The arrival of December leaves no doubt that Winter on Ithaca can not be escaped. In the villages wood stoves fuel the home fires to burn, keeping damp and chill out of old bones, and in the olive groves, in the hills and around the valleys of Ithaki, fires smoke up the sky as olive branches, pruned from the trees, burn morning into afternoon. Quiet streets, empty Cafes and long sullen looks keep company with the rainy days and the chily nights, that challenge life on Ithaca, but Christmas and New Years Eve do highlight this month with some festivity. Fairy lights and neons, flicker endlessly from the north to the south of the island, serving as beacons to guide those lost in space, back to earth, giant plastic Santas, boats lit on the shore and Pyramids decked in Christmas lights, high on the upper edges of the island, sparking passions in the black of night for the young and the old, all serve to break the monotony of an island, worlds away from the rest of Greece, and give reason to smile through the wet days of December.
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