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Hi,

Today was a hot one here in Chiang Rai. We took a trip to the south side of town, met another character in the landscape of the town, and swam before a storm that never came. It was a good day.

The 'Easy' song brought lots of mail. If you remember this one, please don't hesitate to let me know. Sing it!
"Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words. __ __ __ with his song...." Clue: You know this song.

This morning while Lisa painted, I went downtown. It turns out that mid morning is a good time to go because the traffic is lighter and there's lots of parking. The day was just beginning to warm up so I'm glad I went when I did. Later, the weather service reported that it was 90 at the airport and the heat index was 96. Oh, and there was humidity in the mid 50s.

After lunch Khun Kek drove us down to an area near where we used to live. We entered a large gated community that we didn't know existed. He had installed four gardens in the complex and wanted us to see one with a waterfall. When we arrived at the large two-story house, a Thai gentleman greeted us at the gate speaking perfect English. His name is 'Jack', which is a short form of his Thai name. He told us that when he went away to study it was easier for everyone. Of course the next question was 'Where did you study?'. He studied in Cambridge, England, and then Cornell University. Oh. He'd been in the hotel business for many years, then real estate development, and is now retired. He was more than eager to share all the details of his beautiful yard and water feature. He served us home made iced tea in long stem glasses and we seemed to hit it off. On the way down his driveway I commented on the Jaguar XJ-6 in the car port. That led to a whole other conversation about his car and how he had installed a Toyota engine so he wouldn't have to worry about breakdowns in Chiang Rai. Then he showed us some of his father's tools that he used as a carpenter. Of special note was one that looked like a stick about 18" long, and was wrapped in sting ray skin. It had different degrees of roughness and his father used it as a file. It was 60 years old and still functional. When we finish our changes to the waterfall Khun Jack is going to come and visit.

When we got home it was so hot we decided that a swim was in order. We had to do it quick because big dark clouds were forming to the north and we could hear thunder off in the distance. About an hour after our swim the sun broke through the clouds and the heat just kept on coming. We can tell that it's an exceptionally hot day when everyone comments on it. When we first arrived we'd think it was hot, and people looked at us like we obviously weren't from around here. Now we know.

Have a Happy Tuesday.

Peace,
Danny

"Be careful not to let the intentions and motivations of others knock you off your path."
~Danny Moses

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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