Soul

Hi,

Our weekend weather was much cooler than usual.  It was a great relief.  Sunday we had rain.  It wasn’t a substantial rain, but it did rinse the sky and wash the trees.  Today it was back to the hot again.

The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Heat Wave” by Martha & the Vandellas.  Here’s an ‘Easy Monday’ tune to start your week:  “__ __ __, __ __ __, __ __ __.  I need to laugh and when the sun is out, I’ve got something I can laugh about.  I feel good, in a special way.  I’m in love and it’s a sunny day.  __ __ __, __ __ __, __ __ __.”  Hint:  You can sing it even if it’s cloudy.

There is wind, and then there is the wind that precedes rain.  Right now I’m hearing what sounds like the wind before the rain.  There is lightning in the distance and you can smell the moisture in the air.  This just might be the rain we’ve been expecting.  Now the lights are flickering.  That's not cool.  

Sunday evening was probably the high point of the weekend.  We decided to do something different for dinner so we went downtown to check out a new Italian place.  It turned out to be mostly pizza and cheesy noodle dishes.  Our next choice was right around the corner at Connect Cafe.  We first encountered Connect Cafe in 2007 when they were on the main street, near the Wancome Hotel, where we lived during our first month in Thailand.  They had great coffee, delicious brownies, and they played cool music from a “new" thing called internet radio.  Now, they’re in a bigger location, across from the bus station, but still serve good food and music.  We were the only patrons for dinner and it was very mellow.  Just as we were leaving, the owners arrived.  They had been to the park with their twins, who are seven years old.  We had a sidewalk reunion, remembering the old place and marveling at how long it’s been.  As we walked away, we passed the health food store and said ‘Hi’ to the couple that run it.  It felt like a small town in that moment.

It seems like every day Neetchanon does something new.  Recently, she has learned how to kick a ball around.  Probably the results of lessons from dad.  She has been collecting words and every now and then we’ll hear a familiar word.  I have heard her say ‘football’ and Lisa heard Natcha counting, saying ‘one’ and Neetchanon responded with ‘two’.  She moves very fast, which means when she enters a room one must stay close, especially when she decides to climb the stairs.  Now that she knows that there are things behind doors, cabinets are fair game, as are drawers and curtains.  

 

Today there was a little swim party with Neetchanon and her cousins, Chompoo and Gop.  It must be hard to not be able to join the ‘big kids’ and do what they do.  She wanted to be splashing with her cousins instead of riding in her big pink bunny.  She still had fun with Natcha, as you can see in this photo.

So, it’s officially raining.  The air/con is off and a clean breeze is coming in the windows.  

Have a Great Week.

                  Peace,

                            Danny

“There can be no keener 

revelation of a society’s soul

than the way in which it treats

it’s children.”

~Nelson Mandela