Mornos Canal Blues, Stormy Weather,Euphorbia euphoria

So we left Erythres in the direction of Kaparelli, on our way to the lovely Mt Elikonas.

The weather wasn`t great, and as we approached the Mornos canal - which supplies Athens with water by bringing it from the reservoir formed by damming the river Mornos as it leaves Mt Giona-it showed signs of getting much worse. But there was a great place for George to have lunch there, so we stopped right beside the canal. Though, as you can see from the sign above, you aren`t allowed any where near the canal in case you drown. The canal itself is a lethally dangerous structure, which carries water for many kilometres, and the water is cold, deep and fast flowing.
But by putting out signs that forbid us to drown, the water company obviously feels that it has carried out all of its duty of care to the public.

There are many bridges and also sluices on the canal. NOT ONE provided lifebelts, even though it is obvious that noone who fell in the canal could get out without help (but we TOLD them they might drown, so its not our fault) In addition the sides of the canal are cement and steep. There ARE ladders every now and then which you might be able to grab hold of as you were swept down the canal. But, I tried climbing up and down one of these, and I reckon an exhausted and scared half drowned person would probably not be able to get up. Anyway, they are only about one every 300 m, and often there are three consecutively on one side of the canal, and none on the other.

The photo that shows a sign saying its forbidden to use the canal shows just how ambiguous the situation is. There is another sign that adds.. but if you DO use the canal roads, you mustn`t go faster than 30 kmph. I also saw direction signs which showed that the only way to some villages was..along the banks of the canal which you aren`t allowed to go along.
Apart from the ridiculous state of affairs where you are forbidden to use an area that you have to use, the canal is also completely deadly for any kind of animals. If an animal, driven by thirst (there is absolutely NO water along most of the length of the canal) or just one of those silly dogs that see water and jump in it..gets in the canal, I really don`t see how it can be got out alive.

There are even some places which access the canal waters, and which are supposed to be stock and human proof. But I saw some that were broken. If George had been alone and thirsty he might have been tempted to go down one of these ramps. That would have been the end of him.

The canal is a brutal structure. Nothing has been done to soften its impact. No trees. No shade.

So, naturally the evaporation rate is stunningly high. About a quarter of the water is just lost.

Also the water is not available for local use. Even under the most desperate circumstances.

A couple of years ago there were catastrophic fires on Mt Helikon. A canal, full of water, was there. No one used it to save the forest.. they couldn`t access it. SHAMEFUL SHAMEFUL.

In case this seems too unbelievable, even though we all know many unbelievable things happened during the fires, I have added a photo which shows a whole cement encased river flowing through a burnt mountain side.

If I were a local person, I don`t know how I could have stood that particular insult. That the water supply to Athens may not be interrupted to save the life of half a mountain.My home valued as worth less than interrupting the water supply to the city of Athens. But then..How many voters will be pissed off if they can`t water their lawns and wash their cars? And how many voters live on the flanks of Helikonas? Few,and they mostly old, so they`ll soon be dead. No need for a forward thinking government to worry about them.

After a while even an asphalt road seemed preferable to this soulless place, so we turned down a track that led to the road to Elopia. And in this very sweet village we stopped for the night.
By the next lunchtime we were in Dhomvrena, having been along all kinds of lovely tracks and passed through the village of Ksironomi, where a local person does fabulozo naif paintings on things like the wall of the bus stop shelter.

Now is the time to go to Youtube and find Stormy Weather by Peggy Lee, and listen to it www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XgrEJ_MCAA

Because that`s what we got at Dohmvrena: so much stormy weather that I decided to take cover.

We went on to Thisbe, and there I found an empty half built house. It rained a bit, but mostly it did WIND, in the most hateful way. The sky was blueblack. The noise of the wind was awful. George didnt seem to mind it. Certainly he rejected all efforts to get him to stand in a sheltered place.

I looked up at Helikonas from both of the possible approaches. Not the weather for wimps. Not the weather for non wimps either. It was not only windy up there but also doing tempestuous rain. Tomorrow, I thought.

The next day it was even windier but not rainy. We climbed up Mt Helikon and stopped in the most gorgeous meadow. There were lots of different Spurges there. I used not to be that keen on these. They are poisonous and, I used to think, ugly.

Then one day I found caterpillars of the Spurge Hawk Moth. When you see a beast as fabulous as that you gain respect for the plants that can nurture such a creature.

Euphorbia was also one of the ingredients that the Zoroastian priests used to make the intoxicating brews that were so important in contacting the other world, and so that interested me too.

But it was Helikon`s amazing selection that really turned me on to spurges. I photographed a few, but I haven`t identified them yet - there are more than 2,000 species worldwide, so I`ll wait til I get home..

Anyway Euphorbia everywhere on Elikonas bringing on euphoria, just as they are supposed to do. (Though I didnt eat them or brew them or put their latex on my skin- I just looked at them, and their strange beauty made me happy.Very happy indeed)