Hi,
The build-up to Songkran is obvious all over town. Some businesses have already closed, squirt guns and buckets are for sale everywhere, and preparations are being made to deal with the fallout. We have house-guests coming in the middle of all of this. Hmm.
The 'Easy Monday' song was "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys. Congrats to all the 'winners' who played. See if you know this 'Zany Day' tune: "__ __ __ leaves __. You gotta have somethin' if you wanna be with me. (repeat) I'm not tryin' to be your hero, 'cause that zero is too cold for me, brrr. I'm not tryin' to be your highness, 'cause that minus is too low to see, yeah..." Clue: It's a question of mathematics.
The Festival of Songkran is celebrated in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos. It is the Thai New Year, the celebration of the vernal equinox, and a reason to cool off during the hottest month of the year. It coincides with festivals in other cultures as well. In the early times it was all about cleansing for the coming year. House cleaning, the cleaning of all statues and amulets, and the symbolic sprinkling of water on statues of Buddha. That sprinkling has evolved into the tossing of buckets of water for the sake of soaking.
While Songkran is a big holiday for most Thai people and big business for tourism, it also poses problems for law enforcement and hospitals. The consumption of alcohol is a big problem in the country on any given day. With a holiday like Songkran it just gets worse. Hmm, another reason to stay at home. Amazing.
Our resident student is coming to the end of his stay. Tatt will be leaving next week. His parents, older sister, and teacher from Rayong are all coming on Friday and will leave on Monday. It will be nice to finally meet his family. Tatt will have his hands full translating for all of us.
There is a tree in our driveway that hasn't done very well since it was planted, but it has been home to several orchid plants that seem to like where they are. Some orchids will be dormant for what seems like ages and then, suddenly explode with beautiful flowers. Today's photo is of one of those plants. These are some of the smallest orchid flowers we have ever seen.
The rain forecast has been moved from Friday to Saturday so I guess I'll have to do my rain dance after all. It would be a shame to have rain on the first day of Songkran. All the water tossing would be so redundant. (555)
It's time for Wacky Wednesday.
Peace,
Danny
from great attitude."
~Pat Riley
Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
www.flickr.com/photos/gratidudepics
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