‘Not a single drop’

We talk on the phone almost every day. "Dad, has it rained at all?" "No, my child, nothing, not a drop has fallen, even though the meteorologists on the news keep saying rain is on the way." For months now, the same conversation, on repeat. I've forgotten the last time I got a positive answer. It's been a long time for sure; he's stopped complaining, stopped worrying about the trees and the fields. "Whatever's going to happen will happen," he says now.

Another autumn that seems lost. The earth is thirsty, cracked, the trees stunted. We've forgotten the smell of rain, that refreshing feeling, the sound of the first heavy drops. It doesn't rain anymore… On the Cyclades islands, locals are in despair. On Naxos, they held a procession. On Paros, they look up to the sky and brought out the icon of Panagia Ekatontapyliani in the port of Paroikia, hoping she'll help, bring rain,...