Hope

Hi,

After a couple of false starts over the weekend, late this afternoon we got rain.  Enough to water the lawns and gardens, cool the air and wash away a bit of the smoke.  

The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Louie Louie” by Richard Berry & The Pharaohs.  It was released in 1957, and the cover by The Kingsmen came out in 1963.  You can easily find stories about all the controversy and stuff.  Right now, it’s time for another dose of ‘Easy Monday’.  “Try to see it my way, do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on?  While you see it your way, run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone.  __ __ __ __ __, __ __ __ __ __.”  Hint:  This should be a snap.  Those four lads again, with an attempt at diplomacy.  The cover is by a musical master who made the song his own.

We had a relatively quiet weekend at The Big Brown House.  There were audio and video calls with family and friends in different parts of the world, as well as here in Thailand.  We spent a good deal of time babysitting JaiDee.  Sunday morning we took the hoodie off as planned.  It didn’t go as we’d hoped, and he got a little overzealous and slightly injured himself again, meaning the hoodie is back on his head.  This whole ordeal is taking a toll on all of us.  His bed time has gone from 7:30pm to after 9pm.  He can’t be left alone, except when he’s asleep, because sometimes he can reach around the cone.  Constant watching is not relaxing.  We’re contemplating coaxing him into the pool in hopes that the water will distract him and the salt will help promote healing.  That means we’ll have to go into the cold water too.  Hey, wait a minute.

Today would have been the first day of the Songkran celebrations.  The government has postponed the water throwing and partying until safer times.  Now it’s up to the citizens to do their part and stay home and be cool.  There have been many posts on Facebook about how people are ‘making merit’ at home and not trying to travel to their family homes.  

On the virus front, things seem to be going well in our province here in the north.  People testing positive are being treated at the hospital and most are recovering and going home.  There have been no deaths this month.  The government hospital seems to be the destination of most patients, mainly because it’s free and there is a lot of great equipment.  Our two hospital contacts said they hadn’t had any cases as of early last week.  Clamping down on travel is a real key to containing this virus.  More will certainly be revealed.

Today Nitchanan spent some time in the kitchen drawing.  She did some letters and numbers and then drew Lisa and me, in that wonderful, childlike, 4-year-old way.  We didn’t have noses, but she thought that was funny.  When she was writing alphabet letters, she would sing a phrase of the song and then draw the letters.  She’s very smart.  She also took pleasure in showing me how quickly she could unlock Natcha’s phone.  Once she did, she showed me some of her favorite videos.  One is called ‘Baby Shark’.  It must be some kind of sophisticated robotic shark that acts like a puppy.  She loves it and had me cracking up.  Not a bad way to spend part of the day.

Have a Great Week and don’t forget to wash your hands, and other stuff too.

                      Peace,

                                Danny

“Hope is important because it can

make the present moment less

difficult to bear.  If we believe that

tomorrow will be better, we can bear

the hardship of today.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh