Hi,
Blue skies and clear air for most of the day. Around town and in our yard, clean up is happening. We have survived the 'Storm of the Century' for this month.
It looks like this week's 'Easy Monday' song really is easy. I'll bet a few more lyrics and clues will bring it all back.
"What I've got they used to call the blues. Nothin' is really wrong, feelin' like I don't belong. Walkin' around, some kind of lonely clown, __ __ __ __ always get me down. Clue: There is a kind of weather and a day of the week involved.
Today the work began to keep the rain from coming into the house. Khun Mahn came over and climbed onto the tiles and discovered the problem. This afternoon he returned with his helper to start patching a long crack. There are many ways to do some things. It seems that safety is not always a priority, or a consideration. Before Khun Mahn arrived I was wondering how he was going to deal with working on the roof. Things like ladders and scaffolding were in my mind. When I looked out from an upstairs window to see how it was going I got a big surprise. Today's photo shows Mahn on the roof bracing himself against the end of a bamboo pole. Hmm.
I think I am slowly understanding the rules of the road. There are just a few, and that is what has made it so hard to understand. Chiang Rai is still a 'small town' in its own eyes. By that I mean that most of the folks who were born and raised here, see it as a place where everyone knows what the other is doing while they're driving. One just knows that motorbikes will turn in front of you in an intersection and you let them go. They understand that the heat of the motor makes it uncomfortable to sit still at red lights, so moving to the front of the line keeps you cooler and makes it easier to start moving on the green. If you see me, you won't hit me, regardless of what I'm doing. Size matters and trucks trump cars and bikes. So, if I start thinking of this as a country town again, maybe it will be easier to tolerate some of what I was calling erratic driving. (555) It's simply about getting from point A to point B.
We met our friends Nukoon and Sutheera for lunch at Central Plaza. We always have fun talking and laughing with them, and we always learn something new. Today we learned that many of the hotels in Phuket have front desk staff from the Philippines. Because it's a major tourist destination, having staff that is fluent in English makes for fewer communication problems. Thailand is playing 'catch up' as far as fluency in English. It was recently addressed by the government, and changes are being made to prepare students for the future.
Tomorrow the yard crew is coming to take care of the mess that the storm produced. It will be nice to have things back where they belong, although the dogs like all the new smells.
Have a Happy Tuesday.
Peace,
Danny
to learn from our past
and not live in it.
~Sharon Salzberg
Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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