Calculate

Hi,

A few times today it looked like it might rain.  Not far from us it did.  Nothing like tropical weather to confuse and confound.

I just knew somebody would remember this ‘Zany Day’ tune.  We’ve played with it before and only 3 players have vaguely responded.  ‘I know the singer and the song, but not the title’.  Ooops, that won’t do.  Second half of the first verse:  “Look out kid, it’s somethin’ you did.  God knows when but you’re doin’ it again.  You better duck down the alley way lookin’ for a new friend.  The man in a coon-skin cap in a big pen wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten.”  Hint: The title refers to the place under the surface of the earth, and longing for one's place of origin.

Gong talked to the people across the road who count the trucks full of dirt.  We think today was their last day.  The giant piece of property has been marked off with stakes and lots will be for sale.  Meanwhile, work was done on the lot next door to us.  This is getting a little strange.  Dirt-play all around as a tractor was spotted on the property behind us late this afternoon.  I tell you, it’s a conspiracy (555).  

As speculation becomes the name of the game, it’s a real gamble in this crowded market.  There are plenty of lots that have been filled and are now jungles of weeds.  It seems that certain areas are popular for development and others become cold.  The major highway project in Chiang Rai is called the ‘Ring Road’ because it provides a way to bypass the city going north and south.  In Chiang Mai it looks like a ring around the city.  I still haven’t seen the whole project here, but it’s the same idea.  Property along the ring road is being developed like crazy.  Hmm, who has a few extra million Baht?  

This afternoon we went to The Wanderer for coffee and to test a new cake recipe that Noot was trying.  It had rained there, just a few minutes from our house.  We thought we were going to sample a slice of cake but instead, we ended up with six slices all packaged up.  While we were enjoying our afternoon ‘snack’, Mercy came in and greeted every table.  She spent extra time with us, hoping that we might give her a ‘sample’ of the new cake.  When she realized we weren’t going to comply, she was off to another table.  

Tomorrow is another holiday here.  It’s The Royal Ploughing Ceremony and it marks the beginning of the sowing and planting season.  In folklore, it is very important because it encourages all the farmers.  The Royal Oxen will be paraded around and then offered seven bowls with various things to eat.  What they chose will have a prosperous harvest.  The whole thing is steeped in ancient rituals and tradition.  It is televised and many people take the day off to watch the ceremony in order to plan for the next season.  

Most of the industrial machinery around town is either yellow or orange.  What a trip to see this purple back-hoe.  I know what you’re thinking:  Cue Jimi’s music now.

Have a Thrilling Thursday.

                  Peace,

                            Danny

“I can calculate the motion of 

heavenly bodies, but not the

madness of people.”

~Isaac Newton