Thoughts on 22 Dec '11

This is from my notes I wrote down while we were on vacation in Thailand. No, it's not too late to use this.

It seems I can't escape the Middle East; or the Middle East can't escape me. Either way, I must be destined to be inextricably reminded of Islam at every corner I turn. Our hotel is located near one of the few mosques in Southern Thailand. I hear the call to prayer at the proper times each day.

After we visited the Phuket Aquarium, we explored a bit down the boardwalk. Along the way, there are vendors making street food from their scooter stalls. A car pulls up for some chicken satay and greets the vendor with "Salaam aleekum!" and the vendor responds, "Aleekum essalaam." Fabulous, it's like I never left home. Except when we get back to our hotel, I'm laying out swimsuits to dry on a balcony overlooking the northern Andaman sea. And a coconut tree is swaying in the jasmine scented breeze. I'm not kidding; the scent is sometimes so strong, it's unreal. I could never mistake this for Bahrain, or Egypt, that's for sure.

Papaya and banana trees grow amongst rubber trees right off the side of the road. And greenery chokes everything else that stays in one place for too long. It's December and the temperature is in the high 80s with humidity at pretty much perfect.

Valentine, will you be mine?

Not just another movie

I have the next movie you have to watch. Have. To. Watch. It will leave you speechless. It is thought provoking and utterly compelling. From the first moment you press ‘play’ you will be riveted in your seat, unable to tear any part of your consciousness away from this story. It takes hold of your very person, body and mind.

Don’t read any reviews. Don’t read about the preface. This is the perfect ‘blank slate’ kind of movie. Don’t learn anything about it. Just watch it. Just do it. Spence saw this on the plane and ordered it within hours of when he landed. It came in the mail today and I outrageously proposed that I could just watch it the next day; I just wasn’t “in the mood” for an unknown entity. He started it and said that we’d just watch a little and then I could turn it off if I wanted to. 92 minutes later, the movie is over and I am left feeling like Rip Van Winkle. You know when a movie ends, you blink and look around. You feel like you are reconnecting to ‘real life’; left in amazement that life has still gone on, time kept moving.

This movie will leave a physical impression on you. This is a gem. What movie is it? It is called ‘Another Earth’. Don’t go read about it on IMBD (no I will not link to the site!) or plug it into Google or Wikipedia. Go pick it up at the video store or move it to the top of your Netflicks cue. You can thank me in the form of chocolates and eternal praise.

Meet Chance

Guess who we got to bring home this morning? Our new puppy, whom we have named Chance. He is 8 weeks old and 100% golden retriever. We have waited so long for the right time & place to get a puppy. He is fluffy, adorable and we are so excited to have this little guy in our life!

See? I told you!

I had a bunch of ideas backlogged in my notes app. I kept my phone near me most of the time on vacation so that I could "jot down" moments and thoughts while we were in the moment. This is from Dec. 21; the first day trip we took. We did some sightseeing and then rode elephants. I will have to scan in the family elephant pics. As much as I *didn't* want to buy the gimmicky photo that the travel place takes & then tries to sell you at the end of the trip; I did buy it. Only because it was a great picture. Really! I was stunned.

- Playing "Find the Shrine" is a good car game in Thailand.
*At every place of business or home, there is a shrine to Buddha. They leave offerings of food, water & such and light incense. The shrines range from super-fancy to kinda shabby. You know one thing I observed? Most of the super-fancy were mostly bereft of assorted offerings and were at nicer houses & establishments. The not-as-fancy ones were usually overflowing with offerings and at more humble homes & businesses. Hmm, interesting. I can't believe I didn't get a better picture of a shrine. But then again, I was a bit unsure of the acceptability of photographing a shrine up close; there are signs to take off your shoes before approaching them.

- Any day that ends with a camera strap burn on your neck has been a good day.

- Truly finding the balance between capturing the moments and living the moments is a delicate tightrope to walk. I don't want to miss a thing but I want to be in the moment. Photographing is enjoyable, but sometimes I come back from an outing and feel like I was looking through a viewfinder the whole time. Kind of like tunnel vision.
*When making a memory or having a new experience, you feel like if you don't photograph it, it didn't happen. The lesson I learn over and over again --> Guess what? Even if you don't have photographic proof, it still happened.

stop and think about it.

DBA (Delinquent Bloggers Anonymous)

Hi, I'm Lydia.

Blogger: Hello Lydia.

It's been 16 days since I last blogged. I have been bursting with ideas and material to blog about that whole time. It's just, you see, I had to move.

Blogger: I see. Go on.

I mean, we had Christmas vacation. We actually took a vacation over Christmas, which we'd never done. It was wonderful! Then we got back and were dropped with a bombshell of news. The Embassy had made the decision to move the families in the "danger zones" to safer places. They said they wanted to get it done in 60 days.

Blogger: Yeah, like that would happen. It probably won't be done before April.

I know! That's exactly what I said! So we unpacked, readjusted to our schedule and all. Then on the 4th, they wanted us to look at some houses. Ok, I can do that; I've never been consulted on housing while overseas. I tell them my preference and they say they'll get back to us when the housing board has met and made a decision.

Blogger: Oh, a meeting. That'll take a week or so to come together.

Nay no, burrito! 24 hours later, they say we've been approved for the housing I wanted and would it be possible to send the moving company to do a pre-move survey on Sunday. (it was Thursday)

Blogger: I don't believe it!

Believe it, bloggy baby! They came to do the survey and 48 hours later, they had the move-out day scheduled for the 16th. So I had the rest of that week to kind of get some things in order before the moving crew descended. Monday rolled around and the crew shows up an hour and 15 minutes early. (they said they'd be there at 9:30 am; they show up at 8:15 am) The crew swarms in and has the living room, dining room, office & half the kitchen packed by noon.

Blogger: When was the first night you spent in the new house?

17 January.

Blogger: So how long from the first day you knew you were moving until the job was done?

13 days. And if you count from when we actually knew when movers were coming, just 6 days.

Blogger: That's not a lot of time. Not that anyone's complaining about efficiency.

Oh no, I'm not. Yeah, what kind of odds would that bet have? An efficient move executed by the government? Of all the things to complain about, who'd have guessed it?

Blogger: Definitely not me!

Thank you for listening, Blogger. I appreciate this open conversation.

Blogger: No problem. Come back anytime.

I plan to come back. I'll be here tomorrow, same time, same place.

Blogger: I'll be here.

Beach bums

The first few days we weren't in any rush. The hotel had it's own stretch of beach for guests only and it was nice. There are plenty of "have to see" beaches, but those are also the most crowded ones and the ones booming with discotech music all day & night. Not my kind of beach. The Capri Beach Club, as it was called, had beach chairs & loungers, shade, beach, grassy area and a cafe where you could order meals & snack AND charge it to your room. That meant not having to bring our wallet to the beach. BIG BONUS!

Where the waves break, the sand is literally chock full of every kind of shell you could want to find! And that spells heaven for my little hunters & collectors; mainly Grant & Mairyn. The beach was lined with coconut trees and all of them had coconuts at some stage of development. The club said they monitored the trees on our beach so that there weren't any in imminent danger of falling to the ground. Grant found a coconut further down the beach, just laying in the sand. He hauled it back to me and wanted to shuck it. Aw shucks, Grant, why don't you ask me to do something hard? Fortunately, it was a bit waterlogged and part of the husk was pulled back. So we husked a coconut right there on the beach. We got our own brown, fuzzy coconut! The part where the husk was pulled back, there was a crack in the shell, so we pulled that part off and got to peer into a newly opened coconut, all white and fragrant inside.