Thursday, February 12/2026

 

Courtesy Kemal Basat

A beaked whale has been found washed ashore at Tatlısu on the Karpaz peninsula about 60 kilometers east of us. It is male, approximately five meters long, and weighs about one and a half tons. Now being removed from the rocks and taken to the Tashkent Nature Park for necropsy in the hope of determining the cause of death. 

Surprisingly there are several thousand whales in the Mediterranean, including the elusive deep diving beaked whales. Thirteen whales were found beached on Cyprus almost exactly three years ago, with some suspicion then that the deaths may have been earthquake related.

Wednesday, February 11/2026

Warm enough but we wear our windbreakers down to the little supermarket not because it’s raining, though it may shower later, but because it’s really windy. Oranges, bread, onions, mushrooms, pasta and wine. No need to buy rosemary - ever - because across the road from us is an enormous rosemary bush covered with little blue flowers. Technically on the orchard side of the fence but it has sprawled well onto the road side and in any case is producing enough fragrant rosemary to satisfy the whole neighbourhood. 

Showers for enough days that it’s hard to believe that the island is much too dry, but it is after four years of drought. In the South reservoirs are at less than fourteen percent of capacity and little rain can be expected after February. The South relies on desalination for seventy percent of its drinking water, but there are still severe shortages looming.

Rainfall amounts have probably been similar in the North but here there is an 80 kilometre undersea pipe that brings water from Türkiye to the TRNC.

Tuesday, February 10/2026

Looking southwest  from the bedroom the view is of the mountain peaks. Southeast is uphill toward the old church. And almost certainly almond blossoms. Haven’t walked up to do a proper identification but looks like it from here and it’s the right time of year.

Been listening to podcasts at night, mostly ancient or medieval history. Somewhat less disturbing than much of the daytime news. The ancients may have done appalling things to each other but it was a long time ago and no need to worry about it now. Also much of the information is new to me (unlike J who knows far more and remembers it better). I can hear about some far off conflicts with suspense in waiting to discover which side won.

But, technicalities apart, human nature seems depressingly unchanged. Hence last night’s account of the siege of Istanbul, also known variously 

 as Constantinople and Byzantium. (Incidentally Greek Cypriot news reporters in the South still refer to the city as Constantinople rather than Istanbul). Long, if not always accurate, memories here in the Middle East). 

No nuclear weapons in those days but they did their best. And there were weapons manufacturers. A Hungarian engineer by the name of Orban (presumably unrelated to the current Hungarian president of the same name) said he would build a cannon “such as the world has never seen” to use in the siege. Not that he had particular Ottoman loyalties - he had previously offered his services to the Byzantines but they couldn’t meet his price and in any case distrusted his ability to fulfill the contract.

The cannon, duly completed in three months, was made of bronze and christened Basilica. It was over ten metres long and weighed so much that it had to be dragged to the walls of Constantinople by a crew of four hundred men with the help of sixty oxen at a rate of four metres a day.

Not much element of surprise, as they could obviously be seen coming, but plenty of shock and awe all the same. Basilica was horrifically inaccurate and could only be fired three times a day, as it had to be cooled down with olive oil, but when it did hit the huge balls of marble (iron ones not yet developed) weighing three quarters of a ton and travelling over a mile did massive damage to the city walls. Spoiler alert - the city fell.

Monday, February 9/2026

Courtesy Cyprus FAQ

Cyprus is, of course, a divided country. It’s possible to cross the border in either direction, though it hasn’t always been, but there are a number of limitations and complicating factors, some of which depend on which passport you’re carrying. There are nine crossing points, the busiest of which is Metehan. (Well that’s another awkward bit. All of the crossing points have two unrelated names, one Turkish and one Greek - and no, they’re not simply translations of the same name). Depending on date and time of day waiting time can be as much as two hours at Metehan/Ayios Dhometios.

But the latest border crossing difficulty, as recounted by Cyprus Mail, is hard to figure out. It seems that a Bangladeshi national called Hasan Kibria inadvertently entered the North without benefit of documentation or process and is now due to appear in a military court. Kibria had recently arrived in Cyprus and was working as a motorcycle courier for a food delivery service. Not speaking English (or presumably much in the way of Greek or Turkish) he was reliant on GPS and seems to have been misdirected as he tried to find an address in Nicosia, which he had not known was a divided city. When he was unable to explain himself at a Turkish checkpoint he was arrested.

Meanwhile his employer had been faced with the unexplained disappearance of both employee and motorcycle. It took about a week before he learned the story after being contacted by the Turkish Cypriot lawyer assigned to represent Kibria. With luck the court will see the incident as an unfortunate accident and one unlikely to set a precedent for extralegal border crossings.

Sunday, February 8/2026

Courtesy Adela Warrington

Adela, living in Ozanköy, twenty km east of us, posted this at dawn. Beautiful, but then there is the saying about red sky in the morning being a warning. Happily a lovely sunny day. Low twenties. Shorts and a gin on ice overlooking the Med. Along with a cigar (J not me). Towels drying on the line. No complaints. Cyprus Mail says dust in the air until mid afternoon, but fortunately don’t read this until late afternoon - and hadn’t noticed it.

Cyprus Mail pleased to join in the worldwide horror at the Epstein debacle, though with nothing particularly appalling to contribute. Left saying that the emails suggest that an Emirati businessman recommended a young woman with a Cypriot mother to Epstein in 2015 when she was studying in Dubai. About as peripheral a link as you could get and one can sense editorial disappointment at not being any closer to the gritty core.

A bit reminiscent of the headline - sadly later proven to be apocryphal - in the now defunct Scottish newspaper The Aberdeen Press and Journal: “North-east man lost at sea”. Following the sinking of the Titanic.

A tough editorial day down at the Cyprus Mail. An article is headed “Man hospitalised with fractured skull after being threatened by landlord”. After being THREATENED? In reading it’s possible to see what the journalistic problem is. An unnamed landlord seems to have threatened three men living on his property. Not receiving satisfaction he left and returned with two masked men who chased and attacked two of the residents, one of whom ended up with a skull fracture. There seems to have been an arrest but as no charges have been officially released the paper is understandably reluctant to become the purveyor of false information.

Saturday, February 7/2026

Head down to our little supermarket and spot on the edge of a puddle a five lira note, only slightly wet. And pick it up. 

For reasons which we decide are somewhat amusing. First of all it’s a bill and not a coin. There are five lira coins but you seldom see them. But that doesn’t make it particularly valuable. The smallest Canadian note is a five dollar bill - worth approximately 160 Turkish lira. The smallest UK note is five pounds, worth about 297 lira. So our damp little acquisition is worth roughly fifteen cents - or 8p.

So why did we do it - and why did the person who dropped it not bother (assuming they noticed)? Well, you don’t have to have a memory that goes back all that far to remember a lira that was worth quite a lot more. When we were first locked down in Famagusta in March of 2020, not quite six years ago, one euro cost 7 Turkish lira. Now it would be 51. So probably our instinctive reaction to leaving a bank note lying on the road has not changed quite as quickly as the value of said bank note has.

Maybe it was dropped by a kid. Could be there’s an age factor as well. J observed years ago that students would not bother to pick up a quarter lying on the hallway floor. Staff would.

Friday, February 6/2026

Unsettled weather but the morning rain disappears so we can walk down to the Blue Song for our usual Friday gathering. Temperature only about eighteen but the walk long enough to work up a thirst for our regular draft. 

Fluctuating numbers in our group but only seven of us today. Always good talk, frequently informative, and plenty of wit. But also a reminder that many people maintain equanimity and humour in the face of circumstances where that is the only defence.

Thus C mostly doesn’t mention unless asked the semi diagnosed problems that lead to frequent blood tests and sometimes transfusions. We do know about, but never discuss, the death of his wife a few years ago, killed crossing a road here. And we know that D’s husband has Alzheimer’s. A couple of years ago he was quite willing to tell people this. Don’t think he goes out much any more but D says he announced today that he is going to his room to commit suicide and she’s not to open the door for a week. She’s learned that these things are very quickly forgotten but there’s an obvious sadness mixed with the laughter. He says he hates everybody - but never the dogs. 

My father said many years ago that there’s enough tragedy on any city block to break your heart.

And then on the way home we pass beautiful orange flowers we hadn’t noticed before. iPad identifies them as flamevine, also known as orange trumpet, originally native to South America.