Random things like noodles, melinjo berries, weddings, and baby showers

Between working on normal and online stuff,  I've started using an app called Focusmate. It's free 3X a week: you schedule 50 minutes with someone working on the other side of the screen. 

It gives me amazing focus. I have less than an hour to sit still and complete a task. It works! It works! and do I ever get a lot done on the course I'm writing.

Just like everyone else, I'm trying new things between regular obligations and meetings. I had 5 dough balls left over from making Navaho fry bread (a new recipe) so I tossed them in the freezer. 

Hmmm. What to use them for. Then I remember the pasta machine from 3 years ago. Can it be time to get it out? The dough thaws and it's easy peasy once we get the hang of it.

W helps hang the pasta after I put it through the knives. Last year, I also found a 92% off (yes, that's 8% of original tag) Italian pasta rack in some jumble of sale items. I thought it would be useful for art.

But it's great for hanging pasta, as per its design. Who knew!

I boil the beautiful noodles for too long (3 minutes) so they become mushy but they still taste fresh and delicious.

Early one morning, I attend the baby shower of American friends who are PERFECT on Zoom. They both enjoy their party so much that it is impossible to quit smiling.

 

 During online meetings, I doodle, paint, or work on my quilt.

 Busy hands, open ears.

I go from one meeting to the next on the weekend. I attend a wedding dressed like this. Ugh. I had my eyebrows on but no other makeup. Sigh. (The guests were asked to send selfies to the happy couple.)

W and I walk downhill to the grocer one day, traversing narrow lanes between houses. A seller behind us sings out "taaaaahu-uuuuuuu" (tofu) and ends her song with a scoop. I can't imagine doing her job: she carries her wares and sings through the lanes all day, stopping to greet the women who sit alongside, waiting for what comes their way to see what they'll cook for their families.

I notice a glorious pink bougainvillea. I show it to W, who points out the tangle of electric wires that goes through it.

We hardly see the overhead jumble of wires anymore. I hardly even notice the extension cords that snake through every room from one or two outlets. (Non-grounded outlets, of course. Wear flip-flops when you plug things in or you get a shock.)

Another branch catches my attention on a different street. The tree is an orange mass of flame under the tropical sun.

The rain arrives like clockwork at 1:00pm every day. Sometimes we'll get night showers as well. The dog hates the thunder that comes with it. Everything is growing like crazy! Pruning is the biggest chore. The avocado shoot (3' in a porch pot 2 years ago) is ready for it's second chop: the first one removed 10'. Pak L will have to do the same next week.

Last Tuesday, he climbed the melinjo tree. "Trim it please," I asked him. When it gets too tall, we can't reach the berries or fresh green leaves. 

Ibu A works her magic with those berries, using traditional Sundanese spices and peppers. You can also buy krupuk (crackers fried in oil) made with the inner white seed. I like it all - the bitter-peppery leaves, the soft fleshy outer berry, and - once my teeth crack open the nut inside - the bitter flesh of the seed.

Careful pruning? Pak L climbed 20 feet up the center of the tree with his machete and began hacking it straight across. It's now 10' shorter. Can you see the straight cut at 15' high? The tree gets wider and wider. It must be 30' across by now.

The food's good, no matter what we try. Our helper Ibu A is back one day a week. She cooks several meals which we enjoy for lunch on following days. Like most other home employers, we pay her regular hours. Many people have lost their jobs: those who have work or income share it with their families and sometimes with their neighbors. Cutting back time is for safety. Cutting back income would mean hunger.

Ibu A also refills the cookie boxes. We have so many, and no movie night. We send the driver around the city with little bags of cookies for friends and a birthday. 350 cookies lighter, he's back.

The next time she comes, Ibu A looks at the empty boxes and asks, "What happened? Those were just filled!"

It's a good thing that she is a fast baker. She knew a lot about cooking and baking when she started working here part-time 5 1/2 years ago.  (She was our original hire.) With all the events we host, she has also mastered mass production of cookies, pies, and huge meals.

Pak G chooses his motorcycle for city deliveries. Many streets are blocked to slow traffic down in Covid-19 times. A motorcycles goes through - a car may have to navigate miles and miles of narrow neighborhood streets to get to the same place.

He comes back bruised: another rider bumped into him. His thigh is black and blue the next day. We hardly go out, so he sweeps the constantly falling leaves, walks the yard dogs, and occasionally runs errands. He also needs his salary.

It's time for a job evaluation: one of the workers has reached her annual milestone. It takes about 5 minutes. I ask, "Are you happy working here?" She replies. "Yes. Ibu, are you happy with my work?" and I reply, "Yes, but maybe remember to clean the ..."

Yes yes. We're all happy and help gets a small raise each anniversary date. I'm so grateful to God for longterm help - we don't have to retrain (which takes a long time) and contentment and harmony are primary values among the Sundanese. We try for both.

More doodles in meetings. Our team meetings are a lot more casual, too - with members in Bali oand around the city. We love to stay connected.

What oh what am I going to do when we meet in person? This

and another. I start with whatever topic captures my attention. But soon I wander into other territory as the pages take shape. I think I'll enjoy looking back at the thick little travel journal that's filling up with random play.

 I take a free online workshop about playing with paper and art supplies. Does it show?

Dr Hanna swings by. We have hardly seen each other though she lives nearby. She brings a beautiful birthday present (for my end-of-March date) - a silver and stone necklace which is a great match for jeans or blue trousers. I wear it the first day, happy.

The spider plants that we grew so carefully inside our houses in Seattle multiply like wildfire in the flowerbeds. We make a garden border of them.

The rest of the yard is green, green, green, including the 12' wall between our house and the next one.  the 5' fronds of stag horn birdsnest ferns drape over a canopy of climbing vines.

The powerlines overhead were retired decades ago. The copper wire was stolen. But they still ensure that no one wants to buy the property. (Who knows when the government will reactivate them. No one wants to live under those.) So we live in peace.

Read more:

*Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths; ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16 NIV

*The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:16

*Jesus, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. Mark 6:41-42 NIV

Moravian Prayer: God our provider, our hearts praise and sing with gratitude for your merciful provision in our depths of need. Hallelujah, praise the Lord, for his excellent greatness! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.