You may have guessed by now that the air is still the same in the north of Thailand. The temperatures are climbing daily, reaching at least 100°F in the shade this afternoon. Whew.
The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Stop! In The Name Of Love” by The Supremes. New week, new artist, old songs. What could be better? ‘Easy Monday’ is one I think you know: “Who’s peeking out from under a stairway, calling a name that’s lighter than air? Who’s bending down to give me a rainbow? Everyone knows it’s __.” Hint: A six-man vocal group, known for their lush and complex harmonies.
The Songkran spirit is going strong in Chiang Rai. The heat and foul air have not stopped the revelers from playing with gusto. There are different levels of ‘playing Songkran’, beginning with the simple flicking of water off the fingertips, to tossing of buckets of water from a pick-up truck, and of course, the super-soaker water-guns. Most of what we witnessed were roadside attacks and counter attacks. A truck rolls by a ‘water station’ where a small crowd is doused by the passengers on the truck. The truck tries to get them first and depending on the speed of the traffic, one or both get soaked. Our van got splashed by kids with small buckets and a few water hoses on our various trips outside. The hardest hit are the young people on motorbikes who get slammed with water. So goes Songkran.
Saturday evening we had dinner with some friends from Chiang Mai who came to Chiang Rai at the request of their kids. They wanted to celebrate up here this year. I still don’t know why. Ali and Nim brought three of their four daughters and saw the local sights. We dined at Sabroso and had a fun meal. At the house we had mango and hung out. Daku was pleased to be the center of attention for a little while. When he was done, he just walked into the kitchen and stretched out on the cool tile, away from the madness.
Every day, Lisa has to have the bandage on her ankle changed and a small procedure done. Saturday we went to our local hospital, Overbrook, and our friend nurse Pay did the job. On Sunday, another nurse did the work and it was not satisfactory at all. It was painful and there didn’t seem to be any understanding of how to react. When she was told that it hurt, she just kept going and chuckled. Today we went back to Bangkok Hospital and had her doctor do the job. He numbed the area before starting and kept asking if it was OK. That’s what I call compassionate doctoring.
On our way home from the hospital, we stopped at Makro. Hmm, Makro in the midst of Songkran seems like a crazy idea, but it wasn’t so bad. We found a lot of things we needed and arrived at a short check-out line. It was brilliant.
Cat and her boyfriend, Noom, were at the house when we got home. We knew she was coming over, but we weren’t prepared for what happened next. They brought the elements to do a ‘proper’ Songkran ceremony. We went upstairs and sat on the bed and then Cat placed a Jasmine necklace on each of us. Then they both took turns pouring water with flower petals in it over our hands while wishing us a healthy and happy New Year. Then we sprinkled water on their heads and wished them the same. This was Songkran and it felt good. Cat explained afterward that this year she wanted to thank all the people who have helped her in her life.
Here we are in our Songkran splendor.
Natcha has a nephew visiting from Burma for the week, along with Gop, who spends a lot of time here. This time of year is like their summer vacation. Nitchanan is off from pre-school for 2 months, just like the big kids. Gop is a good baby-sitter/companion and frees Natcha up to do her work around the house. The visiting nephew is maybe in his mid teens. We invited the two boys to stay in our guest room at night, since Gong and Natcha don’t have a lot of space. Nitchanan likes to stay up late whenever anyone visits, and that becomes a problem of altered sleep schedules. I think it’s going to work out good this week. There will be sleep involved (555).
Have a Great Week.
Peace,
Danny
“All the art of living lies
in a fine mingling of
letting go and holding on.”
~Havelock Ellis
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