To Hold Her Hands

To hold her hands, the way you did the day you met her, and the way you do since you promised that you'll be together forever, soul for soul, body for body.

To hold her hands, so that you can together traverse the pathways of life, to smile together and together to taste some of the bitter fruits of being, to try new flavors, to meet different people, to travel.

To hold her hands, when she's ill and when she's sad, when she's happy and full of optimism, when she needs you and does not, and thus, together continue to venture through the shadow lands of space and time, through sunny valleys, rivers wild and emotional peaks and bottoms. To hold her hands…

The photo was taken in Pai, Thailand

Week 19

She likes more than anything to walk in the woods, as it makes her feel more like herself - a self that she's lost somewhere in the city streets.

She loses herself in nature as often as she can, but she always feels a bit empty inside, as she no longer seems able to enjoy its beauty the way she should. Many times she thinks about giving everything up and, better late than never, coming back to her roots, but then something happens that doesn't allow the thought to become an act. If it did…

If it did maybe she'd once again feel just as happy as in the past. Like when she knew all the names of the trees and the flowers and could recognize the chirping of most birds. Like when… but…

Week 14

"What am I doing here?" she seems to wonder. The truth is she likes the place and the art, and she simply loves the feelings that come to life inside of her when she sees some other people's work but… But she's somewhere else.

"Where is he now?" Where? And why is he not here? Why is he almost never here? She's asked him to accompany her to this short trip, but he refused to do so. Perhaps because he didn't want to. Or maybe because her interests were different from his.

"You are cat", someone said to her once. "A stupid cat, that's what I am", she now thinks as she climbs on top of the car and lets her gaze, a little bit bright, a little bit wet, wander inside, seeking some new answers.

Euphoria

To fly over the clouds, drink good wine and listen to great music...

Dear You IV

This is just a short note to let you know that i've just finished the first of the many things that i've set out to do since coming to Chiang Mai; that is: rewriting a collection of my old short stories (33 in total). I can say that i feel quite happy about that, but i really do not know what to do next. I still have a lot of rewriting waiting for me, as well as research for a screenplay, and last but not least lots of translations and a new novel that's right now "cooking" in my head. Oh, well, i guess time will show me the way, as it always does.
As for life here, we do get our portion of heavy rainfall, but not as heavy as one would expect. The city is still peaceful and quiet and almost with no tourists.
That's all for today.

Dear You III

Life in Chiang Mai goes on peacefully as ever; however now people are openly complaining about the lack of tourists. If the number of tourists visiting the city, remains as low for one more year, lots of establishments will go out of business. But, besides that, and strangely enough, more and more new restaurants and guest houses seem to spring up day after day.
As for me personally, well, I spend my time rewriting my old Greek short stories and taking some mental notes for future works. I’m currently reading a couple of my old novels and try to figure out a way of translating them into English without losing much of their “meaning”.
Talking about writing, the last ten and a half months have been quite hectic for yours truly, since during the given time period I’ve written or rewritten a big novel, a couple of novellas and two collections of short stories – all in Greek I’m afraid. The only problem for the time being is that I have no publisher, but that’s ok, I’ll get over it.
I’ve just started reading David Baldacci’s The Christmas Train, while before that I took a dive into Michael Connelly’s A Darkness More Than Night.
I spend my nights eating out, mostly Thai food at P.M. Restaurant at Loi Kroh Soi 3, and playing pool and drinking beer at John’s Place, right here in Moon Muang Road.
And that wraps it up for today. If anything new and exciting comes up I’ll let you know.
Drink well and be merry, my friends.

Dear You II

Dear You,
It looks like the rainy season has already arrived here in the north of Thailand. For more than a week we daily get at least one rain shower in Chiang Mai, while the skies are cloudy all the time. However, luckily, we did see a bit of the sun today, but it is a bit windy. If the wind grows any stronger that means that we’ll have rain by tonight.
As for the way of life here, it’s peaceful as ever; more peaceful than ever rather, since the tourist industry, at least in Chiang Mai, has taken a plunge. You don’t see too many “young and restless” people going around anymore, and a number of businesses are facing financial problems. More and more “For Rent” or “For Sale” signs appear by the day.
Of course the Greek restaurant, Zorba’s, managed to go out of business, even before the “crisis” started. “No good food and very expensive” is what people used to say about it. The closing down of that place is such a shame, since many other restaurants that specialize in foreign cuisine, have been doing well over the years.
Talking of food, I can say without any hesitation, that Chiang Mai is a “hungry man’s” paradise. There’s a huge number of Thai or foreign restaurants and fast food franchises here. For some, of course, the best option is to grab a plate of delicious freshly cooked meal at one of the many road food stalls. If you come to this city, you’ll never miss “mama’s cooking”, that’s for sure!
Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to sign off for now, since I’ve still got some work to (yep, boring stuff, like writing and translating), but I promise to write again as soon as possible.
Until then,
Be well and keep smiling

Next stop, Chiang Mai

I will "see you" on Monday