I am making my morning tea in the kitchen when I hear an unfamiliar sound. It turns louder pretty quickly. Thinking of the heating system downstairs, I make a few steps toward the hall. The sound is even louder now. It is not the heating system, though. I open the door to the street. Nothing. The sound is getting louder and louder. And more threatening. Confused, I walk hither and thither, turning my head in every direction. The sound turns into a roar. Only then I realize it is coming from an airplane. I rush to the window. The roar becomes diabolical. Yes, it is a military jet flying low over the nearby hills. Protecting us, I suppose.

Addendum (October 14, 2003)

Military jets now thunder around Motovun two or three times a day. They are never more than a couple of hundred meters from the town. Sometimes there are as many as a dozen of them, flying in pairs. They often fly very low, hugging the hilly terrain. The dreadful noise notwithstanding, it is quite exciting to watch them from above, as they wheel around Motovun some hundred meters below my terrace. Yesterday I read in the local newspapers that this daily show is a part of a joint military exercise between Croatian and American forces. Now I feel really safe.