Violence

Hi,

The heat thing here has gone too far.  We’ve been having super hot, triple digit weather.  The whole country is boiling.  One day this week it may dip into the 80s.  The pool is refreshing.

The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Hearts of Stone” by Otis Williams & The Charms.  (also: “Hearts Made of Stone) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6enJYluQv0   One reader knew it.  Congrats to Cousin Trudye.  I think we all deserve a really ‘Easy Monday’ tune so here goes:  “Hot town, __ __ __ __, back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.  Been down, isn’t it a pity, doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city.  All around, people looking half-dead, walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head.”  Hint:  The groups' name is part of a line from a blues tune.  The song is about the weather in Chiang Rai (555).

Saturday morning Cat came to the house and the three of us drove up to her campus.  She and one of her class-mates want to share an apartment next term and she wanted our opinion.  They refer to them as ‘dorms’, but they are actually private apartment buildings very close to the campus.  They all have curfews and visitor restrictions just like some dormitories.  Actually, most if not all of the ‘dorms’ at her school are ‘same sex’ dorms.  The room they want is bigger than what she has now, with room for cooking and study.  Since they are both in the English Teacher department, they will have the same classes and homework.  It will be another chapter in growing up.   Cat is getting excited about her trip to America at the end of July, and we talked a lot about that.  

There is an interesting custom that has evolved during Songkran.  We don’t know exactly when it began, but the dying of one’s hair is quite a fad.  Considering that most Thai hair is black or a very dark brown, the dyed red, pink and shades of blonde offer a big contrast to the norm.  This year there is something new:  Blonde on top, fading into pink.  We also saw a young woman who had changed her hair to gray.  It’s fun seeing the variations as well as the matching dye jobs that seem so obvious.  We saw two teen boys on a motorbike with the same tone of burgundy. 

Sunday we had lunch at The Wanderer with our friend Atom.  They have installed a whole network of misters and it is very effective in keeping the temperature a little lower in the outside areas.  When we returned home, the little family was in the pool.  

The Songkran holiday officially begins on Thursday, but it’s clear that excitement is growing all over town.  At Big C this morning the crowds arrived earlier than usual, even for a Monday.  We went to Central Plaza, across the highway, to have coffee and go to Top’s Market.  The Mall doesn’t open until 11am, but Starbuck’s and Top’s open at 10am.  While we were at Starbuck’s, we watched as a crowd began gathering at the entrance we were near.  Not only were there shoppers and visitors to Chiang Rai, but locals who came to beat the heat.  In fact, one of the announcements over the P.A. mentioned coming to the mall for just that reason.  We had to return this afternoon and the place was crazy busy.

Today’s photo shows Daku making sure Neetchanon is OK.  This is the closest he will get to ‘going in the pool’.

Have a Great Week.

                       Peace,

                                 Danny

“I object to violence because

when it appears to do good, 

the good is only temporary; 

the evil it does is permanent.”

~Mahatma Gandhi