Discovering eunoia in Kos, Greece

I draw a breath. Instantly hit with hot earthiness, toasted pine and a distant whiff of salt, I’m trying to have my eyes wide open to fully take these new surroundings in — but every inch of every thing seems to be drenched in blazing sun rays. It takes a while until my vision adapts a little, and an all-white backdrop starts to break into detailed pieces — magenta drops of blossoming bougainvillea upon white-washed walls of bucolic buildings, dusted green of old olive trees, shimmer of the sea in the distance.