Monday, March 16, 2015

Deeds

Hi,

Chiang Rai is experiencing a very hot and smokey March.  Today there were ashes falling from the sky.  We could really use some rain.

The 'Old School Friday' song was "Drown In My Own Tears", originally recorded in 1951 by Lula Reed.  The most notable recording was in 1956 by Ray Charles.  Later the song would be recorded by many artists.  That's the 'Old School Scoop' on that one.  Extra Cool Points go to Cousin Trudye, who knew the Lula Reed recording.  Now it's time for 'Easy Monday'.  "Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone.  Suzanne, the plans they  made put an end to you.  I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song, I just can't remember who to send it to.  I've seen __ __ I've seen __.  I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.  I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.  But I always thought that I'd see you again."  Hint, the title is in three words, two of them are found in nature.

Saturday evening we went to the opening of the Art Bridge Art Supply Store.  It was a lot of fun, partly because we got to spend a bunch of time with the elephants.  There was a large white board that was divided into squares and artists were asked to paint a small picture in a square.  One of the art supply vendors was selling brushes and canvases at a big discount even before the doors were opened.  After a few speeches, it was time to open the store.  Everyone was distracted from that by four young women wrapped in white sheets, walking away from the door carrying a large piece of material.  What happened next was a big surprise.  Small buckets of paint were brought out and anyone who wanted to could paint on the four models.  That turned in to an enormous photo shoot, lots of laughter, and lots of paint.  When they were covered with paint, one of the prominent artists volunteered to be painted by the models.  He took off his shirt and they went to work.  After that there was lots of food, drink and music.  We always seem to leave before it gets loud and crazy, but we also missed the group photo.  Oh well, we had a good time.

This morning Cat went to her village to help her sister.  Cat's 12 year old nephew, Ling-Ling, is going to become a monk on Wednesday and lots of family members are arriving for the ceremony.  I asked if he was going to be a summer monk and she told me he is going into the monkhood for at least three years.  I'm sure we will learn more about this later.  

Today's photo was taken at Doi Chaang Coffee.  This fish lives right inside the front door and likes the company.  I took his picture because of the markings on his side.  They almost appear to be Japanese script.  


Down by the river the temporary structures are going up in preparation for the Songkran Festival next month.  They are made of bamboo with thatch roofs and will house food vendors and other things that will sustain the many people camping by the river for at least a week.  Today people were hanging out on the bank of the shallow river, some wading out to the middle.  Before long, the long-tailed boats won't have enough water to navigate parts of the river. 

Have a Great Week.

                Peace,
                          Danny 

Great acts are made up of 
small deeds.
~Lao Tzu

No comments: