Reimagining spaces and long walks

We've rested up a bit this week - but it was a fun one, too.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The morning is in the office and exploring the new hall configuration for August 11 = "from portrait to landscape," as one young person put it. Ruth, Daniel, and Chandra join W and me in imagining what could be. Sanny arrives and helps move everything into place. (It will be returned to the old layout Saturday before the Sunday Gathering.) Old and new below:

Old: 

New:

Working with artists is a pleasure. Their ideas are amazing - I can see the concepts in my mind's eye before they're made. Budget and personnel (builders) will be a constraint ... but if we had unlimited resources, it might not be this much fun, right?

One of the things on my heart, because of friends with physical challenges, is to ensure equal access for those who want to participate. Universal access means building a ramp, which is a project for Pak Chandra. The finishes are nice, the interlocking sides and supporting grids keep the stage stable. I can't wait to enjoy it with Bandung IC.

Thursday
It's a day in the hills - walking with a group and our two dogs. The animals are so happy to run off-leash for most of the hike. Gypsy carries the pack with water for the dogs. Working settles him down.

It's not very strenuous walk at 3 or 4 miles: we have two young kids and a new hiker with us. They all do well and the photos show a happy day. The two boys love the adventure of climbing up rickety bamboo structures.

We're in farmland - I stop along the walk for Rp50.000 ($3.55) of pumpkins (10 little sweets). Later, on our way down the mountain, we stop again for broccoli. For the same price, I get 12 heads, fresh from the fields. We give a pumpkin and broccoli head to the helpers and our driver - after I ask him if they cook at home. (We don't take that for granted; with a small family and both parents working, it's often easier and cheaper to buy something from a neighbor's cart.)

Lunch is at a new place - the food is good, the setting pretty. We'll be back.

We still stop for yogurt popsicles at Mambo's in Lembang. Mango and coconut are my personal favorites. We buy a few extras @25c each for our drivers. It's been a hot day - without cloud cover during dry season the nights are cold (66o) and the days hot (90o).

Earlier this week, I mentioned hanging posters of BIC people on our office wall. When we're driving home from our walk, I think aloud about buying slats. V offers 2 chicken crates that she has in her yard. I eyeball the slats when we drop her at home in our neighborhood: they look like the right width. W and Gum plane the rough wood and - what do you know?! - perfect size. And they're free. (That serendipity seems to happen often.)

Friday
Back in the office, there's a lot to wrap up before the weekend and the end of the month. Because I'm always planning ahead, I keep wanting to write August and September on my pages. I wrote December on one document a few days ago. Oops.

In the afternoon, DrH and I are at a book group, discussing the effects of Alzheimers on a writer. It's sad but each of us knows people with that challenge. The food is wonderful - the people friendly.
One of the group has returned from India: she brings a scarf for each of us.

While we're there, the local volcano burps steam into the sky - it doesn't reach the city but it coats a few cars in the tourist parking lot with ash.

Saturday
What a quiet day - W is in the city for three meetings. I head to the third floor (our storage area) to clear out some of the accumulation. While I'm there, I grab a purple IKEA slipcover for the LR sofa, just to mix things up. I'm easily bored with the same room and seasonal slipcovers and other-colored pillowcases are an easy/cheap way to stave off a full revamp. (W notices late at night after he's been through the room a few times. "Did you change the room?" Yup.)

While I was in the attic, I grabbed a huge $3 light shade we bought a few years ago at the hardware store. Downstairs, I turn it upside-down, put it on the African tablecloth Maschers (cross-cultural workers) gave me in the 1980s, and put a candle inside. Looks like a fancy sculptural vase. 

After that quick binge of creativity, I've burned off enough energy to read. I also write next week's talk and make its PPT. Pak Gum takes the dogs for two walks and waters the gardens - the heat sucks the moisture from everything. We're happy to stay in for a supper of ramen and a bag of the frozen chicken we're considering ordering for movie nights. Mmm. Tastes good.

Sunday
We decide to have a quick 7am breakfast at Pino Terrace before the Gathering. It's great to have a lot of guests again but also wonderful to have our regulars trickling back from vacation. W and I speak on the exile of Israel and Judah, a consequence of idolatry and disobedience. How many times have we refused God's best for us and reaped the consequences?

It's the last Sunday of the month, which means we celebrate a bunch of people with July birthdays. There's a red velvet cake baked by PeiPei and lots of snacks from Hela. Yum. People are still hanging out when we leave an hour-and-a-half after the Gathering ends.

The sun canopies cast shade on the entry to the hall. With the sun is beating down, it can get warm. I wear a long cotton coat over a silk blouse and leggings but it's not too hot for me. Total acclimation, I think it's called. The short-sleeved Australians who are in the Gathering fan themselves - it's winter where they come from.

After lunch at Bumi S, we head home to rest and write. Except that the groomers, due at 1:00, have already washed and blow-dried the standard poodle. They've started clipping her so they've been here a while. They're done in a few hours @Rp150.000 (=slightly over $10 "Or about the same as 10 haircuts for me," says W.) In the States, the same thing costs $80-100.

When I whistle, the dogs come running and sit down to get petted or a treat. Good doggies!

After the groomers leave, the dogs chill out on the porch while W walks to Borma on the next hill to pick up a few things. I read, write, and relax.

Read more:

*Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you. Zechariah 1:3

*I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micha 7:7

*Jesus said, “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:13

*Hope does not disappoint us. Romans 5:5 

*But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:4-7 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Loving God, thank you for scripture that reminds us of who you are. You are faithful, loving, providing, accepting, and so much more. We thank you today for holding your arms open and wanting us to be held by them. Continue to guide us on your path.

Lord, you call each one of us to come unto you. As sinners, we know your truth and the door opens. For that we are grateful. Thank you for being ever-present! Amen