Faces and feet in motion

"Let's see how many ants I can squish before we finish eating," I say to Waldemar. 

I don't think that's normal dinner conversation anywhere else we've lived. But the persistent tiny, almost-invisible ants climb onto our dinner table and I wipe out 6 within moments. You can only see them when they move; they're so small.

We have lunch with a young couple who is returning to the States. They've been here 2 years and haven't connected to many people, due to COVID restrictions. "That's enough." In a conference with intercultural workers this week, they mention that half of all people in their groups have repatriated. Gone back home. Some have just given up and said, "See you (never) again sometime."

We will miss these two - and the others who have said goodbye. We're glad to be together and the food is good. Nathan's burger and sweet potato fries look pretty tasty.

The steak at Mr. Roastman is tasty and at $6-8, it's pretty reasonable. W and I order two kinds and share the flavors. No supper for us tonight!

As I come home, I see that the bromeliads are bursting with pink florets. I tossed some little plants into a sandy tray on the porch and they have grown quickly. I give away some, replant others.

The air plants (tillansia) seem happy, tucked into a guava branch we pruned off last year.

Meanwhile, someone shoved bare 3' sticks into the ground along the street a few weeks ago (left, below). This is what happens (right). They leaf out in no time. In a few more weeks, a gardener will hack off the top and a branches will emerge on the sides. These impromptu hedges keep people from parking along the side of the road, even if it is government property.

There are a lot of colorful things on the street on our walks: 1" inedible berries that fall from the trees. 

There's a cricket so bright the picture can't even convey its neon green.

Overhead, the beauty doesn't stop. This tree is filled with pink blossoms.

All week, the hall is filled with a conference. The organizers keep the doors open, with people sometimes distancing ... they're trying. It's just hard to stay apart when you're friends or chatting. Masks are pulled down for easier conversation. Afterward, the hall is cleaned and cleared.

The hardest thing for a leader is to say, "NO" and disappoint people. This week, I'm reminded again why this is still necessary.  Two singers in sister congregation, meeting in person for the past month, come down with COVID. Their school and church go back online. In another country, our friends attend a conference, only to find out that some of their kids have COVID ... and who knows where that's spread from and too.

W and I wonder: if  all would treat this as a deadly flu, if everyone stayed home for a few weeks (with essential workers masking and distancing), and people got vaccinated as soon as they're able, would we be over this and get back to normal? Oh wait, Australia and NZ already tried that. And it worked: they're open as usual. For the rest of us, it's dragging on and on with "probably won't happen to me" attitudes fueling the fires.

People are weary and tired of half-measures, that's for sure. In our town, traffic is nowhere near as bad as it was two years ago, but you can see why a driver is a godsend. He negotiates cross traffic with ease, moving our metal case past the others squeezing through 1.5 lane widths.

On one street we see two strange sights: a buggy cruises down the middle of the street ...

and someone carrying a lot of tubing on their three-wheeled cycle. See the guy pedaling on the back?

No one blinks and I barely have time to take out my camera: "Do you notice how normal that looks to us?" I ask W. "We have to snap out of our usual mindset to even see such things anymore."

The palms are still blooming outside our gate.

Tuesday

I do some recording on the office balcony and am glad that we recorded our talk for the weekend early.

We walk down to Nara for lunch with a new friend - glad to get to know her.

During the late evening, I listen in on the ordination service for several friends.

It is heartening to see the public affirmation of their calling to Christian ministry.

I scribble notes of the talk from the network leader. It's one of the best calls to service I've heard ... and takes him only 15 minutes to communicate 7 points!

Wednesday

On the office porch, there are 1' shoots taking over the gardenia pot. I haven't figured out what fell into the pot at the nursery; the seedings are just now popping up after a month or two.

There's a furry white bug on the walkway outside the office, too. Cute.

He's about the same size as the green bug I found there last week.

Meanwhile, at Nara the little hedgehog pops over to the ledge under our table and checks us out.

The guy who is watching him waddle around taps him to roll him into a ball.

After a few seconds, the hedgehog starts to uncurl and pokes his nose out.

Along the walk from the house to work, someone has put down their heavy load of vegetables.

The neighborhood council paved the path between houses. Then someone decided to construct a new home and the traffic ripped up the walk. "We'll fix it once we're in," they promised, a half-year ago?

Can you imagine that weight on your shoulders? The pole balances 2' baskets heaped with all kinds of fresh produce.

We run some errands and stop in at a few frozen-food stores. All kinds of brands are on display. We have a few favorites but also buy some brands we have never tried. Most grocers do not have freezers: the biggest ones one or two short aisles of frozen meat, fish, and baked goods. Only frozen corn, peas, and mixed vegetables are available.

I spot this "killing-fish knife" on the wall of another store. It's available in hot green, blue and pink, and is used to remove fish scales.

Since our Muslim help is fasting, we try to limit their time cooking. On our way home, we stop at May star for sweet-and-sour meat as well as dim sum. It's very good.

Across the street is another dim sum place that is much more crowded. I snap a pic of the menu for next time around. Most dishes are under $2.

The fountains by the parking lot are stunning.

Thursday

The dogs watch out the back window of the car when I jump out to give our helper instructions. (I write things on the fridge board but she prefers words to reading instructions.) We left the house a few minutes before she starts work so we pull over when we spot her near the house.

Those dogs do love their walk. They're clean at the beginning of the day and a total mess after, sticky clay, dirt, and seeds all over their pelts and paws.

We're trying a new track today. We go about 1 km (1 hour) into the bush in an hour. "I think we're just heading straight into the jungle," V comments.

And she's right. We're following narrow animal paths so have to climb under and over fallen trees. The dogs easily scoot underneath. There are wild boars in these hills, besides all the other wildlife. I kick a millipede off the path. We check later and it wasn't poisonous.

We turn around when the trail ends, walking almost back to the beginning to try another fork.

Can you see the dogs and the path? (This is the good path that actually went somewhere.) The 5 dogs (our 3 plus a Samoyed pup and a golden retriever) run ahead and scare away snakes. We swing our walking poles overhead to clear spiderwebs where the path is overgrown above us.

It's slippery: the fallen branches are slick with moss. There are beautiful mushrooms and combinations of lichens and moss as we approach the end of rainy season.

One fallen log looks as though it's on fire as the sunshine falls on it.

It ends up being a giant loop around a deep valley. Afterward, we eat at a "boat" restaurant. We pile cushions on the floor of the boats and spread food on the tables.

There are three sections: left - low tables surrounded by water, boat tables, and normal restaurant tables.

It doesn't matter where you sit, it's very pretty. The koi cruise through the waters around us.

I can't figure out the giant fish statue at the top of the stairway to the mosque. Every restaurant is required to have a place for Muslims to pray, usually located near the sinks and toilets so ritual washing is easy.

On the way home, we stop to buy some pumpkins along the street. The fruit sellers have a wide variety of fresh goods.

And before we know it, it's nightfall again. Bailey (the little white poodle) hops into his crate, the yard dogs sprawl on the porch in sight of the gate, and W and I wind down toward sleep. God is good. All the time. Good night everyone!

Read more:

*It shall be one day which is known to the Lord—neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. Zechariah 14:7

*This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

*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

*In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Moravian Prayer: Illuminating Lord, you are the source of all that is good in this world. When we find ourselves lost, we turn to you once more to light our way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.