In November, the sun can still be competition for the Winter chill as it battles to maintain the heat in earth and sea. Before Winter truly sets in and the sun admits defeat, some dedicated individuals take advantage of the blue sky days to revitalize themselves in the cooling Ionian. Not a tradition, but a yuppie addition to give purpose to the shortening days and the long cold nights, with little else to do than to challenge oneself with finding a purpose to stay confined on the island, when there's a world of distraction from winter, just across the sea. In November, there is the picking of the Olives and when that is done, the Ithaki consciousness prepares for hibernation. The aged still warm themselves by a wood stove in the kitchens of their homes, around which they sit through day and night, but only after all the chores have been done. Nothing has changed for them in the decades they have hardened themselves by. They are a tough breed, but no matter how tough, no one can melt away the pale colours of winter, beginning to freeze on their faces, with their gusto for life, temporarily wilting before a slow burning log. It's not all misery and black skies. There are simple distractions and pleasures to enjoy. A walk in the hills, collecting pebbles from the beach, Sunday meals at the local taverna and Mondays, business and coffee in Vathy. Some Ithacans leave their homes on Ithaca for their homes in Patras or Athens, where there's life, theatre, shopping and people wherever you look. They stay away the entire winter. Others just go for a weekend or maybe a week and return to Ithaca with enough oomph to keep them going a little longer. The preoccupation to be occupied dominates the lives of many, but mostly its' the lack of companionship that will make the will to survive the winter, crumble. The shortening days and longer nights drag out the weeks of November to be some of the longest in the year, but December will give some relief to the boredom as it heads for the celebrations of the coming new year.
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