Suffer

Hi,

We’ve been having off and on sprinkles with the occasional thunderstorm.  It hasn’t amounted to a lot of water here in Chiang Rai, but Chiang Mai got a lot, and Bangkok has experienced flooding.  

‘Old School Friday’ was Chuck Berry singing “Roll Over Beethoven”.  Time for ‘Easy Monday’ and another song/movie combo that’s sure to bring back some memories:  “Baby, look at me, and tell me what you see.  You ain’t seen the best of me yet.  Give me time, I’ll make you forget the rest.  I got more in me, and you can set it free.  I can catch the moon in my hand don’t you know who I am?  Remember my name.  __!  I’m gonna live forever…."

The weekend was not as busy as some in the recent past.  We ended up at the mall twice, and managed to figure out how to work the detour without getting lost.  Last night we had a visit from Natcha and Neechanon that was lots of fun.  Within the occasional stream of chatter from Neechanon, we picked up on some words to let us know what she was thinking.  We heard the word ‘geko’ after she saw the carved geko on the wall.  When she first saw it, she laughed and walked towards it.  Then she remembered she used to be afraid of it and started fussing.  Then she started talking and that’s when we heard the word.  It’s so interesting to watch this language development.  Neechanon has been working on her jumping for weeks.  I think it started with a children’s video.  She can now jump with ease on the hard floor, and on the bed she jumps like she’s on a trampoline.  It always ends with a seated drop and a big laugh.  

Over the weekend Lisa got a text message from Tatt in Bangkok, saying that he could not get to his dorm because of flooded streets.  Eventually he got home.  Reports of water reaching the bottom of windshields and photos of stranded bikes told the story.  I have a friend in Mae Sai, north of us at the border with Burma, who said they had about 4 inches of water in their house.  We are very fortunate.  

Slowly, but surely Gong is covering the yard that is shaded by the trees with a type of grass that doesn’t require direct sun.  It will be nice to be rid of the muddy areas due to lack of plant life.  In other plant news, the oranges in the front yard will probably need another season before they are edible.  Lisa picked a few and tasted one this weekend and it was sour.  They are also very hard.  Patience will be necessary.  

Today’s photo was taken on our stairs.  Daku is greeting Lisa with his toy.  It’s a thing he does.

This morning’s workout had a few additional trainers.  Our friend Lisa has three dogs that joined us.  Diesel has come to the gym in the past, but today we were joined by Daisy Dukes and Black Betty.  They are tiny little dogs that are full of energy and spent a lot of their time outside investigating, the way dogs do.  It was a nice distraction.

This week is looking like another one full of adventure.  We have a wedding, an ASEAN Day event at Cat’s school, a jazz concert, and at least one coffee date.  

Have a Great Week.

                 Peace,

                           Danny

“When another person makes you suffer,

it is because he suffers deeply within himself,

and his suffering is spilling over.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh