Walking

Hi,

The weekend weather was nice, for the most part.  The air is much better lately, and temps are still hot.  Sunday morning we had a surprise storm that was about 45 minutes of fierce downpour.  As I sit here typing, I can see smoke from a fire rising just north of us.  Where are the ‘air police’ when you need them?

The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Come Go With Me”, by the Del Vikings.  Hmm.  ‘Easy Monday’ is a giveaway:

“__ __ __?  I have seen you before.  __ __ __?  May I walk you to your door?  It’s so hard to find a personality with charms like yours for me, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh wee..”  Hint:  A better opener than ‘What’s your sign?’  (555).

Sunday’s storm was long gone by the time we had lunch at The Wanderer.  Cat, Lisa and I had just arrived when our friend Lisa and her Dad, Edwin, showed up.  We had another fun, informative, laugh filled lunch.  The topic of language came up and Lisa mentioned a time when she was studying Thai and she was looking for the word for ‘microwave’.  She ask her teacher and she laughed and told her it was ‘microwabe’ (the letter ‘V’ is not pronounced).  Than Cat added a few, like ‘hamburger’ with the accent on the last syllable.  And so it went, realizing how modern words are often just assimilated into the language, with different accents.  Computer is computer, and blah, blah, blah.  

We got word after getting home from lunch, that our drain pipe to the rear of the house must be closed.  The lot next to the farm was finally filled with dirt and the water from our drain is creating a rut.  Gong checked with the farmer and it seems that there is nowhere for us to drain our rain water.  Now we have to dig the deep hole that was suggested months ago.  There is a method, we just have to get someone to dig the hole and bring in the assorted rock sizes to finish the job.  I will print out photos, make drawings, etc. and eventually communicate with a contractor about what we need.  Not the week for this to be happening.  Friday we have to close the drain.

Neechanon is now saying things in four languages: Thai, Akha, English and ‘Baby-talk’.  She has a very good ‘ear’ and when we say a new word to her, she repeats it and usually gets it perfect.  This is the time for her to learn as much language as possible, while she can still hear the subtle sounds.  As humans, we lose the ability to hear certain sounds outside our first language, by pre-school age.  Imagine the relief at learning that it was not unusual for words beginning with Ng to be difficult.  Conversely, there are sounds that Thais have difficulty making in common English words.  It is hard to hear the difference between ‘sh’ and ‘ch’, and translate it to the mouth.  So, rest easy and keep trying.

This will be a busy week at The Big Brown House.  Wednesday is move-in day at the gallery.  Khun Sompong will hang the exhibit in the morning.  In the afternoon, house guests will arrive from Chiang Mai for a stay through the opening.  There are still things to be printed for the night of the exhibit.  There will also be daily Sun dances to make sure that Friday evening has clear skies.

Today’s photo shows the Saturday sky.  We hadn’t seen this in quite a few weeks.

The Jasmine tree in the foreground has been blooming all weekend and the yard smells incredible.  We just wanted to sit outside and smell the air (555).

Have a Great Week.

                   Peace,

                             Danny

“Walking with a friend in the dark

is better than walking alone in the light.”

~Helen Keller