Friday Funnies

Hi,
The wild week is over. So, maybe the weekend is for regrouping for another wild week. But if that's true, what about wild weekends? Oh, the conundrums of life. The fence is growing and we pay final respects.
The song so many of you knew was "You Send Me" and was sung by Sam Cooke. Remember that name, we'll visit him again.
"Day after day, alone on a hill, the man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still. But nobody wants to know him, they can see he's just a fool, and he never gives an answer. But __ __ __ __ __ sees the sun going down and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round." Hint: From the later years of the mop heads, guru who? The title is sprinkled in the lyric of this verse.
This morning I got the fencing and some paint and Rene set about completing the structure. I bought so much fencing the manager gave me a discount. The paint didn't work as planned but it may provide a small measure of protection.
This afternoon was the final episode in the week long tribute to Ao Mah. All week there have been evening services. Today there was an afternoon service and then a procession to the cemetery. The procession and burial were Chinese Buddhist while the previous services were Thai. We arrived at the temple in time to join the slow caravan. Here in Thailand, in the North at least, the old tradition was to carry the casket on the back of a horse-drawn wagon. These days it's a flatbed truck. A group of young men sat on the truck and tossed flower petals and play Chinese money down the entire route. There is much symbolism in everything and I learned that the flowers were to alert the spirits that Ao Mah was coming. The money symbolized that she was letting go of earthly things. Something to that affect. Anyway, there were about 60 people at the burial site. The temple provided a bus for the women of the village so they could attend. For almost two hours we visited and the family took more pictures and prepared the site. I walked up a hill to see the prep and discovered that there was a full feast of roast chicken, fruit, noodle dishes and sweets for Ao Mah.
When it was finally time to commit her to the earth, the family turned their backs so as not to have to watch and while a long string of firecrackers pierced the air, she was lowered into the ground. Much more happened after that but the family was on the hill and we just watched from below. This has been a very special chance for us to learn things about the culture first-hand. As we learned from Sutheera, it's a very 'blended' culture with tastes of many combined into one. Traditions are hard to maintain unless they are passed down. We were able to see that process. I will probably remember more things to tell you as time goes on so just know that this is not the end of this chapter.
Now it's time for the 'Funnies'. This week you can thank Cousin Trudye for the laughter. Have a Great WeekEnd.

Peace,
Danny


EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 40

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags. Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.) After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style

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