No Stress

We met many wonderful people on our trip—mainly artists, restaurateurs, shopkeepers, innkeepers, and fellow travelers—and a few of them have already contributed to the vocabulary of our relationship.

Over and over, in a variety of contexts, the charming, chain-smoking artist we met on Santorini said to us, "No stress, no stress" in his mellifluous Greek accent. We have been repeating it like a mantra ever since. (The emphasis is on the "no.")

Good thing, too, because we are now upstate, working furiously to ready the house for our very first renters, who arrive next Friday. It's a huge project for which we have an unforgiving deadline and a very limited budget, a combination more commonly seen on reality-TV shows like Project Runway and Top Chef. Fortunately, no one has been taping our exploits.

We have encountered several snags and plenty of stressors since arriving last night. But each time, we have been able to channel our friend Andreas and his words of wisdom. (To get the full effect, you really have to double up the phrase.)

There will still be times—possibly even this very week—that call for a D-14 approach. But more often than not, I think we will go Greek and try not get worked up about things.

Plus we just like to say, "No stress, no stress" in the best Greek accents we can muster.

Go ahead. Try it.