Picked up from the P.O. today a cheery yellow box come all the way from Hvar. Thanks, Ames!!, for the gorgeous sachets of homegrown lavender and the bags of crazy-style Croatian candy. Total blast from the past, bringing back the smells and tastes and feels of late spring in Dalmatia.

From a postcard I wrote myself on one of those lazy island afternoons:

May 20, 2003. It’s a lucky day when you run into a friend at the top of the Fortressa Spanjola & then sit in the sun with her as she eats her breakfast of a roll spread with melted Milka strawberry-yoghurt-flavored chocolate; then when you get a ride in a little yellow Zasti to Pokonji Dol, where you rent a big umbrella for 10 kuna, listen to the waves retreat over shiny white pebbles, then head into the cold, clear water and hope the small black fish don’t come for your toes; then when you find some Schokobananen in the grocery store; then get home in time to see great lightning electrify the sky, and smell the rain on its way.