Next weekend I will return to Motovun for a few weeks. According to my record of time spent in Zagreb, by then I will have spent exactly half a year in the Croatian capital already. And it will be mid-October only. The way things look right now, this year I will spend around sixty percent of my time in Zagreb. Last year it was fifty percent, and the year before it was thirty percent (”Zagreb versus Motovun,” September 18, 2009). The percentages look suspiciously round, but that is what the record actually shows. Will the percentage keep growing over time? I cannot be sure about that right now, but the likelihood is that it will keep growing, indeed. How do I feel about it, though? I am a bit confused about the trend, to be sure. Only several years ago it would not even cross my mind that something like this could happen. My love affair with Motovun is not only dead and gone, but it is also turning increasingly sour in my mind. The growing separation is the first logical step, but a bitter divorce is looming ever larger.

Addendum I (December 5, 2011)

In about a fortnight, my beloved and I will go to Motovun for Christmas and New Years. Nothing to do with the puerile holidays, of course. She will have a welcome break from her many duties at work, and a week by the fireplace beckons. Depending on the weather, the terrace also beckons. But this translates into a new record regarding the time spend in Zagreb. At sixty-four percent or nearly two-thirds of the year, it is quite a record, too. All by itself, it presages a new era. Motovun, what Motovun?

Addendum II (November 21, 2012)

In about a month, my beloved and I will go to Motovun for the holidays. Just like last year, she will have a welcome break from work. A week or so by the fireplace and on the terrace beckons. Everything is just as it was a year ago, but the proportion of time spent in Zagreb will have dropped to sixty-one percent this year. The drop of three percent is due to mere chance, of course. The way things are shaping, this is how it will be in the future, as well. The separation from Motovun is now entrenched. The divorce is not in the cards, though. With some luck, we will learn how to use the hilltown for welcome breaks from Zagreb. And that will be that.