A week of words, walking, and eating. Not bad.

Tuesday, August 4, 2020
The team meeting starts off the day. We connect and get updates.

It's a thrill to have Scott and Sarah join us as they are moving on to new adventures in Australia. They're expecting a baby in September! Scott is taking over a new branch of their company in a few months. Sarah is wrapping up her dissertation. Hurrah!

Lunch at home is indifferent, a real surprise since our helper is a wonderful cook.

"Do you think she's lost her sense of smell?" I ask Waldemar. We'll see what happens in the next days.

She bakes banana bread from black bananas lying on the counter, and puts 2-yr old cornflakes into chocolate chip cookies. Oh wow - that crunch is a delicious alternative to nuts. The baking is excellent.

It rains in the afternoon. The walker has put off the dog walk; it's his decision when to do the second stroll around the neighborhood. Now he's got to wait until the rain stops. He is hired until 6pm but he usually leaves early, after the afternoon walk. Not today ... unless the downpour lets up soon.

Rain means abundant crops though. The little markets are full. It's just that people can't afford to buy, with many out of work.

I've been struggling with edits. "All done," I thought with the submission yesterday. Except that I got another email overnight with a list of changes. Apparently the version I was using wasn't the one the book is using.

So I have another 2 hours of revisions. None of this is text or actual writing. It's re-editing commas, dates, order of authors and publishers, etc. "The other authors have done this already," says the note.

Sigh. Here we go. I'm BAD at this. The details exhaust me. (I'm no bookkeeper, either. Give me a list of numbers and I'll pop out an accurate estimate without thinking. But ask me 5X for an exact total and you'll get 4-5 variations back, hopefully with one that's correct. haha)

All week, 2 editors and I go back and forth on what is needed. Then I get another note: the editors have really looked at the citations for the first time. They write, "Oh, just saw this. That means you actually have to put it in this format, not the one sent earlier."

And, "Take all the details out of the citations just use the general archive. ... Oh wait. You are using two archives." Etc. I write back and forth with the archivists to make sure we are still working with two places and not just two collections. Yup - two different libraries are involved.

[Friday, I send a few questions to the editors; the instructions are a jumble. I cannot make more changes until I'm clear on what to do. Their hard deadline is August 14 so it's becoming a scramble to the finish.]

I go online in focus sessions. Most are with people sitting at desks in India. I get an email with secondary changes for another chapter, written for another book. Tomorrow, I'll start edits on a final chapters by a friend. 3 books going at once ...

Wednesday
I spend a whole day on focus sessions. The talk for next week gets written. I edit one of two chapters for a friend and sent it off. I'm still in a tangle about what is needed for my own writing.

I edit my chapter for the NWMN and send it back to their editor. "Make any other changes you need," I plead.

The rule is that editors don't change anyone's manuscript, which can be frustrating on both sides. An editor could quickly make changes and be done, but nope - it goes back to the writer, sometimes more than once. Argh. Copy editors may have a hard time communicating to a writer.

I do content editing, not copy editing. When I agree to edit someone else's work, I stipulate: "Please take or leave the changes. I don't care. I'm done and you can use or discard my suggestions." I'm not attached to my edits - they are a gift to be/not to be accepted. Once a chapter/book/paper is returned to an author, it's off my desk and out of my head.

Thursday
We walk in the morning. There are only 3 of us plus the dogs, but it's a steady up and down and all-around the forest and looking at waterfalls. SO many young people are out - camping, eating, and hiking. We meet dozens along the way. We pull up our masks; most of them don't bother.

We are glad to stretch our legs after so much sitting. The dogs are thrilled to be out with us. They run back and forth, working off the energy of the week. They're especially excited when we pass monkey troops. Yip yip yip and off they go into the bush. When I whistle, they run back to find us further down the trail.

One of the water crossings used to be iffy. (Okay, treacherous.) You'd cross a wet log (or fall in the water.) And for part 2, you'd have to jump from wet rock to wet rock. We usually took our shoes off and waded across, especially in the rainy season. The algae on the rocks made the crossing a challenge - sometimes we had to hold someone else's walking stick and have them pull us through the current. Now, there are lovely bamboo bridges with handrails.

The little food stands all along the hike are mostly closed. Someone's built stairs on many of the slippery, muddy slopes on the way down to the river and up the other side. Mind you, the individual steps range from 4" to 20" tall so you still have to watch your feet and mind your knees.

There are a few concrete paths (like the one on the left below) but the moss overtakes paving quickly. After a rainy night like yesterday, it's slicker than the hard-packed mud beside the paving. We jam our walking sticks into the mud and try not to slip as we descend.

It doesn't feel like a hard walk, but it's hot out and some of the slopes are steep. (The next two days I will feel the tightened muscles in my calves.) We pause to admire the view and corral the dogs when Indonesians pass on the trail. Most locals are afraid of dogs.

It's been warmer in the last few days. Nights were 62-65F (16C+) for a while. Brrrr.

Broccoli is being harvested as the weather dries and heats up. We buy a few kilos (a sack of 15) for 50.000 ($3.40US). It's fun to give most of it away. For supper, I make a broccoli cream soup. (Scroll to the bottom for the vegan recipe.)

The patchwork of crops is rotated, year after year. Women weed and harvest after men clear and plant. It's not an even always-this-way distribution of labor, but we see it again today.

The air is not clear as we look across the valleys.

Crossing the streams are little narrow bridges to nowhere. This 1' (25cm)-wide bamboo weaving ends in a steep bank. Perhaps they're used to haul water from the streams to the fields?

Some of the trail bridges are falling apart. They decay for a few years and then suddenly they will be replaced or repaired. We traverse them anyway, stepping over holes or rotten bamboo.

At a tourist resort along the way, we see several high-air crossings. A line to tether harnesses is on top, with two side-lines for holding the swinging steps. Ugh. None of us is interested in being that high in the trees with swinging boards alternating with a bamboo pole for the feet.

The forests along some of these mountainsides are virgin with a diversity of palms, ferns, trees, and shrubs. Photos can't begin to capture the beauty, especially on this hazy day.

 There are old Dutch irrigation vents with 5'-10' (2.6-3.1 meter) ladders so workers can crawl down to maintain the pipes below ground.

The Indonesians have a different method than the Dutch. Pipes are laid on the surface of the ground and taped and re-taped when they spring leaks. Sometimes we must step on or across the PVC pipes as they cross the trail. That can't be good for them.

Since we walked here last, new irrigation has been laid along the old. The dogs drink as we go, taking advantage of the clean cool water spraying out of broken joints.

Friday

Another writing morning. DrH and Alice take us for lunch to Ruth's Ribs. We are the sole table, sitting relaxed and overlooking a beautiful valley. Ruth is a gifted intuitive artist. (A sprouted sweet potato below.)

Every part of her home, including the food, is filled with creativity. She's picked up yellow blossoms that look like peonies from the farmer's field. Usually these are just left to decay. Ruth see beauty and shares it with us.

Two of us have salmon, two have chicken, and one has steak. All are delicious. The copper napkin rings are from central Java. A sprig of rosemary, a marigold, and an impatien greet us at the table.

 The starter is wild mushroom soup.

Salmon

 Chicken

And the grand finale is tea with lava cake with mocha ice cream (in the Thai blue-and-white pottery).

Yes, that was a memorable lunch, high in the hills of Lembang. "I didn't realize it was going to be so far," says Kirsten. Her body aches from the bumpy roads along the way.

Our lavender plants died from overwatering in July. I'm on the lookout for replacements. On the way home, we pass dozens and dozens of plant nurseries. Our eyes skim the collections for the narrow silver leaves. 

Wait! STOP the car! There they are: for $3.40 USA (Rp50.000), we find 3 lavender plants. Sold.

Saturday

The young adults are packing up food for the hungry, called sembako. I say hi and start writing. There's food missing. Someone must have needed the food more than we did?

Oh oh, there's double of one item. Not enough of the other - Alice will make a list of what's been taken. Instead of tackling the edits, there's lots of calls coming and going from the office.

Looks like the first editors have replied to my queries, so maybe today is the day I can get the beast-of-a-chapter off my desk. Sigh. I don't get to it all morning, with the back and forth of the packing and other questions.

Oh oh - another seminary sends an email. Their editor: "I am finally ready to move ahead with the chapter you sent last year. Are you still interested in publishing it in my book?"

Well, ok. Off we go again. Hopefully I'm learning enough from the few rounds that are wrapping up to make this an easier edit! I have two chapters ready to go, if they want them.

Read more:
*May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God. 2 Chronicles 30:18-19

*A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was. Luke 19:2-3

*He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope. 2 Corinthians 1:10

Moravian Prayers: Oftentimes, Lord, we see you from a distance. Instead of doing everything we can to readjust our angle in life, we blindly go about our day. Forgive us, good Lord, and please make yourself at home in our hearts. 

Restore us and revive us, O great First Responder. Be there by our side when there is destruction. May your healing touch give life to our bodies and souls. Amen.

---RECIPE FOR CREAM OF VEGE SOUP---

1. Pick your firm vegetable: 1-2 heads cauliflower or broccoli, chopped; OR 1-2 lbs (1 kg) mushrooms, carrots, green or red peppers, etc.
2. Boil 1" water in a big pot and then add vegetables. Cover. Steam for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the vegetables from the water.
4. To the hot water, add 1 handful raw cashews or raw almonds, spices of your choice. (I use 1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp pepper to taste. Also add up to 1 tablespoon of dried leaves: rosemary, thyme, basil; and/or total of 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika, nutmeg, garlic powder, etc. Use spices you like.)
5. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Put the hot water and nuts in a blender (or use a handheld blender in the pot). Blend water and nuts until creamy and no longer gritty.
6. Put the steamed vegetables into the blender with the nuts. Blend until desired creaminess is reached. (Optional: Keep 1-2 portions of vegetable and finely chop them. Add at the end for texture.)