Strength

Hi,

Well, we're slowly getting back into the rhythm of our Thailand lives. Artwork is at the frame shop, the dogs have settled down (Ha), and the town is crawling with tourists. Today we paid a visit to our vet and experienced rush-hour traffic, Chiang Rai style.

The 'Old School Friday' song was "Cry Me A River" by Julie London. It's worth a listen if you don't know it. Now it's time for 'Easy Monday'. I'm trying to be gentle with these, and yet offer some sort of vague challenge. (Ha) I've been accused of being too easy. "Did you ever have to finally decide? Then say yes to one and let the other one ride, there's so many changes and tears you must hide. Did you ever have to finally decide?" Clues: There are nine words in the title. It's asking a question. It's from 1966. The group name involves a utensil, sort of.

Some of the weekend is a blur. We're still recovering from the trip home. We delivered some of Lisa's art work to the frame shop, and we'll take more tomorrow. There was also a trip to 'The Tractor Store', as we call it. This is the business/home of 'The Family'. We went by to deliver a wedding card and gift for Nu and Nan, who got married while we were in America. We missed a big event. There were 600 people at the wedding and from the pictures we saw, it was quite something. The bride and groom were still on their honeymoon in Viet Nam so we visited with the rest of the family. Oh, they do actually sell tractors, and parts for cars and tractors.

Sunday was Boot's day off and she was delighted to get a break. She'd been taking care of the house and the dogs for over three weeks. That meant that we had to fend for ourselves. Lisa hasn't lost her magic in the Thai kitchen. We had a delicious lunch and decided to go to the Night Bazaar for dinner. Our friends there were glad to see us and that was nice.

While at the Night Bazaar we stopped by a vendor to show her the bag I had made from the material I got from her. I overheard a non-Thai woman speaking fluent Thai and whispered to Lisa. Her husband was standing off to the side and we got into a conversation with him. It turns out they've been living here for ten years. They operate 'Home of the Open Heart', a center that takes care of children and family members of those who have contracted HIV/AIDS. They've been doing it for nine years. They're from Australia and were very nice to talk to. We'll probably be seeing them in the future.

Today we went to the flower market and picked up a fruit basket to take to Dr. Arnon, our vet, since we'd missed his grand opening party. He told us that 30 vets from Bangkok came up for the party. His wife asked him why he hadn't invited the 'family for BamBam'? He explained to her that we were in America. It seems that BamBam has a following. Who knew?

It's bloom time in The Rai and there are flowers everywhere. We have a very colorful yard this time of year and the roadsides are the same. It won't be long before everything dries up and it all turns brown. We do have our seasons.

Have a Great Week.

Peace,
Danny

"Our greatest strength lies not in how much we differ from each other
but in how much - how very much - we are the same."
~Eknath Easwaran

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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