Dateline Milna: 9/6/2010

In the cooler weather brought on by the Bura, we hiked the old path
between villages to the 10th century chapel of Saint Martin (a very Zen
story, his.) Just below the chapel, we decided to continue on to the
neighboring village of Bobovisca. We flanked a hill high above the sea,
through thyme, rosemary and mint, olive and fig. I pulled up a couple
of varieties of mint to plant in my garden, passed on the thyme and
later regretted it. We found a small shrine set on a tiny, fancy
pebblework square, now overgrown and uneven. I gorged myself on fresh
figs we along the way. Coming into the nearly deserted village of
Bobovisca, we found an old man cutting up dried bread for his animals.
Our timing was such that we were able to catch a bus back to Milna.

Then again out to Osibova, bright green pine against a transparent
tourquiose sea, strangely vacant after the high season.

Everywhere things are slowing down. When you sit on the Riva at night
there are as many locals as tourists, maybe more. True, last night they
held a portion of the Miss Croatia (to-contend-for-Miss-Universe)
pageant just below our house at the terraced colonnade, but even that -
being filmed for distribution rather than being shown live - was a
relatively quiet affair. At midnight, we watched from our upstairs
window as the sky above our house was festooned with fireworks as a
finale to their filming.

I had a man out to look at my roof who promised that for $200 USD he can
put up some metal flashing that should solve my problems, at least for
awhile. That I consider an incredible bargain and seal the deal with a
beer.

Rain this morning, helping set the mood for Julia's return to the States
this coming Saturday.

I enjoy re-reading Herodotus and Thucydides with my morning coffee.