Thanks for the memories and a weather report

Thursday, December 19, 2019
W is under the weather. Tired, dizzy, nauseated, he stays in for a whole day. He usually has to get out every day, unlike me - content to stay in whenever I can. As the weekend approaches, he starts to feel better. And out the door he goes.

I'm in and out - my big job is researching online historical archives for a book chapter I'm writing. I reacquaint myself with Margaret Peoples Shirer, one of the adventurous women in the book I published this year. What an interesting person!

As I studied 10 women from the early 1900s, they became my mentors and inspiration. The book is now free on Kindle Unlimited. (You can also buy it as a gift for yourself or anyone who needs inspiration and empowerment at this link.)

As I read, I'm stunned again by the sacrifices and adventures of men and women who left their homelands to help others. The bugs. the fires. the disease. the illnesses. the opposition. the years of work with no results. I'm so glad to meet these people, years after they have died, in their letters and reports.

There's the smell of Christmas trees in the air. Ok, so I'm faking it with essential oil on some pine cones we picked up last month. This was my favorite brand, after sniffing my way through a dozen Seattle shops in October. If you have a "most Christmas-y" pine, spruce, or fir fragrance oil or spray, would you let me know? No vanilla or cinnamon or cloves. Just a fresh-cut tree smell. Thanks!

I light a few candles around the shell-and-pearl tree we brought back from a teaching trip in the Philippines. People in the Philippines start to decorate for Christmas in September! Many factories make ornaments for the West, too. On my table, a chip-and-dip glass plate elevates the little tree and catches any wax drips.

Many of our northern friends are vacationing in the tropics. On FB, they exclaim how weird it is to be away from winter weather in December. Och, Seattle and Vancouver are cold, and Winnipeg and Edmonton are freezing. Meanwhile, our southern friends are sweltering in record heat in Australia. It's 40oC (105oF). What a contrast.

In Bandung, we wake up to a pleasant 70oF (21oC). We expect a few downpours amid sun breaks. The grass-like backyard is back to green in this mild wet season. The flowers suddenly grow tall in the yard and burst into pink and yellow blooms. Jackfruit and mangos are ripening in the trees. I can't wait for the mangosteens to ripen (Feb/Mar). There's nothing like biting into their cherry-grape-flavored translucent flesh.

The yardman took some shoots from the neighbor's driveway a few months ago. They've grown into a tall hedge. I remember when we paid dearly for heliconias (below) in Seattle. It's interesting how anything out of place seems exotic and anything in its neighborhood is just something pretty. These are very pretty. I sometimes chop a few to fill in bare spots in flower arrangements.

Those who knew us well in Seattle may remember how W brought me a few gardenias every Friday. I LOVE the smell - straight from heaven. I planted a little shrub near the porch so the perfume would drift into the house at night. Well, as it as grown taller, I can reach down from the porch and pluck the white beauties. In the morning, I come into a living room full of fragrance.

Who needs snow and cold or rain? Smiles. (Not me) There's so much we do here, but it's in a setting that comforts and sustains me. Even the rain is warm when we get caught outside. The pavements steam themselves dry within minutes when the rain stops. Humidity is +80% so we run a dehumidifier in our bedroom. Otherwise, bags and clothes and shoes mildew and fall apart.

What's the weather like where you are?

Read more:
*[Elijah saw that] there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 1 Kings 19:11-12 

*God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24 

Moravian Prayer: God of truth, we thank you, that in the midst of our world’s chaos, you come to us day after day in unique and special ways. Grant us eyes and ears that see and hear you moving in our lives. Amen.