It’s another beautiful day in paradise. Okay, so the weather might not be exactly beautiful. In fact, it’s abysmal. It’s October and the winter rains have arrived. Crete is well-soaked. I haven’t seen the sun for three days straight, and the wind that never seems to die down is bone-chilling. Somehow none of that matters much. No amount of falling water from the sky could dampen my spirit. It’s my fourth week in Crete now. Time moves differently here. Hours and minutes seem less relevant. Days float and blend into one another. I am still aware of time ticking inexorably away, but here it does so gently, with more consideration and grace. Less than a week after I arrived, I stopped thinking of my time here as a vacation. This is my Cretan life. I know I’ll have to return to my real life in the real world before I’ve cracked the last egg in my nest, but for now, I’m going to enjoy my Greek island existence to the fullest.
I feel more alive here than I’ve felt in my entire life. Even small events feel large. Picking an orange from a tree on the side of the road and eating it as I stroll to the village square is an adventure – suddenly oranges taste more orange. Everything from my sense of taste, touch, and smell to my emotions has grown in intensity. I’m expanding in a myriad of ways. Thankfully, the only thing that hasn’t expanded is my waistline despite all the traditional Cretan dishes I’ve been sampling without a thought to their calorie content. I’ve actually shrunk in width by an inch or two. The list of reasons to love Crete just keeps getting longer and longer! Of course, Alex is right at the top of that list.
Change of Pace by Sofia Essen is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
