall for the trees. When I was in my early teens I expressed my desire for independence by sitting on top of a tree for as long as I could and reading Rainer Maria Rilke. Well, I expressed it in other ways too but none as sophisticated...

And this is Nigel's picture , we were looking for batteries for the camera frantically but the moon was faster and we missed the really good shots. Still, this is pretty cool with the lines of light reflected on the window. Very early in the morning of course. Nigel is an early bird. I am too, if I try very hard. I love working as early as possible in the morning. I have a good brain then. But unfortunately I also adore sleeping. So in the mornings I am a soul in severe conflict, you can imagine. I have come up with a solution , I drink coffee before we go to bed. That wakes me up at about five , but still very grumpy. What to do!

I forgot to post this one yesterday. The pictures of Lucy and our family of course are posted for the benefit of our family spread in different continents all over the planet.