There is a cave in the deep sea, deep in the depths of Tenedos, between Tenedos and the steep cleft of Imbros.

(Homer Iliad Rhapsody N, where you might run into Poseidon)

I am alert-alive on a barren cape, supported by the Southern Cross holding coral beads and chewing bitter coffee beans.

(Nikos Kavvadias Aegean Sailor poet)

Today, this very day as I write, schools are closed on Naxos in the Aegean Sea. Its potatoes grow smaller, and water scarcity is anticipated. Its bays and beaches remain sunshine-buttered bright. At this very moment the Cyclades are shaking from unprecedented seismic activity. To say or pinpoint precisely in time or exactly place (x,y) when these phenomena will stop or strike is not possible. Soon or sooner, later or sooner? There or here, here or there?

Then in the days of Homer, Poseidon controlled the wine-clouded sea and the moonlit beaches, waves, sands, and rocks. Today Enkelados and Hephaestus are kicking up an unsettling fuss, and the shorelines are deserted with the probability of landslides. Over the past several weeks, maybe 13,000 earth tremors have occurred with a skewed intensity distribution ranging from mostly low, some at a higher Richter, and a few 5 plus. The use of a logarithmic scale for strength measurement means that each unit of increase on the Richter scale indicates a tenfold increase in earthquake strength; 2 is 10 greater than 1, and 5 is 10 times greater than 4, which means that 5 is 10,000 times more than 1. No scenario rules out a six Richter earthquake, which will have strength 100,000 times more than an earth tremor of 1.

Seismic tectonic activity results from a dynamic and complex physical system whose energy level is redistributed and/or released in some pattern of seismic activity. So far this seismic activity has caused voluntary evacuations from a few islands and school closings. They have precipitated deep discussion on tectonic plates, volcanic lava, and vulnerable structures. Overall, anxiety prevails, hopefully short-term on the many islands in the Aegean Sea. The island of Santorini is also known for its mildly active volcano. Its inhabitants are anxious from both seismic and potential volcanic behavior, and so are those on nearby islands.

Today it is drizzling and cold. Questions now posed are whether a larger earthquake will occur and whether the island’s volcanic behavior will couple with the unusual seismic behavior to cause more trouble. Both earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are hazards that constitute a threat to the peoples of the Aegean. Prediction of outcome is difficult; will the shaking of the earth run out of steam in the next few months or weeks, or will it continue to store up steam and release it with a higher Richter earthquake to find equilibrium? The region contains many seismic faults and is known for its tectonic activity, which can also precipitate landslides. Landslides have already occurred, making a stroll on the beach hazardous.

As I listen to the experts, my take on the situation is that the gods will call off their activities, and the current trajectory towards perceived danger will be reversed. This will be pleasing for tourism, knowing that much more has to be done to make it ready for the coming summer visitors: business preparation and human resource recruitment. However, the complexity is such that life has to deal with scenarios, and two or three have been advanced by experts. We cannot avoid seeing the future through the eyes of scenario hoping that reality will unfold according to the best outcome with the least damage.

Over the past summer on the Island of Gavdos, fresh and dirty water systems came into contact as a result of a drop in the level of the clean water system, perhaps as a result of the burden of tourism and the increasing need for drinking water and sanitation as refuse increases, while an Internet capability was added to the school to improve education. In the Cyclades, landfills, legal and illegal, have a troubled history and continue to constitute a threat to public health, environmental integrity, and the business of tourism. Random dumping is still practiced, for example, on Kalymnos, encouraging animals to scour the tons of waste, which can also take fire. Landfill management must be improved, and all islands must become smarter.

This summer, Pserimos, a small island located between Cos and Kalymnos, has been conceptualized and advocated as a smart island. To this end, an international conference was launched, and a significant number of scientists and dignitaries attended. My contribution was the presentation of a descriptive model for smart island development as a pointer to the way forward. It also gave me a personal opportunity to review and recall my experience with the Aegean Islands, and especially Naxos, that reaches back about sixty years.

image host Descriptive model of the Basic Societal Functions of a Smart Island in the Aegean.

Sixty years ago I wrote a poem on the enchanting island of Naxos. As we approached the island, it looked like a wedding cake, with multiple layers, and the color on each level was dazzlingly white, while at its highest point a castle and a monastery stood proud. My poem and the magnificence of the Island was all about and for Tina which I shared. Everything seemed organized for us. After we disembarked, we strolled into a new world. We walked the streets and wandered along its shores. It was the year of 1963, and the waves were singing to us while the Aegean wind helped to sprinkle us with salt water to keep us cool. We laughed and loved.

On the beach of Naxos, my above-referred-to poem was the second poem for Tina. On Naxos I discovered the life and poetry of Nikos Kavvadias. It has been said that his poetry echoes the spirit of the Greek islands. His life somehow reminded me of the life of Joseph Conrad. Both of his parents came from the Ionian Island of Cephalonia, but his father was in business, a merchant, in Russia, where the poet was born. He was intrigued by the Far East and the stars of the Southern skies. An extract from Kavvadias, poet of the sea, reads: *I am alert—alive on a barren cape, supported by the Southern Cross holding coral beads and chewing bitter coffee beans...

A few years ago, in 2016, the "Declaration on Smart Islands" was drafted in Athens during the Smart Islands Forum. This year and the summer of 2024, Pserimos, between two larger islands, Kalymnos and Kos, is in my spotlight, and I hear laughter from the past. This summer a 1st World Conference, "Smart Islands," was held, and it took place there. Pserimos was returned to Greece by Italy immediately after World War II, and someone my age may remember Italian spoken at a time when its population consisted of a few hundred families and far more than today. It is also referred to as Kapari-Capers because of the abundance of capers growing there. And now we have the project Kimon as a means to cultivate ideas and mechanisms for the benefit of the Islands.

With this article, it is my desire to recall the past and have fun, to challenge the concept of Smart Island, and to say that sixty years ago, in 1963-1965, Naxos was a "smart island" and a great part of my life. It was the island of my love. For me it was a watershed, while today it is troubled by seismic rumblings. There then, with Michalis Margaritis, on the famous Beach of Prokopi with a few people, we discussed and dreamed about the future. He married Maria, who I spoke with recently, and started building the Barbouni Hotel that exists to this day and continues in full swing. I recall Naxos, its wonderful cheeses, colorful carrots, and potent potatoes, which today, due to water deprivation, are small. Even a visit before Easter, at a time when fasting was widespread, was a great adventure.

I remember the folk festivals, dominated by the violin, without any electronic means of amplification, Hans and his American wife, who was a descendant of a presidential family, and the noble Walter, who was looking for himself. I also remember two dockers, Lefteris and Stamatis, and a mule driver reciting Shakespeare, and from all three, I learned the daily life of the island. Lefteris was my "Zorba." I met the Catholic Mother Superior who came from Birmingham, an American with a powerful telescope to view the sky, and studied the poetry of Nikos Gatsos and Kavvadias, who, if I remember correctly, had a house there. There I wrote my poem to Tina and soon after left with her for Chicago. The poem to my wife, I titled "Sun-buttered bays of light," a clear reflection of the island of Naxos.

Two things I never learned: why people from the Island of Naxos referred to themselves as Axiotes and if the Ship of the Line one day in 1964 left ahead of schedule. It was a day we missed the ferry to Piraeus. We were told that it left early because its captain was unhappy with the wine; at least that's what Marko, the coffee shop owner, said. With Marko, I learned a little of the magic of coffee making. Our next Greek island was Poros, which we were visiting as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and a few years later we thought we had found paradise on Corfu. Today our island is Poros.

The Greek summers of the years 2023 and 2024 were difficult because of forest fires and floods as well as zoonosis, while a small island called Pserimos caught my attention. Like Naxos 60 years earlier, Pserimos seemed to beckon me. I had never heard of this jewel located between Kos and Kalymnos in the Aegean Sea. I didn’t know that my sister had set foot there on several occasions around 1990. She spent her summers on Kalymnos, staying with Father Nikolas, Naomi, and their 4 daughters. The 1st World Conference on "Smart Islands" took place there, chaired by Professor Magda Tsolaki. Evangelos Rigos, Honorary President, IHA, set the scene by discussing how Pserimos would become a smart island as it goes forward into the future. I was invited to participate in the conference by the current president, Major General Dimitris Vogolis, on the concept of a smart island, Pserimos, from a health perspective.

First: Thank you very much to the progressive organizers for the honor and opportunity you offer me to visit Pserimos and enjoy it for its beauty and to explore it as a new space for reflection regarding the title 1st World Conference on Smart Islands. Certainly, the concept of smart islands as discussed at this international conference is a world first. It takes on particular emphasis, especially on a small island, whose population is less than 20 inhabitants, but today, as a result of tourism, it is about 2000. Secondly, let me say that I envy you and your small, peaceful island. I know you are not on the hills dressed as soldiers!

This small Aegean island for me was a Tabula Raza, and my approach to the demands of the conference reflected what I did with my students when they presented a problem for which I had no direct answer, namely a brainstorming, which is what intelligent and educated minds do to thoroughly explore a little-known problem field. In doing so, my perception worked, and my sensory experiences were rich.

I also declare that I am from an island. I come from the Island of England; this royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise, this fortress built by Nature for herself against infection and the hand of war, this happy breed of men, this little world, this precious stone set in a silver sea.

I grew up when all educated people were considered Greeks and philhellenes. In Greece, Byron was looking at Marathon, while Marathon was gazing at the sea... I even remember the lyrics of one of his poems: The Isles of Greece! The isles of Greece, where burning Sappho loved and sung, where grew the arts of war and peace, where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet.

There were some Greek islands that my mother taught me, for example, Skyros, where Rupert Brooke died of septicemia on board a French hospital ship in 1915, which anchored off Skyros. Brooke was buried in an olive grove on the island. He had already written, If I should die, think only this of me: that there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England. With respect to Pserimos, I discovered it 30 years after my sister had visited it.

Suffice it to say that the unlimited development of tourism may cancel the effort to adapt to the conditions of the climate crisis and thwart the fight against climate change, and small desalination plants exist in Syros, Nisyros, Milos, Aegina, and possibly on another island. The number is minimal compared to the water scarcity that has hit our country. Therefore, the meaning of smart islands is alive and well developed in the Aegean. However, we must not turn a deaf ear to the loud ringing of the leper's bell. Gastroenteritis and poor hygiene are described in two reports. They concern events—epidemics of gastroenteritis in Gavdos and dead fish in Volos. In both cases, two systems that should never have met made contact and kissed. The rest is history but muted.

In Gavdos, fresh and dirty water came into contact somewhere as a result of the burden of tourism, and consequently, the level of the clean aquifer dropped, while the need for cesspools increased. Whatever... As for Volos, somewhere the dying fish came into contact with salt and fresh water. Gavdos is in the news as a result of the development of the Internet for schools, as the Prime Minister showed. To say poetic thanks, I dedicate a poem to Themis Tatari-Billiri, teacher and poetess, who lived for a long time in Pserimos. A base for a future smart island.

I ended my Aegean world presentation for the 1st World Conference on Smart Islands with a poetic thank you. It was dedicated to Themis Tatari-Billiri, teacher and poet, who lived a lifetime on Pserimos. Now she lives between Kalymnos and Athens, recalling days when there were far more children there, almost as many as capers. During her conference presentation, the poetess mentioned that she retrieved her memories and immortalized them in an award-winning poem entitled My Little Homeland; memories of yesterday, bubbling up today with thoughts for a better tomorrow on a smart island in the sun.

My poem for a teacher

Summer when the sun shines bright on Pserimos,

Fiercely so, in noonday light, moving slowly towards the dusk and night.

While the day’s end is still one full eternity away,

But the sun will sink beneath the Aegean’s eternal waves.

The moon will lift again above the darkening earth,

Emerging in full bloom to slowly rise as if in high-flown birth,

While on the land, laced beams of silver flash.

Through citrus groves with unruled mirth,

And fireflies flirt fly back and forth, captivated by hoary light,

Leaves dusty, freckled brushed arrestingly by lemon yellow bright,

While olive branches on timeworn ancient trees still shimmer with the breeze.

And softly scintillations simmer easygoing on timeless eyes,

Dreams dim and bright remembered, tenderly recalled.

A rain-strained topsoil smell blossoms boldly blown by sudden gusts,

The fanning of Greek fire, sand pooled wax,

Wax droplets warm beneath an icon’s glow.

Copper pounded cross subdued by weight of age,

In an old church whose stained glass eyes have seen untold pain?

Where sleeps the dark-eyed virgin, mother of the world?

Gives solace, brings hope, and still conveys inspiring light,

With Cassiopeia high above, caught in its slow sweep and midnight flight

Caught up by daytime winds, by evening breeze declining with the night

Caught up in the Aegean's waves of gentle fall and swell

Caught up some tectonic torque in magnum’s flow and crusty might

Bound by silvery linings travelling through starry and nomadic skies

The Isles of Greece, the pleasing plots, the Dodecanese

From which the scholar, if not pleased, flees from the tyrant’s grip.

A realm of sheer delight, Hippocrates for cure and Socrates for thought

Where philosophy still survives today and all is well

On this a small and gentle Grecian isle, called Pserimos.