Dexter Dog Diary, Week Three, Sunday & Monday
Sunday (pazar, 19 mart, 2010)
It is a late start and a quiet morning for the whole household. Sonny amuses us all by doing his “trick”: out of the blue; in the middle of the day. He pees on the bathroom floor – in full view of Y. Wow! What a nerve! After lunch we go for a gentle stroll along the track around the “mountain”. Proceeding in a clockwise direction this time, we are about half way, just across the second ford, when we meet… the cows, presumably coming for a drink at the ford. We decide upon the upward route and I take the lead. Soon we are walking through the lush grass of the centuries-old terraces, winding our way down and back towards the north-west to meet the old track near the football pitch; then, home for tea and a quiet evening.
Monday (pazartesi, 20 mart, 2010)
I don’t know if I mentioned it before: although Turkey and Kuzey Kibris are, by law, secular (there is no “national” religion), most people choose Islam and the local muezzin calls the faithful to prayer five times a day. Well, it used to be the local man: it seems strange that such a traditional religion now has a centralised public-address system so that the call is the same everywhere and is also synchronised. Unfortunately, as with many new systems, there are teething problems. The apartment is within the range of two loudspeaker systems. We infidels soon get used to “the call” and hardly ever notice it - until, as happened this morning, a fault crops up: as the muezzin finishes, there is usually a three-note “sign-off” of bleeps at different pitch which sounds quite quaint. This morning, the fault is the one where something in the amplification chain does a “wobbly” and dishes out “white” noise that is delivered in annoying pulses for about twenty minutes. The long delay in switching off the errant system confirms my suspicions that the muezzin is capable of calling the faithful to prayer while he is still asleep. To his credit, X came out to check on Sonny and me – but we were “cool” and Y slept through it all!
On our walk this morning, when we get to the sea it is as calm as I have ever seen it: like the proverbial millpond. We go for the route around the rocky headland, across and along the strata of various rock types. Today, the water looks as if someone has pulled the plug out of the Mediterranean and let some of the water out of it. The long bar is exposed and we can walk right to the end of it. The sea is as clear as can be. The fine weed on the long bar is a golden colour; so many differences from usual – and absolutely no noise! Y finds a stick to replace his “old faithful” but it will take a while for the grief to wear-off and for him to accept the situation. As time will tell, when he does, he goes right over the top, creating a new “masterpiece” and TWO spares! We have another quiet evening.