Become

Hi,

Chiang Rai is still benefitting from the rains that came while we were in the States.  The golf course is still green, the trees are filling out, and it doesn’t have the usual brown tone that comes this time of year.  Maybe later we’ll get winter.  Hmm.

“All the counselors hate the waiters, and the lake has alligators, and the head coach wants no sissies, so he read to us from something called ‘Ulysses.'  Take me home, oh Mudda, Fadda, take me home, I hate __!  Don’t leave me in the forest where I might get eaten by a bear…”  Clue:  This reflection on childhood experience is set to the music of Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours”.  I’m sure that will help.

This was another ‘stay-at-home’ day for us.  I had a meeting this morning with our friend Johan, to discuss various plans for the pool modification that seems inevitable.  There is a slow leak that has been going on for years, since the earthquake.  We patch the cracks and it lasts for about a year.  The latest solution to solve many little problems would be to build a pool within the pool.  We’ll lose a little of the area size, but the whole thing would be sound.  We spent an hour going over the two proposals, and then brainstorming with a new idea that came to Johan as we looked at the pool.  Now we wait for the cost estimates and the timing of all of this.  

We learned a lot of interesting things about Thai culture during our language lesson today.  It’s the first session after the holidays, but we remembered many things and learned even more.  Khun Awe shared some things that are passed down through generations and it helped us see aspects of Thailand from a different perspective.  We also got our introduction (again) to the Thai alphabet.  We began by going over the Thai consonants.  There are 44 of them, so this may take awhile.  Then there are the vowels and the tone markers, etc.  It’s a good thing we’re studying with someone who is patient and willing to go at our pace.  The goal is to learn how to read and write, which apparently makes verbal communication much easier.  Everything in the language is prescribed by letters and symbols for tone.  When you learn the ‘system’ you can articulate the sounds.  Sounds easy, right?

Today’s photo was taken at The Wanderer.  The pink tips caught our eye.  There’s always something new to see in the woods.

Have a Thrilling Thursday.

                 Peace,

                           Danny

“When I let go of what I am,

I become what I might be.”

~Lao Tzu