Teacher

Hi,

The weather here can be wrapped up in one word: rain.  Saturday wasn’t so bad, but since Sunday afternoon there has been some degree of moisture falling from the sky, and it hasn’t really ended yet.  It’s a lot cooler too.

The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Fever” by Little Willie John.  The song was covered by Peggy Lee, with additional lyrics and became a big hit.  It was a hit for Mr. John, but mainly on ‘Colored Radio’.  You see, in the late 40s and most of the 50s, radio was segregated.  Songs like “Fever” were often re-recorded with additional lyrics, by white artists who gained national attention, airplay and sales.  They also got more money by being writers on the ’new' song.  For those of you old enough, I’m sure the name Pat Boone rings a bell, especially for some of the awkward hits he had that were covers of R&B tunes.  That’s why I like to give credit to the original artists who first brought their songs to prominence.  The story is much deeper than this, and you can research it if you want.  Now, rant is over, time for ‘Easy Monday’.  “We’ve been together since way back when.  Sometimes I never want to see you again.  But I want you to know, after all these years, you’re __ __ __ I want whisperin’ in my ear… We’re still havin’ fun, and you’re __ __ __.”  Hint:  It’s from 1976, by a group named after a southern city.

Sunday morning we had a visit from Wild Kingdom.  It began when Lisa went out with Daku, early in the morning.  She noticed a little orange kitten all balled up on the side of the yard.  Daku didn’t see it, but it took off and hid behind the water tank.  A little later, she went back out and Chopper was chasing it from behind the tank and caught it.  Lisa jumped in and rescued the cat, but in the process, got bitten on the hand by the cat.  Her screaming at Chopper caused him to let go, but the damage was done.  I looked up and the cat was doing one of those ‘arched back’ poses on top of the wall.  We thought it might belong to our neighbor, but later found out it doesn’t.  There has been a lot in the news about a rabies epidemic in parts of Thailand, and we’re in one of those parts.  Lisa wrote to our vet and he finally answered, insisting in all caps, that she go to the hospital and get the series of shots, just in case.  This afternoon we went to Overbrook and spent about 3 hours dealing with the parts of the treatment.  Today she had to have 5 injections, including a tetanus booster that had just expired.  The injection at the site of the wound is swelling, just like the doctor said it would.  

That was just one part of Sunday morning.  Around 9:30am, Natcha and Nitchanan were going out on the motorbike and didn’t put Chopper in the pen.  He followed them and when the gate opened, he made a break for it.  He immediately met some of the ‘dogs from the hood’ and we gave chase.  He turned away from the direction of the main road and headed into the corn field with a couple of dogs.  Have you ever tried to find a dog in a corn field?  Next to impossible.  Chopper was finally brought home by Cat’s sister Toi, who loves dogs and, as Natcha put it, is a new person for Chopper.  Now everyone will be more careful about making sure he is secure when the gate is opened.  

In other news, we’ve discovered two new possibilities for Mexican food in Chiang Rai.  There’s a little place around the corner from The Wanderer that’s open from Tuesday through Saturday.  We’ll be stopping by soon. The other is in Ban Du and is owned by our friend Aye and Hans, who own ‘Aye’s Restaurant’ downtown.  We had dinner there Sunday night and she told us all about it.

Today’s photo was taken at the mall during a Hill Tribe exhibit.  We had never seen this tribe before.  More tomorrow.

Have a Great Week.

                     Peace,

                               Danny

“Of all the hard jobs around,

one of the hardest is being

a good teacher.”

~Maggie Gallagher