Myself

Hi,

We're back to the sunny, hot days here in Chiang Rai. The weekend was a busy one and there's lots to tell.

The 'Old School Friday' song got only one response. Lisa knew it. It was "Smokey Joe's Cafe" by The Coasters and/or The Robins. Still don't know why the same recording is credited to two groups. For 'Easy Monday' see if you remember this one: "I feel like this is the beginning, though I've loved you for a million years. And if I thought our love was ending, I'd find myself drowning in my tears. __ __ __ __ __ __ __, that's why I'll always stay around..." Hint: I started with the first verse, just to add a little difficulty. It's by a singer who has quite a catalogue of hits. He started out as 'Little' but soon outgrew that name.

Saturday morning we went to the flower market and got a fruit basket for Noy and Susan. We had orchids put on the handle and it was beautiful. Then we drove up to Mae Chan to their house for lunch and a tour of the lettuce farm. When we arrived we were greeted by two of their five dogs. One is a German Shepard and the other is a Dalmatian.
The first thing that we noticed was the very high, vaulted ceiling in the living room. Very airy feeling. Susan is an American expat and she designed the kitchen for herself, with high sink counters and a pantry. Kitchens in Thailand typically have low counters and she's tall, so she made sure the whole thing fit her. In the rear there is a pond with a sala that sits over the water. The lettuce 'farm' was quite impressive. There are four transparent 'buildings' filled with special tables with trays for the lettuce to grow in. They grow seven types of lettuce and we saw everything from seedlings to full grown plants. Noy mixes the nutrients himself since he was a chemist when he lived in America. They both are chemists and it made for some interesting conversation over lunch. Susan made a lunch that consisted of everything we could eat. She even made chocolate pudding for dessert using rice milk that she made. We were quite blown away by that. They also made us each a glass of what is called the Five Juice drink. It's four vegetables plus apple, and it has tonic qualities that they swear by. More on that later. We had a wonderful time and look forward to more time with them.

Sunday we went to Macro and got all the ingredients for making the 'Juice'. Later in the day we went into town and got a juicer. We had dinner at the Night Bazaar and then went to 'Happy Street'. It's like 'Walking Street' but in a different neighborhood. We strolled about half of it and then stopped at Praatap Jai to hang out with friends.

Today was a holiday in honor of the birthday of King Rama V. He was the King who changed many things in Thailand for the better. If you Google him you'll learn about him. He is highly revered by the people. Now we know why we were hearing fireworks.

The situation in Bangkok is still not good. Predictions are that there will be water on the streets for weeks. We haven't talked with the gallery yet, but it's likely that Lisa's exhibit will have to be postponed. We've been in limbo all weekend. Things in Chiang Rai are normal, so there's no need to worry about us.

Have a Great Week.

Peace,
Danny

"Wherever I go, I keep finding myself."
~Zen Master

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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