Rain in Pylos

 Good Morning, people of the world!

I thought yesterday was going to be the last day our temps were going to be climbing up into the 80s (F).  I was wrong.  That'll happen today, if it happens, because we're basically borderline 80s (F).  Sometime this afternoon, the showers and thundershowers will move in and our temps will begin to fall.  That is until we get our yearly blast of Indian Summer.  For those of you who don't know, Indian Summer occurs after the first frost of the year and our temps will zoom upwards for about a week.  

Speaking of rain, when I got to Greece the country was going through a serious dry spell.  Melena, our guide for the Acropolis in Athens told us that olives were normally harvested in December, "but who knows this year because we've had so little rain."  Well, on our last night in Pylos we got rain.  At dinner, we chose a restaurant that had an awning in anticipation, the rain, however, didn't begin until after midnight.  And it did rain.  There was thunder.  It was still raining the next morning.  One of our our group who wasn't prepared, texted our tour leader Christos telling him he was going out to try and find a store that was open in order to buy an umbrella.  While trying to find him, Christos got soaked, only to find that the group member was safe and dry back at the hotel. Anyway, the rain was all everybody was talking about, and how it was going to be raining when we got to Olympia.  I don't know how many times I told them not to worry, "it's not going to rain."  Of course, when we got there the sun was out and the temperature was climbing.  Did they really think the gods were going to let it rain on my visit to one of the best preserved archeological sites in Greece?  For those who don't know, this is Hermes.

Of course, the Mark Robinson scandal is creating serious chaos in the Republican party and the Orange Anus will not take back his endorsement.  Orangie can't.  That would mean he made a mistake, and his ego would never survive such an admission.  This is going to hurt him badly in November, for only the cultists will have no problem voting for a man who's endorsing a Black Nazi.

And finally, what about Sean O'Brien, soon to be ex-president of the Teamsters Union.  First, he shows up at the Republican convention.  Then he releases a fake poll showing more Teamsters support Trump than Harris, telling America the Teamsters are endorsing either candidate.  Then, the Teamsters unions across the nation tell him to screw off and endorse Harris.  Then, his VP, who was in the room the day the endorsement decision is made, goes public, telling America everyone in the room that day wanted to endorse Harris, except O'Brien.  How stupid can you be?

Awesome Greece

 Hello America and Greece!  The temp outside here in Harrisburg is 59 (F) and is predicted to rise into the 80s (F).

So, let me tell you about Greece.  It was amazing!  Great views!  Great history!  I had so much fun, and learned so much.  Did you know that the root word for "gym" means naked?  Now tell me, doesn't that add a whole new meaning to the word gymnastics?  And I'm betting that from now on, every time someone uses the word gym, you're going to mentally substitute the word naked.  I'm betting this bit of information is going to make it into my next book, The Body in History.  And how did an athlete clean himself off after a good naked workout?  With olive oil and scrapping tools.

One of the people who made this tour so amazing was our Tour Leader, Christos.  So, what does a young man with a degree in Math and Physics do when he decides he doesn't want to teach?  Become a Tour Leader for Explore.com.  He is much more patient than I am.  He stayed with me on that rigorous 999 step climb up to the Palamidi Fortress.  Believe me when I tell you that I thought my legs were in shape for anything and discovered they weren't.  On the Mani peninsula, as we were deciding which of us were going to participate in another rigorous hike over rugged terrain to the lighthouse on Cape Tenaro, and even though he was wearing sunglasses, I saw an "oh, shit," moment flash across his eyes when I said, "I'm going."  There is nothing wrong with testing yourself.  Never relegate yourself to the sidelines because you think something might be too difficult. I don't think he remembers, but I actually laughed out loud at that moment.  Here's Christos.

There were 11 members in my group, and on the last day we were asked what was our favorite moment.  That question was so difficult.  Mycenae was amazing!  I took pictures inside the tomb to show a friend at work because it's exactly the same as the tombs in Assassin's Creed, Odyssey.  The frescoes in the chapels at Mystra.  The way those colors popped after so many thousands of years was incredible.  For me, however, what impacted me most was walking into that big room of the Olympia Museum and seeing all of those statues that had adorned the top of Zeus's Temple.  As tears welled up in my eyes, I found it almost overwhelming.  

And, of course, there was Delphi.  Since The Body in History takes place in Delphi, I became very analytical.  How was this location going to fit into the story?  The town is small, a little over 3000 people, and there are only 3 streets, and I immediately began twisting the story tighter.  One of the first things I did was text a picture to Cori, my cover artist, saying, "this needs to be changed."  The Tholos of Athena is about a mile away from the archeological site.  I thought it was part of the site itself.  It's actually next to the gymnasium (also known as the naked training area).  So, I guess the question you'll be pondering until the book cover is revealed, is how will this play into the cover art.

And finally, there was supposedly another possible assassination attempt on the Orange Anus yesterday.  This makes number two.  This one comes after the "eating dogs and eating cats" scandal, and after the bad debate, and after Vance admitted on TV that he will make up lies to change the topic of conversation.  I'm beginning to wonder if we're going to have one of these every time the shit gets too real for Trump's campaign team.

Olympia

 Today we hit the archeological site of Olympia, home of the first Olympic games.  When we left Pylos it was raining, and right from the beginning people were wondering what the weather was going to be like in Olympia.  Will it be raining? they asked.  We stopped for coffee and cookies (I bought 3.  They were delicious.) and someone asked, "what time does the rain start in Olympia?" And I said, it's not going to rain.  The weather was nice and sunny.  After touring the museum, our tour guide walked us through Olympia, itself, she glanced at a cloud in the sky and said, "you may want to hurry before it starts to rain," and I said, "it's not going to rain."  Later, I reminded Christos, our tour leader that I'd told him it wasn't going to rain.  😎😎😎

I learned so much today:  gym, as in gymnasium and gymnastics comes from the Greek word meaning naked.  Doesn't that add a spin to what that pommel horse guy did in this past summer's Olympics?  Stadium comes from Greek word meaning "to stand."  The stadium in Olympia could hold 45,000 men (no women) standing.  Just imagine that many men standing there, watching sports for the entire day, I'm betting whoever had the wine bar concession made out like bandits.

Seriously, seeing the statuary in the museum was enough to make me tear up.  The only words I could say were "Oh, my Gosh!"

Let's start off with Hermes, whose sculptor used leather and fine grit to give him his sheen.

And then we have the statues lining the top and front of Zeus's temple, the largest in all of Greece with just the columns 13 meters high (and yes, I did use meters, since that's what the rest of the world uses).

And this is Apollo, we'll get to meet him in Delphi.

And this is what the entire thing looks like.

There was a debate last night and evidently Kamala Harris wiped up the floor with Don. While I didn't watch any of it, from what I've read, Donnie boy did not do well with getting fact checked, but then liars never do.  

Even better, while Donnie's singing "Don't nobody bring me no bad news," Taylor Swift endorsed Harris.  Now, I now know some of you don't like Taylor, but let's be honest 30 million Swifties going to the ballot box is something the Republican party never, ever dreamed of.  Trump's Karma is comin' at him full speed ahead.