yalikavak

this is the peninsula of land on which i have spent the last 4 days. the aegean is crystalline and warm, the sand holds histories in its miniature stones.  

i have eaten more than i care to discuss. alis parents are skillful persuaders and i always eat everything that is placed in front of me, much to my own detriment. 

but one of my favorite parts of this trip was the twisted aesop fable that alis parents told me.  it is a tale of august bugs and ants. there are eucalyptus trees everywhere here, used to soak up the water and keep the land from returning to its formerly swampy state, and in these eucalyptus trees live (what the turks call) august bugs. august bugs make a deep chirping noise, something akin to cicadas, that harmoniously emanate from the soft green, perfumed eucalyptus leaves. august bugs are a lazy, peaceful creature and they spend their summer months singing and sitting in the warm sea breeze, laughing at the ants toiling below in the aegean heat.  

however, the seasons do not last and soon the chill of fall nights settle upon the once comfortable homes of the august bugs.  and the august bugs are bewildered by their growing discomfort and agitated by their settling hunger.  

and as the nights grow colder and longer, they look at the ants in their food filled homes with envy and they ask the ones they once laughed at for favors. 

but the ants have worked for their spoils and they laugh now as they rebuff the pleas of the august bugs and laugh still as the august bugs perish in the winds only to repeat the same tragic cycle for eternity... for what does an august bug want but to sit in the perfumed breeze of a lovely, tall cicada tree?