I ought to catch everybody up on the time frame for which things are happening here.
     Despoina and I met at a Crete campground bar on August 28th.
     My plane flew into Athens on August 26th.
     And before that, the summer was taking place for me in the good ol' U. S. of A. It was obviously a significant chunk of time: the whole summer. But, the Modern Oddyseus' editing factory can sum it all up for you - the busy reader - in a few tidy paragraphs.
     First things first: hard work makes the world go round. One job I had was to stand out in the road holding a gigantic sign for "Quizno's Subs" and dance. Boy, was that a stupid job! My other work was to sweep the halls and keep tidy the bathrooms at Minnesota Twins' baseball games. It was fun working with other (mostly black) janitors, and after the games we liked to sneak ourselves some beers from the luxury suites.
     Second things second: I joined friends Cory "Johnny" Anderson, Lucas "Johnny" Seipp-Williams, and Adam "Johnny" Rohr in visiting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We canoed and camped for five days in the land where silver-gray lakes intertwine with thick, bear forest, and sea-gulls and bald eagles battle in the air. We cooked rice-and-black-beans-and-corn on our portable stove, while emperor-black, white-spotted loon ducks called their crazy "toot-toot-toots" on the lake. We four friends dug our paddles frenetically into the water while we canoe-raced; we had balance-beam talent shows and pushing-and-shoving jousts on a fallen-over tree in the woods; and we lay in our tents one night as screaming, circling, storming wind slammed into us. We enjoyed seeing no man-made things, and sometimes not even other people, for days.
     Next things next, already. My grandpa and I caught TWENTY-TWO big fish on a glorious day of fishing. Grandpa Breen is a seventy-four-year-old, adorable, really-happy-and-friendly, good guy. He loooves fishing, but he's not very good at it. Therefore, he and I were full of delight this landmark day. In a sub-plot, we were fishing on the same lake which Grandpa Breen had fallen into out of a rowboat, on one cold autumn day while fishing with my brother: an event which caused a great deal of curiosity and hesitant hilarity throughout the Breen family. Therefore, half of my sentences to him began with: "So, when you fell out of the boat, ..."
     So, there you go. It was also nice playing Scrabble with my dad and hugging my mom.
     If you think those paragraphs were as tidy as the men's bathrooms in section D of a Minnesota Twins' baseball game, you have the Modern Oddyseus' editing factory/janitorial services/sign-holding-in-the-road-and-dancing, inc. to thank for it. And if you think those paragraphs sucked, please send your resume to the editing factory.
     Okay, that brings us to Greece.

- peace, Modern Oddyseus

Thanks to Elea; George; Darren; Willie; Bernie; Jean; Bruce; Tucker; Gene; Rick; Darren & "Susie"; Terrance; Ray & Bruce; Fred; Fuzz; Curt; Matt; Joe Garglioni; and three Mexican guys for the rides from Minneapolis to Michigan!
Much thanks to Mom & Dad; Brandy & Matt Erholtz; and Jason & Michelle Fox for the places to sleep!
And special thanks to Cory "Johnny" Anderson for the place to stay in Minnesota and for the late-night, wine-drinking, deep discussions!