Practice

Hi,

Chiang Rai had another very hot day.  The air is at unhealthy levels day and night.  Last night a friend of ours saw fires light up the hillside where he lives.  The air had been getting a little better until that happened.  Hmm.

‘Easy Monday’ was good for some of you.  Here is more of the song, just in case it didn’t loop long enough (555).

“Who’s tripping down the streets of the city, smiling at everybody she sees?  Who’s reaching out to capture a moment?  Everyone knows it’s __.  And __ has stormy eyes that flash at the sound of lies.  And __ has wings to fly above the clouds (Above the clouds), above the clouds….”  Clue:  What is it that blows through the trees.

This morning Daku raced down the hall to see the boys sleeping in the guest room.  Last night I think he heard one of them.  I saw him stop and focus in that direction just before we went upstairs for the last time.  He remembers these things.  

After we talked to Joe, Lisa’s dad, we went to Bangkok Hospital for another daily treatment.  The doctor is feeling positive about the progress being made.  He received a report while we were there and whatever the infection is, it’s not growing anymore.  It’s all so complicated, but we’re learning.  

Nitchanan visited us during lunch.  She was a little out of sorts, things were not going her way.  A little later, Natcha came upstairs to talk.  It seems that the older nephew had gone up to an elephant village and Nitchanan told her she didn’t have any friends to play with.  Natcha took her to her sister’s house so Nitchanan could play with her cousin.  During dinner, Nitchanan was in the pool with her two cousins and everything was right with the world.

We had made plans to go to Immigration this afternoon for our 90 day check-in, but when we got there the place was still closed for Songkran.  They reopen tomorrow and we’ll be there for sure.  One does not mess around with things like this.  

Before dinner we had a Skype call with our friends Stephen and Claire, who live on the island of Tasmania, on the southeastern tip of Australia.  Today we learned that the air is very, very clean there.  Just what we need right now.  Since they are south of the equator, they are about to enter their cold season.  That sounds pretty heavy, considering how they are on the lower part of the planet.  Anyway, we had a good ‘catch up’.  

Today’s photo was ‘taken’ from the cover of The Nation, an English language Thai newspaper.  You are seeing two water taxis, side-by-side, with passengers having a Songkran water fight, using the river water.  Nobody goes home dry (555).

Have a Happy Tuesday.

                    Peace,

                              Danny

“Many of us have been running 

all our lives.  Practice stopping.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh