The Mock Privet’s Den in the Wind of Assos

To have experienced the summer in Assos… To walk through fields of rock and stone, wrapped in the scent of sun-dried grasses. On the stones lie all kinds of lichens, Anatolian oaks, olive trees, mock privets, and many more…

As we take in all this beauty on a windy day, we come across a very old barn, carefully built with stones. Curious, we step inside, though its roof is long gone. There, between massive rocks, a mock privet tree catches our attention. Its age is clear in every detail. With the force of the wind, our ears begin to outweigh our eyes. The sound rising from the tree’s trunk and its large, dried branches, thrust between the rocks, presents to us—audibly—the tree’s stubborn will to live. Every branch, every leaf, was a reminder of holding on to life.