When the wind blows...

Tower of the Winds, Athens, on a not very windy day

The Sporades - the island group of which Skopelos is a part - is known as the "gates of the wind" and for much of this month it has lived up to its name.

Right now, as I write this, it's dead calm and the sun is shining, but we've had days of strong winds, often Beaufort force six, seven and occasionally eight. The olive trees in the bottom of the valley have been swaying and swinging and reminded me of weed swirling around in a river.

The worst thing about these winds is waking up in the night and hearing the wind roaring and unidentified objects blowing around outside. From that it is only a small step to worrying about the roof, which so far has stayed exactly where it should.

The prevailing wind has been from the north which has reduced temperatures quite drastically (for here) although on the plus side strong winds do clear out all the muck from the atmosphere and have made it possible to see Mount Athos - the Holy Mountain - quite easily. In a straight line this is about 80 miles away on the Halkidiki peninsula.

Such constant strong winds inevitably cause damage to properties and boats, so it was good to see that the forecast for the next few days is for the winds to abate, but I'm sure they'll be back.

The music for today's post reminds me of my father, who liked this particular piece. I only recall him mentioning it once, but it stuck in my memory. Its title seems appropriate.

• Photo of the Tower of the Winds, Athens, taken by Georg Zumstrull) [CC BY-SA 2.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons