Greetings from Mykanos

As I write this I am looking at a grand vista that now encompasses our garden. The fence that previously enclosed our house, huertas (vegetable gardens) and outside entertainment area has been pushed back, on one side, to the top of the ridge that forms the lip of the basin in which we dwell, and on the other side extended to the creek and guaduale (bamboo forest) that delineates the opposing boundary.

Not only has the surface area changed, so have its contours. Adriano had a bulldozer in and sculpted the surface, creating slopes, depressions and flat areas. Sometime in the future the flat areas might house guest chalets with their own terraces from which visitors can enjoy the sunsets before wandering down to the main house for dinner. We have four new ponds, three of which will surround a new hammock kiosk ideal for reading and G&Ts. The huertas have been moved up to beside the top gate; there is a new chicken shed; and all internal fences have been removed, which means the ducks and geese, when not paddling around their own ponds, troop through the garden and even into the outside kitchen and dining area, which is all very cute until you encounter one of the little messages they manage to drop all too frequently as they pass. Not sure how long the ducks will last though, as they have been snacking a bit too regularly on the young tilapia in the ponds.

As the programme of turning the newly exposed earth green progressed, we exhausted Pereira’s stock of grass seed and have been bringing boxes up from Bogotá. As well as lawn, Adriano has been adding flowering trees; planting fruit trees including avocado, papaya, lime and various citric fruits; and moving bougainvilleas and palms.

Only the fish in the ponds are commercial; all else is for us and our friends and families. I cannot imagine any other cafetero (coffee grower) who would devote so much fertile land to non-commercial usage in order to create more beautiful surroundings and more personal enjoyment, but then I cannot imagine any other cafetero like Adriano.

And speaking of other cafeteros, we ran into a lot of them at the Comité (the local office of the Co-Op) on Wednesday as we went to register for some financial subsidy from the Government. Yes, amazing but true, after more than two years since the first Paro (strike) they finally decided to give us some help in the form of money to help finance farm renovation. This is the time of year … between harvests … when old coffee is replaced, existing coffee is pruned, extra plantain is planted etc. We saw more fellow cafeteros than we had since those Paros of 2013 and 2014. We had to sign the claim form with both signature and fingerprint. Adriano signed for Rancho Grande, I for Mykanos, and at the Comité’s insistence we even took Don Narciso (Adriano’s father), who at 84 is not so mobile, up in the taxi and they brought the documents down to him to complete. We had to do the documents as soon as it was announced as the funds are limited and will run out long before the cafeteros seeking assistance run out.

Why this sudden munificence? Many believe the Government is trying to curry favour with the country folk because of the projected referendum on the proposed peace deal with the FARC guerrillas. You probably saw the reports, as it was quite big news, even outside Colombia. After four years of negotiations in Havana they are getting ready to sign, although it was originally scheduled for April. During that time we were not privy to the details or the conditions, and only now are learning what has been agreed.

For example, the senior figures in the FARC will go straight into Congress without having to be elected, which is not surprising as they have less than 2% popular support in the country. And each FARC ex-fighter will be paid a monthly salary, approximately twice as much as our workers make. They ask why they have to work six days a week and get paid less than half of what the FARC guerrillas get for promising not to kidnap and kill innocent people any more. And of course, this deal is only with the FARC. What about the second biggest guerrilla group the ELN?

President Santos, desperate to get the Nobel Peace Prize, said that we will all get to vote on whether we approve the peace agreement, and we are having Government sponsored ads on television about the wonders, tranquillity, and limitless benefits we will enjoy if we say ‘yes’. However Santos also said, in a speech, that if we don’t say yes the FARC will go back to war and kill people in the cities as well as in the Bush. We think he was copying David Cameron’s ‘Project Fear’ strategy which featured so strongly in the run up to the British referendum on staying or leaving the EU. He was immediately attacked by journalists on the veracity of the statement and had to send the Defence Minister out to do lots of interviews explaining that Santos was ‘misunderstood’.

I am pretty sure the British result has filled him with even more foreboding about ‘bloody democracy’ and the refusal of people to do what they are told to by their ‘betters’.

You know my views on the FARC and guerrillas and banditos and the dreadful death, dismay, dishonesty and destruction they deal in, so I won’t rehash them here. Suffice to say that I am not the only one by far in this country to hold that view and Santos is really trying (using the Aussie vernacular) to ‘push shit uphill’.

Our pumpkins – whoppers!

On a more positive note we now have a new family member here at Mykanos; a Labrador something or other cross dog called Yolo. His previous name was Polo, which Adriano didn’t like so we went for Yolo to avoid confusion and better reflect our guiding philosophy.

YOLO is an acronym popular in the culture of those a bit younger than us that stands for ‘You Only Live Once’, and is often accused of being the catchall response when someone is, or is accused of being, reckless. It became widely popular in 2011 following the success of the song ‘The Motto’ by rapper Drake, but I learned of it from my lovely Goddaughter Rosie and her siblings Tom and Tilda (along with the slightly older, but just as prevalent FOMO … Fear Of Missing Out).

We don’t suffer from FOMO, well apart from being worried about never getting the Nobel Prize for Literature, but we certainly embrace YOLO, not in terms of being reckless but as inspiration to make the most of whom we are and what we have, and to avoid putting off until tomorrow what we would like to do today.

After all, tomorrow might never happen and you only live once.

Love from him and me

Barry

Goose patrol