You know when you take a roast chicken out of the oven… ? That’s what it’s like walking out the door… 38° 🇹🇷… As with a roast chicken, I am thankful for a small dose of Mediterranean heat.
Tempering is a process of heating and cooling metals to achieve greater strength by decreasing the hardness, an increase in flexibility, and decreasing brittleness.
Over the last week it’s been a process of heat, cool, and repeat… you could call it tempering. You can’t fight it, you just have to be. A tall iced mango juice helps. Again I am thankful.
Let’s pretend we’re closer to heaven.
Floating in a bay surrounded by pine tree lined mountains, the bluest of blue skies backdrop a razor-sharp escarpment reaching to the skies … salty lips and a big deep breath… the view seems clearer.
Breathe, forget the challenges ahead for just a moment…
Take away the percussive beat of stuff that needs sorting, questions unanswered, annoyances and indecisions…
What we perceive is what it is.
My wife is the catalyst, and again we venture to the Mediterranean. Thankfully. I’d return to France, Spain, or the British National Parks or coast again and again, but under my wife’s suggestion, over the years we’ve stretched further, Cyprus, Corfu, Greece, and this year Turkey. I am infinitely grateful for the opportunities to experience such places.
But what is sold to us is quite separate from what is free, the treasures right in front of us..
On previous visits to the Mediterranean weve found the extreme heat is ubiquitous. The climate intensifies colours, smells, taste; life gets slower, more fervent, the view seems clearer.
As with any capitalist environment, we are sold stuff, we are sold pretentious dreams, we are sold processed products; extra-cheesy Crax, all-seeing eyes, Anatolian fizz cocktails, parascending, fish pedicures, etc. A percussive beat of celebrated pop jazz hip cool, with salt and/or cheese…
Don’t get me wrong, a cold local beer by the sea is a heavenly delight. Mediterranean food by the sea is exceptional. And a little pop-funk Lady Gaga helps keeps one young.
What is essentially more tangible in such holiday destinations is stark nature and hothoused humanity.
People come to soak up the intensified energy. Culture is the dressing on the cake of humanity and is weird and wonderful, but behind the sunbaked sales the essence of what is free is humanity and nature.
Human nature is behind the Turkish kofta, as much as it’s behind the Staffordshire oatcake.
What’s magnified by the Mediterranean climate is human pleasure. Take away the magnifyer and we still have humanity. Alexander is a father to two young children and businessman who’s very proud of his restaurant in the village of Icmeler.
Omar, proud of his MuÄźla homeland, genuinely wanted to share it’s delights, but is also keen to discover England. Just as much, Joyce loves Stoke-on-Trent, her dog, and her weekend trips to Buxton and the Peak District hills.
The treasures right in front of us…
I don’t think we need to pretend we’re closer to heaven.
Right now. Breathe… stop… breathe…
I am so thankful for the sparkling sea.
The Persian silk tree.
I am also thankful for the green leafed lane.
The church tower.
The smile from the dog walker.
The breeze.
Take away the percussion of cultural trappings and what do we have?
What we perceive is what it is.
Sometimes it’s clearer, it is what it is.
When it’s not clear, I hope you can find a way to decrease hardness, increase in flexibility, decrease brittleness and hopefully find delight in something somewhere right in front of us.
You do need to look past the clouds.
Jules P Richards 