Delight

Hi,

The ‘Storm’ for today had many false starts, but finally happened.  It’s still a rather subdued rainy thing, but we’re getting water and everything is very green.

By now you all know that the ‘Easy Monday’ song was “Walk On By” by Dionne Warwick.  Here’s a ‘Zany Day’ tune:

“__ __ __ __ makes a hard man humble, not much between despair and ecstasy.  __ __ __ __ and the tough guys tumble.  Can’t be too careful with your company, I can feel the Devil walking next to me.  __, Oriental setting, and the city don’t know what the city is getting.  The creme de la creme of the chess world in a show with everything but Yul Brynner."  Hint:  There are many hints in the first verse.  A key word here is the name of a city.

Last night Chiang Rai had out-of-town guests in the form of The Platters.  It was the talk of the town, but we didn’t go.  They were performing at The Dusit Island Resort which is very near our house.  As some of you may know, The original Platters were together from 1954 to 1970.  Many groups from the good old days are still around in name only.  Some sound good, and some get by.  I’m happy that some of our Thai friends got to experience live R&B in Chiang Rai. 

When we awoke this morning, the power was out.  There was a knock at our door and it was Cat, asking how she could open the gate to go to school.  I showed her how to disarm the motor and later instructed Pon how to do it.

Cat found out that the electric company was working on the school in our village.  It only lasted about 45 minutes. 

Our morning run of errands ended at Healthy Market.  The clouds were getting darker and it felt like it was about to rain.  There was an eerie vibe all around.  Traffic was a little crazy, there was an urgency, as if something was about to happen.  The darkness made it seem as though it was 5:30 in the evening.  When we got home we waited, a breeze came, and it was all gone. 

During dinner, Cat told us about her day.  Her class walked across town to Wat Phra Kaew to give candles to the monks.  While they were there they learned more about the temple.  There are 35 monks and 100 little monks (her term).  There is a school for the little monks and on weekends, anyone who doesn’t go to school can come for lessons.  We found this interesting since there are many children who cannot afford to go to school.  The monks are offering a real community service in this way.  

Today’s photo was taken at The Healthy Market.  It starts out as a round fruit called Mak (my spelling).  It is sliced, strung together, and then dried.   When the fruit is young it is red.  Years ago people used to chew it, thinking that it made their teeth clean and strong.  It basically made them red.  Now the dried fruit is given to the monks on auspicious occasions as an offering.  We’re not sure why, but that’s what happens.  

Just when we thought the rain had ended for the evening, another wave came through.  I hear thunder in the distance so we may get more overnight.  Time to get out the wadding boots.

Feels like a Wacky Wednesday.

                Peace,

                          Danny

“There is no delight in owning

anything unshared.”

~Seneca