Voila

Throughout the day people have been asking me if my vacation was nice, if Greece was nice. The answer is, of course, "yes". Yet the word "nice" doesn't seem to do any of it justice. How would you describe the emotions inspired by the sound of a hymn dating back to the Byzantines winding its way through the white-washed walls? The feel of marble gone glass-smooth with age and history? How would you summarize the doves in the Venetian fountain and the Acropolis at sunset? How can the pottery shards from 5th century BC and the sun-hazed air of Athens be distilled into a blue-white flag, into a single adjective?

I don't think it can. I would defy anyone to try and yet, in the current context, all this is so much more than I know how to confer, clumsily stringing together words and trying to be mindful of syntax.

So yes, it was nice. It was hugely, tremendously nice and at the end of the day I can only think back wryly to the sentiments in the final pages of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Namely: Life is meant to be lived, not talked about.

In other words:

Wish you were there.

Things are a bit hectic right now. I did write down daily entries while in Greece but I don't know when I'll have time to type up and post those. I also have 2G of photos, a portion of which will make their way to the internet hopefully by this weekend. Postcards should be all posted by the end of this week as well. Mostly though, this is an email to keep everyone informed that yes, I'm back in the States again. Hi!