PARASKEVA
In the second hamlet, it was ancient Granny Paraskeva who took us under her wing, or “warmed us”, as the locals would say, by letting us stay in her big old cabin. The village folk bragged about her: “Our old crone has a tongue long enough to reach her ear. Listen to her, but don’t listen too hard. When she lets it rip, you’ll wish you were deaf.” We realized this was true when we first met her on the porch of her cabin. She addressed us kids, without so much as a “hello”, pointing with her fox’s chin at the rivulets babbling all around:
“Look, spring is here! Every little thing is horny, even the sparrows are humping each other…”
Then, without further ado, she declared:
“If anything needs carried or moved, do it yourselves. My legs are no good no more because of my spine con
