Thursday, February 5, 2009

Living in Chiang Rai

Talk

Hi,
Today there was a fencing fiasco, a ballerina blowup and a funereal family reunion. There's never a dull moment living in Chiang Rai.
I find it interesting how many of you knew the song but not the artist. I guess we have some work to do. (Ha) Need help?
"You thrill me. I know you thrill me. Darling, you thrill me, Honest you do." Hint: Change one word and you'll be cookin'. You'll have the chorus and the title. Oh, shoot me now for giving it away.
This morning Rene and I went out to look for fencing material for the 'dog run'. We started on what we call 'Bus Station Street' for obvious reasons. Not only does it have the station, but it also has a row of hardware suppliers so we figured it was a good place to start. Up and down the street we got the same answer: 'No have'. Then we went to my 'local' store and they had wire fencing but it wasn't galvanized, which meant it would rust. We went up and down the highway and finally went home. Tomorrow I'll buy the bare wire fencing and we'll paint it green and be done with it. It should blend nicely with the bamboo and the yard.
This afternoon Napa came over to get some ballet coaching for her upcoming dance competition this weekend. Normally she's all smiles and full of personality. Today she was a grouch. We found out she was having a spat with her mom. Not much to do about that. The show must go on. (Ha)
Tonight was the final night of services for Nukoon's mother. All of the relatives that we've ever heard about were there. We met lots of cousins and friends of the family. There was a different set of monks and it was basically the same service as Sunday night with two exceptions. The senior monk gave a teaching/sermon that was quite long. What made it interesting was that he spoke slowly and distinctly so it was easier to pick out words I knew. There were bits that allowed me to know a little of what he was talking about. Couldn't tell you a lot, but I got stuff. The second difference was the eulogy read by Sutheera, daughter-in-law of 'Ao Mah' After the service there was food and lots of picture taking. Something else I found interesting: All the family/friends pictures were taken in front of the casket. As if to quietly make sure that 'Ao Mah' was included. After all, the whole week was about paying respects and remembering. Tomorrow afternoon we'll return to the temple and go to the cemetery with the family. It has certainly been an educational and enlightening week.
Have a Cool Thursday.

Peace,
Danny

"The most influential person who will talk to you all day is you,
so you should be very careful about what you say to you!"
~Zig Ziglar

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style

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