Bigotry

Hi,

Chiang Rai had another beautiful day today.  It did get a little hot, but that’s alright, it was sunny and dry. 

The ‘Easy Monday’ song was “Fame” by Irene Cara.  I just know some of you remember this ‘Zany Day’ tune:  “Here we come, walkin’ down the street.  We get the funniest looks from ev’ry one we meet.  Hey, hey, we’re __ __ and people say we monkey around, but we’re too busy singing to put anybody down.”  Clue:  OK, there’s a giant clue in there if you know how to spell, or maybe if you don’t.  

Today was the wedding of PoyPoy and KonKon.  We knew that the menu would probably be things we don’t eat so after getting all ‘dressed up’, we went out for a snack.  The Wanderer provided our pre-wedding nourishment.  After a warm greeting from Mercy and treats with our coffee, we took some photos with Kwan and Kern.  Since we were all dressed in a black and white theme, it seemed like a fun idea.  The mourning protocol is black or white, but no colorful garments.  I have kept to this for the entire year.  I can’t wait to see the explosion of color during November.

Through the years we have learned that the Chinese weddings we attend are actually receptions.  The formal marriage ceremony happens before all the guests, lights, and cameras.  There are traditional Thai ceremonies where you witness the actual marriage, but we haven’t been to one yet.  Today the families of the bride and groom hosted about 200 guests.  After much photo taking on the stage with various family groups and friends, the food started coming to the tables.  We sat at a table with artists friends and that was great.  Ceramic artist Somluck and his wife Tamiko along with our art friends Cornelis, Jan and her husband Terry.  Everyone spoke English, with different accents, but we could understand and the different references made it fun.  I managed to eat a few noodles and some fruit.  We were there for 2 hours, though the event went longer.  

At The Big Brown House Lisa mentioned to Natcha that I hadn’t eaten much and she quickly made me a really tasty lunch.  

Mid-afternoon we had to run an errand and discovered that the detour is gone.  The road is open and the reason it was closed is now perfectly clear.  A big portion of the hillside is gone.  There is a pile of branches and rubble at the bottom, and a view of the edge of a building at the top.  It looks like it’s going to take some real engineering skills to keep that structure from just sliding down on the road.  The road may be closed again if we get a big rain.  

Looks like a Wacky Wednesday.

                Peace,

                          Danny

“Bigotry tries to keep truth 

safe in it’s hand with a grip

that kills it.”

~Rabindranath Tagore