Book Report

    Our book club read and discussed two of Louise Erdrich's books recently.  We first read Plague of Doves and then Round House.  Both books led to great discussions from our exceptionally able book club members.
    I had read both books some time prior to their selection for discussion at book club.  Therefore, I reread them both for discussion at the club.  The rereading was very helpful.  In fact I found Plague of Doves so rich in detail and complexity that I read it a third time after the club discussion and was very glad that I did.
   Now I've just completed reading her The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse which was published in 2001.  It was a National Book Award finalist.  Perhaps not as complex as Plague of Doves it is the story of a very unusual and very effective priest on the fictional Little No Horse Reservation.  While the plot, or at least the cast of characters, is less complex than Plague it is filled with profound philosophical observations.
   Will I read it again?  Perhaps.  I've reread several books to refresh myself for book club discussions.  In doing so I've discovered that very good books are even better upon rereading.  Perhaps I only need about twenty books in my library that I just keep rereading. :)

Reflections on the Military Draft

  In today's Writer's Almanac (which I receive online) Garrison Keillor reports that on this date in 1940 75,000 American men reported for America's first peace time military draft.  The draft continued until after the war, was ended  but reinstated under President Truman during the cold war.  It ended in 1973.
  This paragraph is taken from the Almanac.,  "Most Americans were happy about the end of the draft, but in 1999 the historian Stephen Ambrose wrote: "Today, Cajuns from the Gulf Coast have never met a black person from Chicago. Kids from the ghetto don't know a middle-class white. Mexican-Americans have no contact with Jews. Muslim Americans have few Christian acquaintances ... But during World War II and the Cold War, American [men] from every group got together in the service, having a common goal — to defend their country ... They learned together, pledged allegiance together, sweated together, hated their drill sergeants together, got drunk together, went overseas together. What they had in common — patriotism, a language, a past they could emphasize and venerate — mattered far more than what divided them."
   Ambrose makes a very good point.  I remember having much more in common with James Early, a middle class African American  from Cleveland than with Mike King a Caucasian from Louisiana.  I've forgotten Rocky's last name but he was from the Bronx and was in legal trouble and enlisted to avoid going to jail...so much for Ambrose' emphasis on patriotism.  But, for a farm boy coming off the farm in the 50s it was my first exposure to diversity.  Linville Sims from Pumpkin Ridge, KY was in my company as was JohnWatne from Blackduck, MN,  Bill Wright from El Paso, TX, Jerry Eldridge from Michigan City, IN...the list goes on.
  As long as we have a military we should have a draft.  Military duties now fall disproportionately on one group.  Draftees...and those facing the draft...are the most vocal in opposition to war.

A Bald Eagle and A Barn.

  Just after crossing Plum Creek, of Little House on the Prairie fame, on highway 14, just west of Walnut Grove, MN. I saw a mature Bald Eagle feasting on a road killed deer. (How do I know it was mature you ask?  He acted mature. :) )   Spotting eagles is now rather common thanks to Rachel Carson, her book Silent Spring and the efforts of other conservationists.  The banning of DDT was an important step in bringing eagles back from possible extinction.
   DDT...as yes I remember.  Dad used it to spray flies in our old barn.  The barn was old by the time I was born.  Built by my grandfather, Lars, we used daily.  It was constructed with a hay mow in the middle, the floor of which was the ground.  On either side of the haw mow were sections, the south side for horses and the north for cattle.
   The south side had 6? (or 8?)double horse stalls and two singles. At the west end was an oats bin for feeding the horses. By the time I came along dad's herd of horses had been pared down to one team, Bill and Daisy. With only two horses the space was divided with a wall making about a one third two thirds division.  During blizzards the cattle that normally stayed outside were let into the larger side of the horse barn.
   The other side of was turned over to the chickens.  There was a small chicken coop attached to the south wall of the barn but using the horse barn gave them much better space.
   The north section of the barn was built for cattle.  Four stalls held the eight cows we milked...by hand.  There were stalls and pens for the calves that were pail fed and a separator room. The cream separator separated the cream from the mild via centrifugal force. We were quite proud of our electric separator made by International Harvester Co., because most of our neighbors had to crank the machine by hand.  We used the milk and sold most of the cream.
   In the summer flies were a scourge.   Dad had a pail of dry DDT that he would mix with water for his hand sprayer.  The sprayer had a round tank that held the spray and a round tube with a plunger similar to a bicycle tire pump.  Pump the plunger and a spray mist would emerge similar to an aerosol can today.  This kept the flies to a tolerable level.
   The DDT was a very fine grayish green powder with a very fine texture. I remember playing with my bare hands in the DDT powder because I liked the texture in fact, were you to hand me some now I think I'd still recognize the feel.  Not the best children's toy...but what did we know... and I did just have my 75th birthday!

Mending Day

   It was during one of my regular volunteer stints at Noble Academy, the Hmong Charter School, when I noticed the fifth grader's knee patches.  I was working one on one with her on a reading assignment when  I glanced down and noticed her black slacks had knee patches...not the fancy ones that come ready made on slacks but "my mom did them" kind.   The school uniform is a school shirt and black slacks for both boys and girls.  97% of the students at school are from families below the poverty level and having patched slacks would not open her to any ridicule from her classmates.  I was happy to see such frugality in our throw away society.
  It reminded me of all the mending my mother did.  Her week was very organized and I'm not positive that I've got it in proper order but it went something like this.  Monday was clothes washing day, on Tuesday she did the mending, on Wednesday the ironing, Thursday was for cleaning the house and Friday was baking day....or was Friday cleaning and Saturday for baking?   I am I missing a regular item?
   She baked almost all of our bread but we thought it was a treat when we could have store bought bread for toast. Of course there was also all the canning, gardening, cooking, cream separator washing and other duties in caring for four children.

Stories From A Life #8

     My school life began when I was five; fall birthday and no kindergarten and of course I walked a mile each way to school and back...but that's another story. Sometime during WW II I and my school mates were drafted into the war effort.  I can't pin down the exact year but it was '43, '44 or '45 meaning that I was in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade and Ruth Quail was our teacher.
     We were excused from school after lunch and driven to a large dry slough on Helmer Quail's land...Helmer was Ruth's father.  They lived about a mile and a half south of the school.  There we were given burlap gunny sacks and set to  picking milkweed pods.  "Why milkweed pods?" you may ask.  The milkweed seeds and the gossamer to which they were attached were used as filling for life vests used on navy ships.
  I often think about that beautiful fall afternoon of picking milkweed pods when I drive by that slough.  The slough is drained and farmed now.  There are no more milkweeds growing there providing homes for Monarch Butterflies and life vests no longer use their seeds.

This Modern World In Which We Live.

   Some years ago, 10-15?, I bought a cheap electric watch, a Casio, for which I paid ca. $10. I'll explain why I bought it a bit later.  This watch continues to operate well and has several features; an alarm (which I can barely hear :) ), a stopwatch, an option to keep time in two different time zones and a choice of either a 12 or 24 hour reading of the time. It's operated well even though I also use it when I'm farming.
   Twice I've had to replace the band and now, needing another new band, I went in search of one.  An internet search led me to Target Stores.  Visiting a local Target a clerk pointed me toward a display and said "good luck".  The display only had bands for Timex watches none of which would work for my Casio.
   However, I noticed a new Casio watch like mine for $19.99.  Because my last band a few years ago cost $10.00 I decided to just buy the new watch and put the old on the shelf until I might stumble on a band and then I'll have two Casio watches I can wear.  Interesting world!
   But then why did I buy a Casio in the first place when I have a Rolex?   The Curmudgeonette and I walked into a Boston Market restaurant one day and the guy behind the counter looked at my watch and said "That's a stainless steel Rolex worth six thousand dollars."  I replied "Yes, and I'd like two pieces of chicken please."
   Actually I was quite taken aback.  Of course I knew it was a Rolex but I had no idea of it's value.  I bought it in 1962 when our ship, The USS Princeton, LPH 5, (the 2nd Princeton built after the first Princeton was sunk by the Japanese in WW II, it had been converted from fixed wing aircraft to carry helicopters thus LHP or Landing Pad Helicopter) visited Hong Kong.
   When I got liberty in Hong Kong I went ashore to go watch shopping and bought the Rolex.  I'd been saving my money to buy a good watch knowing that we'd be visiting Hong Kong known as place to do serious shopping.  It cost me $100. which seemed like quite a bit because my monthly salary was $140. but I wanted a good watch.
   When I came back aboard ship one of the Marines, Cpl.  Derscavage was his name, who knew I was going watch shopping asked if I'd bought one.  When I said "Yes" he asked what kind.  "Rolex" I said.  He replied "Rolex? Rolex? Why didn't you buy a good one, like Bulova or something?"
   So that's the story of  my Rolex which I wore for about 40 years and which now resides in safe storage and how I came to own two Casios.

New Post Coming Soon

My fan club, both of them, have been asking when I was going to blog again.  Answer:  soon!

Mad about the boy | Bangkok Post: news

Mad about the boy | Bangkok Post: news  Interesting insights into education in Thailand.

School Pics

Stories From A Life #7

One Room School (Part 3)

   Snippets of the instruction process is all that I remember from our little country school.  The teacher's desk was situated in the front of the room.  Though enrollment was small, 16 or less during my years, there was always at least one student in every grade.  There were 4 in my grade until 5th grade when Donna transferred to the school in Arlington.

   Each class would be summoned to the chairs by the teacher's desk for class instruction.  Perhaps we all learned from the class being presented, though we were supposed to be working on our own assignments.  Likely the effectiveness of the teachers varied significantly.  One student had to repeat first grade apparently because the teacher ignored him his first year.  That same teacher was quick to slap fingers with her stick, until it mysteriously disappeared, and after that with a ruler.  Unruly students were banished to the entry, made to stand in the corner behind the stove, kept after school or all of the above.

  Here are some pictures from the school.

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Stories from a Life #6

One Room School (Part 2)

 

   This little school,  District 21, Lake Sinai Township, Brookings County, SD, was on a hill.   The hill doesn't look very big now but as students we really enjoyed it.  It gave us a good place to use our sleds during the winter, running as fast as we could we would slam down on our sleds and go for a ride.

   The school ground was ringed by a double row of fir trees which my father, no doubt, helped to plant.  They proved great hiding for games of hide and seek.  The also created great snow banks in winter blizzards which were fun to play on.  Below the hill was a ball diamond where we played baseball.  Also, below the hill was a small stable to keep the horses students/teachers rode to school.  No one was riding to school in my memory (though one family who lived almost 3 miles from school drove a car, a 1928 Whippet)  so the stable was torn down and the lumber used to construct a backstop for baseball.  There were three outbuildings on top of the hill; out houses for boys and girls and a coal shed.

   Play ground equipment was minimal.   There was a double teeter totter which had an extended elevation of about six feet.   A home made merry ground swing was the only other item.   An old, spoked, car wheel was mounted on a steel post about ten feet high.  Chains had been hung from the wheel extending to a child height.  At a child's level wood bars were fixed to the chains to grasp.  Holding the wood bars students could run, lift their legs and swing in a circle.  The fun was limited by the amount of time one would want to hang by his/her arms.

    Free time, two fifteen minute recesses morning and afternoon and lunch hour, after lunches eaten at our desk were almost always used for group games; kick the can, pump pump pull away, hide and seek, baseball, fox and goose, tag, anti over and sledding when the snow was right.  We had one baseball and if was lost in the tall grass over the fence the game recessed until the ball was found.  Sometimes we resorted to rolling in the grass to find the ball.

    When recess or lunch hour was over the teacher, or a favored student, would recall us to classes with a brass hand bell.  I wonder if I heard it today if it would match the sound that rings in my memory?

 

  

Stories from a Life #5

                                                 One Room Country School, Part I

   At the time it didn't seem romantic...it was all we knew.   It was the school attended by my father and his three siblings, two of my cousins, where my mother taught and where my three siblings and I attended for 8 years apiece.  It was very small, though when I started in the first grade it seemed large.  There were three windows each on the east and west sides and an entry room on the south where we kept our lunches, coats and overshoes.
   There were three rows of desks attached to wood runners so that they could be moved a bit.  The bigger desks were in back for the older students and the teacher's desk was in front.  Pictures of Washington, you know the one that looks like he's rising from a white cloud, and Lincoln were hung high on the walls.  Two metal lockers at the back served as a library.  A globe was hung by rope and pulley in a front corner. Black boards were affixed to the side and front walls.  A wind up Regulator clock hung on the front wall.  A sand table was one of the few teaching aids.  On a side shelf was a ceramic crock of drinking water.   Water came from a cistern filled by run off from the roof.  In the front left corner stood the stove.   Until 4th grade it was a coal stove which the teacher had to fire every morning.  It was replaced by an oil burner which could be left on all night meaning that there was at least a little residual heat in the room when school opened in the morning.  On the coldest days our lunches in the entry would freeze by noon.  Before I started school it had been electrified which meant that there were three light bulbs hanging from the ceiling and that the fan on the oil burner could help circulate the heat.  I do not remember any other electrical appliances.  There was no telephone.
   Attendance was usually about twelve students in grades 1-8.  Our teachers were not college graduates but they had attended college for a year or two.   There were four students in my grade, one girl and three boys through grade four.  When we were in fifth grade the girl transferred to Arlington public school.  The three of us boys finished the 8th grade together and also graduated from high school together.
   I was five years old when I started, having a late October birthday.  I walked the mile with my siblings.  Because of our ages I had three siblings in school for two years, then two for another two years, then one for two years and then none my last two years.
   (To be con't.)
  A late addition;  I forgot to mention that most available wall space was covered with blackboards and that there was a map case hanging high on the wall.  The maps were rolled on dowels that were spring loaded like roll up window shades.  There was a long stick with a hook on the end used to reach up and pull down a map.   Our 4th grade teacher used to hit us with the stick until it was mysteriously cut up during a 4H meeting.

Book Report

    The Curmudgeonette and I have just finished Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  As a classic introvert perhaps it's not surprising that I liked this book but the fact that the Curmudgeonette is equally enthusiastic about gives me assurance that it isn't just reinforcing my biases.
    Cain was a corporate lawyer on Wall Street and her experiences as an introvert in that setting impelled her on a journey of self discovery and reflections on what it means to be an introvert in contemporary American Society.  The book is very well researched and she examines many facets of American Culture; religion, education, business, parenting and spousal relationships.
    It was a real eye opener for me.  For example her analysis of Evangelical Christianity helped me to understand much of the reason that I'm often annoyed by Evangelicals.  Some of that annoyance comes from what I perceive to be their unhelpful theology.  However, that does not explain the depth of my viscerally negative reaction to them.  The issue that Cain identifies is that their theology makes extroversion a necessity, i.e., if you're a Christian you have to be a positive, ebullient communicator so you can evangelize everyone you meet.  Some even claim that "of course Jesus was an extrovert".  That's a claim with which I'd disagree.
    Could it be possible that this book is a 'game changer' for an American Culture that's idolized extroversion?  I think it might possibly be that.  She argues that initially Americans valued character in people but that shifted in the 20th century to an emphasis on personality.  For proof look at  the contemporary infatuation with celebrities, many of whom do not have any particular strength of character.  She points to Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends And Influence People as an example of that shift.
   So...don't take my word for it, read it yourself.  I'd be pleased to have your reactions and if you'd send them as comments I'll attach them to this post.

Stories from a Life #4

                                                        Calves In The Spring

   It was an old fashioned farm very different from most farms today.  Dad raised pigs, cattle and chickens on his farm of 160 acres which expanded to 320 acres.  This expansion happened when my cousin quit farming and moved to WA. in the early fifties.
   His cattle were mixed breeds but primarily Shorthorn and Hereford.  Initially he had more Shorthorns but as time went on he added Herefords.  Shorthorn were thought to be a kind of cross over breed good for both beef and milk.  Hereford on the other hand are a beef breed. Whatever the intention of the breeders he both sold the steers for beef and milked the cows.
   The barn, built at the turn of the century (i.e. about 1900) had a ground level hay mow that separated the horse barn on one side from the cow barn on the other.  The cow barn had milking stalls for 8 cows and calf pens.  When a cow calved during the calf was weaned and kept in the pens until spring.  The cow was milked, the milk separated and the cream was sold.
  As my brothers and I became old enough it became our duty to help with the chores.  This included milking by hand, pitching hay to the calves and carrying water from the tank at the windmill, which was about 50 yards away, for the calves.
  When spring arrived and the grass in the pasture greened there came day when the calves were let out.  These calves had spent their entire lives penned in the barn.  It took some pushing, pulling and prodding to get them from the barn to the pasture.  When it dawned on the calves that they were not constrained they ran, jumped, cavorted with their tails held high delighting in their new found freedom.  They also put on weight and looked healthier after a few week. 
  Of course we looked forward to this event.  It was delightful to see their joy and now we'd not have carry so many heavy pails of water to the barn.

Stories from a life. #3

                                                    Sunrise Service in the South China Sea

  For two months early in 1962 our battalion, (2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment) was aboard the USS Princeton.  We sailed the western Pacific occasionally making port in places like the Philippine Islands or Hong Kong.  Strategically, we were the ready landing force should there be trouble anywhere in east Asia.
   The time aboard ship coincided with Easter.  On Easter Sunday chairs were set up on the flight deck and all aboard were invited to a sunrise service on the deck.  It was a beautiful, clear, calm morning with only smooth swells rolling across the water.  The service was scheduled so that the sun rose about half way through.  It was a setting that cannot easily be replicated.
   Do I remember anything about the service itself.  No, but I have never forgotten that remarkable setting and that the service was well attended.  In those days I wasn't into those things so much but I should have sought out the chaplain to thank him.

"Stories From A Life" #2

                                                                 Restless Legs

 When we arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, boot camp, we were assigned to a training platoon of approximately 30 "boots", i.e., recruits.  Four platoons created a company and we all went through training together.  There was a fifth platoon, the discipline platoon, for boots who were in trouble.
  The twelve weeks of boot camp in included a week of mess duty (what the Army calls KP).  While on mess duty on day I was serving food as the discipline platoon came through for lunch.  I engaged one of the 'disciplinees' in conversation.  Traveling Curmudgeon "What did you get in trouble for?"  Response "Leg trouble."  TC incredulously "LEG trouble?"  "Yeah, they keep running away!"

Stories From A Life, #1.

                                                   "Blood in the Water"  
Many years ago I spent time in the United State Marine Corps (USMC) ('59-'62).  Following Boot Camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA., I was assigned to Fifth Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA. 
  The way it worked was that hafter a year+ of training at Camp Pendleton our entire battalion was transferred to Okinawa relieving another battalion that then went to Camp Pendleton.  In Asia we were 2nd Batalion, 9th Marines. Training continued in Asia including cold weather training in Japan. (More about that training in Japan in another posting.)
   For several months we were at sea as a ready landing battalion should trouble break out any place in east Asia.  We were aboard the USS Princeton which was an aircraft carrier refitted to carry helicopters.  We could deploy by landing craft or by helicopter, or, some of each. It was the second USS Princeton built during World War II to replace the first one which was sunk by the Japanese.  As aircraft carriers go the Princeton was on the smaller side, ca. 900 feet long.
   One of the ports in which we spent some time was Subic Bay, Philippine Islands.  Some of our time there we were living ashore in POW barracks near Olongapo.  However, the incident for which this is all preamble happened while we were aboard ship anchored in Subic Bay.
  It was a calm tropical Sunday afternoon.  Navy ships are equipped with a public address (p.a.) system that is adequate to reach every nook and cranny both fore and aft as well as above and below deck.  The p.a. squawked often and every announcement was preceded by the bosun's whistle, a high pitched whistle that served to get attention for the announcement to follow.
  I was standing on the cat walk just below the flight deck on that beautiful afternoon when the whistle preceded the announcement "Lower the Captain's Gig."  Apparently the captain planned a trip ashore. The captain's gig, i.e., personal motor boat, was near where I was standing.  I watched the sailors detach the boat from the side of the ship, swing it out and away and begin lowering it.  One of the sailors working with the boat lost his balance and fell overboard into the bay.  The ship was anchored, the bay was calm and he was wearing a life preserver so he was in no danger.  His head was up and he was looking up to the other sailors.
   There was piping again on the p.a. system followed by an urgent message "Lower the motor whaleboat, lower the motor whaleboat!"   Motor whaleboats were used for rescue, they were perhaps 20-25 feet long, with upraised bows and sterns they were powered by a diesel engine.  The coxswain (driver) entered the boat, started the motor and gave the signal to lower the boat and the boat was dropped directly on the sailor in the water with the propeller turning.
  Before the boat cleared the sailor so we could see him we could see his blood in the water.  He was alive when they brought him aboard but I never learned the extent of his injuries.  I decided that should I fall over board in port I'd immediately swim a safe distance from the ship and await rescue.

Refugee camp blaze kills 35 in Mae Hong Son | Bangkok Post: news

Refugee camp blaze kills 35 in Mae Hong Son | Bangkok Post: news    I visited Mae Hong Son a few years ago and a refugee camp but not this one.

Book Report

   Time to report on a couple of recent reads.  Still Alice: What if you were to lose every memory you ever had? by Lisa Genova, 1997, Simon and Schuster.  Because it's not new perhaps you've read it.  Chosen as one of the books for our book club it's a novel that tells the story of a successful college professor with Alzheimer's.  It gives good insights into the Alzheimer experience from multiple perspectives; the person with Alzheimer's, spouse, children and colleagues.  It was helpful to me.  Unfortunately I missed the discussion at book club.
  LEAN IN: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, 2013, Alfred A. Knoph.  Sandberg is chief operating officer of Facebook.   Mark Zuckenberg, founder and CEO, Facebook writes "For the past five years, I've sat at a desk next to Sheryl and I've learned something from her almost every day.  She has a remarkable intelligence that can cut through complex processes and find solutions to the hardest problems.   Lean In combines Sheryl's ability to synthesize information with her understanding of how to get the best out of people.  The book is smart and honest and funny.  Her words will help all readers-especially men-to become better and more effective leaders."
  Sandberg is willing to be transparent and vulnerable.  For example she talks about how often she feels like a fraud.  In spite of her successes internally she feels inadequate and is if she's just pretending to be competent.
  Perhaps the book could be summed up by saying her advice to all is that we should lean into...life, work, opportunity rather than allow our doubts and fears cause us to lean away.
  I've had one good discussion of the book with a reader........anyone else?

Thanks Noble Academy!

     This Thailand trip was different.  Reflecting on the differences I am aware of two changes.  In the first place is the familiarity of teaching in Thailand five times, four times at Wat Klong and three years of living with the same family.  In so many ways so familiar.
     However, the big difference is my relationship with the students at Noble Academy.  Their interest in my trip caused me to open my eyes.  It made me look for things that are unique to SE Asia that I've begun to look past because of my familiarity with them.  I tried to see through the eyes of Noble Students.
     This was a great gift to me. I think it is a truism that life is better, richer, deeper when we truly pay attention.  So, there I was back in SE Asia, an area that I find endlessly fascinating, with responsibility to see on behalf of the students at Noble.  This reality enriched my experience and made the whole trip and teaching experience more meaningful.
   I'm really looking forward to my return to Noble tomorrow (Monday).
   I have many pictures that have not been posted so I'll post some of them from time to time.

Cattle at the downtown temple.

Monk finger painting on the window.

Side view of the big Buddha statue.

Right side of 3rd grade classroom.

Left side of 3rd grade classroom.

Yet more pics.

Bangkok power grid.

Pictures from the downtown temple, Bangkok.

   The last post from Thailand tells about this temple in downtown Bangkok.

White water buffalo.

Feeding the buffalo.

Inside the temple.

Skyscraper  across the street from the temple.

Guarding the entrance.

The temple downtown.

Interesting characters.

Outside view.

Playing for donations.

Night market silk seller.

Home Again!

   After 5 weeks; shoes are uncomfortable, snow looks weird, carpet under bare feel feels strange, blankets in bed feel heavy, a meal with out rice?, cold seeps in and I can't go outside to warm up, a bed feels very soft.  I'm home again and may jet lag fade quickly.

Street performers in Bangkok celebrating Chinese New Year.

Noble Students: What is this?

Noble Students:  What are these flowers for?

Key maker's cart on the street in Bangkok.

Silk seller in the night market.

Final Post From Bangkok.

  The computers at the Guesthouse are so slow that I'm unable to upload any more pictures.  When I'm home, Valentine's Day, I'll post more pictures.
  Today I visited a Buddhist Temple a few blocks from where I stay in the heart of downtown Bangkok.  Was I surprised to find it had a stable with 16 head of cattle and 7 or 8 water buffalo. I've visited hundreds of temples in SE Asia but this was a first.  Worshipers were buying plastic bags of hay to feed the animals.                                                                               If I understand correctly that ritual offers the promise of eternal life.  How that squares with reincarnation I have no idea.  I think I got some good pictures including the temple against the background of the downtown sky scrapers.
   Noted:  Sign in a bathroom:  "Please do not deposit waste in the toilet."  No comment.   A note in the handbook for the Bangkok Christian Guesthouse;  "Absolutely no alcohol, smoking or durian allowed anywhere on the premises."  Seen on the street in Bangkok;  an older farang (western) man playing his guitar and singing for donations.  He wasn't receiving much. It perhaps didn't help that he was playing acoustic guitar next to noisy Silom Road.
   What will I miss about Thailand?  The weather, of  course, but beyond that there is much I will miss.  I'll miss the people I know in Ayutthaya and the energy of Bangkok.  It is so different here it's like living in a carnival or circus.  It's just so different that I find it endlessly  fascinating, like find that animal stable in downtown Bangkok    Much of tourism is going to someplace that's much like home to hang out with people like we know from home.  In some small way I've been able to live a little bit like Thai and interact with them as they go about their everyday lives. It's been another great experience.
  Now, just 24 hours of travel and I'll be home!
   

Buddhist Blessing.

  The day began with the blessing ceremony for Max' new business.  I was struck with the similarities to Christian blessings in similar circumstances.  A religious leader who, led a liturgy, though there were no congregational responses, sprinkled water on the facility and the people gathered (aspirges), received gifts of money and food for his temple and he brought two acolytes with him.  Max gave him $120., which in this economy is huge, and the friends gathered gave him more. I added my own silent blessing as the monk was doing his.
   Several of Max' friends were there as was her mother and step-father.  Poo took the morning off to participate and Gai also came.  A good time was had by all and now the business is officially open.
  Max plans to spend her days there, from 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. She has done a lot of work to get ready for the opening and the place looked great.  She's had to buy furniture, linens, dressing gowns and everything else  needed to operate.  We (Grace University Lutheran and other friends) provided some funds to help her get started.
  The monk started the blessing by finger painting Buddhist symbols on the window above the door.  The symbols are ubiquitous and very popular as a tattoo. I need to do some research on their meaning.
  PS  This just in. While I was typing the last sentence Max called me, I'm in Bangkok on the first leg of my trip home, to say that she had receipts of $24.00 today.  A few blogs ago I had reported that she came home excited because she had made $10.00. Let's hope that this is the beginning of something good.

Max' new business.

Monk finger painting.

Blessing the people. An acolyte is standing in the back.

Receiving gifts.

Random photo:  Gad, one of the students I tutored came over  this morning in  her school  uniform for a  photo  retake.

This 'n that.

   A post yesterday mentioned the king.  He's old, ailing and much beloved.  Thai are beginning to discuss the 'lese magste' law which makes it crime to criticize the royalty.  Say or write something derogatory and you're likely to end up in jail.  In most cases the king pardons the offender after a short time.
  A few years ago an Australian author was jailed for a book he'd written 20 year earlier.  The irony was that no one read the book until he was jailed.  He was eventually pardoned.
   It gets tricky because even discussing the law can be interpreted as being anti-royalty.  The king's daughter's and both of the king's son's wives are hugely popular and are on  TV daily doing feel good ceremonial things.  The son who will be become king is not very popular.  Succession will be interesting.

This is the first grade teacher, very spirited!  She's Muslim.

I miss them already!

Lacking a noise ordinance!

   If I were king of Thailand the first thing I'd do is ask the people to clean up the trash.  It's not unusual to see a car by the side of the road dumping trash in the ditch.  Any unclaimed spot around town is used as a dumping ground.
  My second action as king would be a request to turn down the sound.  The Chinese New Years fireworks have begun.  Loud speakers blare from temples and mosques.  Pick-up trucks laden with merchandise, even fresh meat, ply the streets with a sound track blaring, announcing their presence.  Motor cycles, tuk-tuks and other vehicles roar.  Dogs bark and howl.  Buses have split manifolds,  and straight pipes to enhance their sound.  Neighborhood parties blast ear splitting music through the night.  Could we have a little peace and quiet please?

I Spy asked for an ox but I found this cow in a confinement near the house.

The kitchen at the house, many are outside.

The kitchen.

Farwell Wat Klong!

    It was a grand farewell with food, a demonstration of ancient Thai dance and sword fighting, gifts and speeches as I said goodbye to Wat Klong School.  Among the gifts was a genuine Thai silk shirt and presents for my family in America.  Most volunteers only stay a few days at most so there is much appreciation that I not only come every year but I teach for four weeks.  They made me promise I'd come again next year.
   My farewell to the 3rd and 4th grade classes was tainted a bit by the absence of many of the best students.  They were off at an athletic contest.  When they are gone it takes much of the energy from the class and I didn't get to say goodbye.
  Tutoring the two students at home was delightful.  They came over so we could take pictures last night.  This morning I learned that their mother's were not happy about the pictures.  The girls were in their everyday clothes.  So a retake is scheduled for Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. when they will be dressed "appropriately."
  Every Thai student 3rd grade and above (perhaps younger, too, I don't know) know all the English words and music of Jingle Bells.  For the most part they don't have a clue about the meaning of the words.  It seems that Jingle Bells is universally used for teaching English.  A "one horse open sleigh" are words with out meaning.  Perhaps indicative of some (much?) of the Thai teaching.

This 2nd grader thinks I'm cool.

Pet and Hawa, grade 4.

Hanging out before school.

3rd graders not at the races.

Sword fight demo.

Classic dance demo.

Making snow demo. (Thanks Mrs. N., Noble School)

Snow.

Farwell pic.

Wearing my silk shirt with teachers.

The picture with the girls I tutored.

Last Day At School.

Climbing in  the pick up to go to the races.

Final assembly.

   Today I finished teaching for another year.  A longer report will follow.

The egg store.

   Following up on our decision to eat out once a week we went to the night market last night.  On the way home we stopped at the egg store.  Yes, egg store...it's all they sell.  Max bought three dozen which were then put loose into a plastic bag.  The next thing I knew I was sitting on the back of  motorcycle holding a plastic bag with 3 dozen eggs.  Cost?  $3.00 for 3 dozen.  Yes, they arrived home safely.

The egg store.

I told Max to buy some massage pants large enough for Americans...I think this is large enough.

Pork Fried Rice, my school lunch. (I Spy)

Crafts  made at school and given to me.