Joy

Hi,

The air in Chiang Rai was pretty good today. The sky was kinda blue and the afternoon breeze was slightly cooling. We had a busy Saturday, a laid back Sunday, and today the dogs got baths. Oh, there was another visit to the bamboo lady.

Well, our 'Old School Friday' song was "Jamaica Farewell" by Harry Belafonte. I got a few responses, but there should have been more. Oh well. Let's see if the 'Easy Monday' song can rattle your memory. "It's getting to the point, where I'm no fun anymore, I am sorry. Sometimes it hurts so badly I must cry out loud, I am lonely..." Hint: A sweet song(s) about someone, with a reference to the color of their eyes. Hmm.

This time of year the air gets a little funky from some of the farmers burning the left-overs in their fields. There's also trash that gets burned. The recent rain was a big help, and there have been articles about the powers that be getting involved. All I know is, it's getting better and we're getting our sky back.

Saturday morning a friend of mine rode his motorcycle from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. We met at Doi Chaang and hung out. I had shown him pictures of the house and he wanted to see it so he followed me and we gave him the tour. It turns out he's an artist and he and Lisa talked art. We told him we were going to an opening that evening and he decided to stay in town.

The 9 Art Gallery was hosting a special exhibit by The Chiang Rai Art Collective. It's a group of 24 local artists. Their teacher had recently passed and they wanted to do a tribute to him. My friend Mark came to the house and we all rode over in our car. As with all openings at the gallery, it was a festive occasion, with food and drinks on the sidewalk outside, a band, and a couple of guest speakers. This time the speaker was Khun Chalermchi, from Wat Rong Khun. He gave a very animated talk about art in Chiang Rai, and was very cordial with all the artists. After the ribbon cutting we all went in and walked through the range of work on display. There were many incredible pieces, some very traditional, some in a more modern style. We met one artist whose work we particularly liked. It turns out this is his first time showing his work. He's a policeman by day and artist by night. We saw many friends from the community and had a great time.

Our friend Khun Jaffee was also at the show and had invited us to go to another affair that same evening. It was the annual Chaing Rai Cultural Expo. It was being held on the grounds of the flower show and it was a gathering of all the Hill Tribes in the Province. We arrived just as they were having a big presentation by the Akha Tribe. We couldn't understand what they were saying, so we wandered around and looked at the little displays that had been built. Each tribe had set up a representation of how they lived. It was very enlightening to see the many styles of shelters and habitats. There was one tribe we'd never heard of and Jaffee told us that their numbers are declining. It was also interesting to see all the different traditional costumes, and the different instruments. The Expo was not advertised and it's a shame. We might have gone earlier, there was so much to see.

Today Rene and I went to the bamboo lady to pick up material for a barrier he's going to build to keep the dogs out of what we call 'The Bali Corner'. It's going to be a series of bamboo posts in varying heights in front of the corner. We came home with 12 very long poles that cost us 150 Baht ($4.50), which shifted in the back of the truck, but didn't spill. I'll take pictures when it's done.

Have a Great Week.

Peace,
Danny

"The joy is in the journey.
The destination is always changing."
~Unknown

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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