Flow week: a change of seasons that moves benches, pillows, and more

Two Sundays have flown by. Normally, Sunday afternoons and evening are quiet for us, after we host morning meetings online.

We have escaped the snow just in time. Our grandkids send a picture of their igloo at the base of their Washington driveway. So much snow. I listen to a snowy playlist and am content.

At our house in Indonesia, all is lush and green.

I bring in a bouquet of hydrangeas from the garden.

The fruits in season are avocados and rambutan - each curious hairy-looking ball in the cluster has a slippery "eyeball" inside. You can't eat the peel or seed. The white flesh tastes like a combination of grape and cherry. I'm always happy when they show up in the markets.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

It's Ash Wednesday. We start the readings for the 40 days before Easter. If you want to join us, click here.

We have lunch with Jorge and Caron, work with people in transition through the Free and Safe Indonesia charity. Their reach includes teens re-entering society from juvenile detention, care for kids, and programs for female prisoners. It's amazing to see how much of an impact they are having. (Find out more here: it's a worthy cause; as their work expands, they could use your financial help.)

We buy groceries downtown. As usual, the sidewalks nicely laid last year are already iffy. "Watch your feet!" as we wind between cars and trucks parked on, across, and around the walk.

On the way home, we pause in traffic to let a pickup merge in front of us; a young man stands on the bags of whatever they're hauling. Good thing the speed is 10-20mph and not faster.

Monday to Friday, I'm in a vision board (beta) class online. We're supposed to imagine goals we'd like to reach in the next 3 years. It's hard to be other than abstract on such a long timeline. One day, I scribble in my little notebook during a session: healthy team, health habits for me, better sleep... 

Thursday

We're on a forest walk this week, our first outing into the mountains since returning to Bandung 2 weeks ago. Part of the trail is experimental, new to us all. We turn onto a little overgrown path that appears and disappears but winds steadily upward. Elevation and steep hill - my heart pounds as we climb. We are all relieved that there are no snakes along the way. As usual, the dogs run ahead and chase off wildlife.

We walk past a recently uncovered war fort in the mountains. A tribute pillar stands in the field atop the concrete and stone caves below.

Gypsy bravely does his own tour of a bamboo bridge to a lookout over the valley. It might hold doggies and Indonesians (typically lighter and smaller than we foreigners) but we don't risk it.

We step aside as a grass-cutter takes his haul down the mountain on his motorcycle. We often pass older people carrying these loads on their backs. The 4-5' tall grass feeds livestock or is sold to those with sheep, goats, or cows.

2 new restaurants opened last week at the entry to our neighborhood. (Like we needed more options!) Baby Dutch serves a tenderloin with gravy sprouts, and the egg crust. It's a delicious $4.50 meal. There are many savory and sweet options. Before the week is out, we try a few more ($3 for spinach and cream, or chicken Alfredo). They're served piping hotin little cast iron pans. (Hot! Wow, people - you never get hot food at restaurants here.)

The other spot is a gelato place (Vilo) that has great ice cream but high prices. It's cute - we'll see if it it lasts. Along the street, these beautiful blue berries may be inedible but they are eye-catching as they fall from the 10-meter trees. I wonder if they'd be good for dyeing wool or paper. No, I don't need more to do.

The fence in our neighborhood is leaning. Apparently tree roots are pushing it aside. We wonder how long it will stay upright ...

All day long, people sweep the leaves that fall onto the pavement, yards, and houses. This collection looks like a typical autumn in the USA. But we have summer and more summer - with a continual dropping of leaves day and night. When it rains, there's even more natural litter.

We pick up a little handmade stand for our entry at the second-hand store beside the new restaurants. 

We send off the old pleather sofas and chairs with the helpers. They were falling apart with the fabric peeling off arms and seats. These 3 solid (used) benches fit perfectly on the porch in their place. I may have to recover them - or paint the white wicker brown ... 

I'm still playing with the layout. Better above or below? Help - your input pls.

We won't refill the two fishbowls until we decide. There's too much risk of breaking the glass if we move them when full. The fish scooped from the neighbor's pond swim in endless loops around the aquarium plants that thrive on the shady porch.

Inside, it feels like a change of season is due, too, though it's still season #1 (rainy). Season #2 (dry) is a few months off. With a change from reds and blue pillows to pink covers and a different tablecloth, we go from intense colors for Christmas >Valentines's Day -

to a softer palette. We'll swap the red slipcover out for cream soon. I feel an "itch" toward a completely lighter look. Without contrasts in seasonal weather, we make our own shifts.

Sunday

Our pizza guests couldn't make it last night so we make a variety of homemade pizzas today. We send a few pizzas around to neighbors. (Who says you can't be hospitable during Covid, though we can't have guests swarm the house as we used to.)

W's perfected pizza crust and his trusty pizza oven gets used nearly every week.

This week's Sunday talk is unusual - we have 5 readers of excerpts from the book of Job, a righteous and wealthy man who lost everything but his confidence in God. (If you want to watch the story, it starts about 19:00 in.)

When I see on video how straggly my hair is getting, I change my mind about letting it grow through March. Snip snip: 5 minutes and 2" off, I walk out of the bathroom with a good haircut. I think that "vision board" class sent me on a creative twirl.

Read more:

*My Lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Genesis 18:3

*Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8

*Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Psalm 102:25

*Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. Psalm 117 NIV

*Jesus Christ will also strengthen you to the end. 1 Corinthians 1:8

Moravian Prayer: Lord, you created everything by the work of your hands, including each of us. We pray that we see your handiwork in all that we observe, and we give thanks to you for your divine work.

Who are we that you are mindful of us? Loving God, we give you thanks that through your unending mercy and faithfulness, no one is forgotten and all are precious in your sight. May we trust in you and in your son as we go through the days of our life. In your name, we pray. Amen.