Harakopio is a completely cash-based village. It is impossible to pay with credit or debit cards. The other day I asked the pharmacist if I could pay with my credit card (since the cash-stash in my underwear drawer was running low), and she just laughed. Debit card? Another laugh.
Apparently, if you buy a house here, you go to the bank and, quite literally, get a bag of cash and hand it over. There is something charming about that.
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As I walked to Koroni, I thought about how being without a car means that I have to put effort into attaining the necessities of life. Walking into the village every other day to get some more produce and perhaps some fish, and definitely some yogurt, is not quite tantamount to plowing in the fields, but it is certainly healthier - both physically and psychologically - than hopping into the car to drive a couple of blocks in order to get some milk.
I also thought about how I have always discounted walking as valid exercise. How silly - especially when the terrain is hilly, and you have a load of groceries to tote. Really. How silly of me.
The biggest thing, though, about spending long periods of time walking to and from various places, is that I have long blocks of un-interrupted time with myself. You are thinking that I have full days of un-interrupted time with myself - but with books, and the internet time can get very full, very fast.
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I liken my brain to the energizer bunny - it moves very fast, it doesn't stop, and it hops from thing to thing in no particular semblance of logical order. One of the reasons I watch dumb shows like The Real Housewives or Sister Wives, is that the sheer stupidity distracts me enough so that my brain can idle for a while, and take a break from its spastic leaps and bounds.
But on long walks, I have no distraction. This would generally be considered a good thing - time alone is important for so many things - but today it got a little dangerous.
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I was on my way back from Koroni - about halfway through my treck back - and I was starting the almost sheer climb up the side of this cliff overlooking the sea.
I was carrying a few too many impulse buys from the health food store - I can never resist a health food store - and I was going a little nuts from my brain nattering away.
"Wow. Look at that view. Oh my gosh I am in Greece. This is a Grecian view. MARY YOU ARE IN GREECE: BE EXCITED! Wow. I wish I had read the Peloponnesian Wars more carefully. I should re-read them. Can I actually do that to myself? Maybe I should read Homer. But I almost died the last time I had to read The Iliad. That was my third time through. Three times is enough.
"But it shouldn't be. What is WRONG with me? I should love those books. Those are works of art. I should be lapping them up. UGH. I have to work on cultivating intelligence. Seriously. God is going to be so ticked off at me if I keep reading dumb things like the Shopaholic books.
"In fact, I am mad at me. I have to re-train my brain to appreciate important things. Like...politics. And world affairs. Maybe map reading.
"Damn it why did I wear these pants? I bet everyone saw way too much of my underwear today; they ride so damn low. Gah they are so weird. Who designed them? I have no idea what body type they are supposed to fit: maybe an elephant with a glandular problem but really small calves. Maybe my calves are just too big. Maybe it's me. Maybe I am oddly proportioned. AHGhhg. I totally am. My whole family is.
"Intelligent thought, Mary. This is a waste of brain energy. You can do it. Just focus. Wow my butt hurts. This hill is going to kill me. Maybe I should try running up it - just bust it out and get it over with. OH my gosh. I know! I will walk up it backwards. I bet that works a whole different series of muscles.
"Oh man alive does it ever. I didn't even know there were muscles in that part of my leg. Holy COW. Why didn't I think of this before?! Mary you are going to have killer legs. You are so smart!
"Mary! Start thinking of intelligent things, DAMN IT. Your legs do. not. count.
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At which point, my attention was caught by a small rock that made me stumble, so I had to focus on where I was going. I realized that I was about 3 inches away from the edge of a straight drop - perhaps a city block or two - into a pile of scarily jagged rocks.
I hadn't noticed, because I was, well, walking backwards.
The fact that I almost killed myself trying to re-train my brain and tone up my legs can be looked at from many different angles.
1) Multi-tasking is a bad thing.
2) Intelligent thought is over-rated.
3) Who needs backwards hill climbing legs?
Or, maybe, most importantly:
4) Learning how to pay attention to one's surroundings is a valuable tool to cultivate. Among many other things, it can prevent serious harm, and possibly death (This is said exactly how my Dad would say it to me, if I had not just pretended to be him and said it first).
Duly noted.
Seriously funny.
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