No walk for us today. We got vaccinated yesterday and are told to take it easy for a day or two. So I'm on the balcony at the office after working for a few hours ... taking a break until the Thursday walkers claim us for lunch nearby.
Monday
In the entry, I fill a winding branch (bare, after we ate the golden coconuts from Beba) with red bromeliads from the garden. We'll toss the bromeliads once they dry up.
In the living room, the birthday kilim brightens up the pastels on the pillows.
We have our usual sets of meetings and a study in the morning. W comes to pick me up from the office before noon. IKEA has opened a store in the next city so we'll eat lunch there. The usual menu items are $0.40 - $1.50. (It's most expensive for the combo: a refillable drink, a hot dog, and fries.)
W signed us up online for entry to IKEA. We have a 3-hr window, along with a LOT of other people. The first group hasn't left when we're let in. We head first to "AS-Is": I need a good office chair.
I find a good one in the main shop but am not sure I want to spend that much. Mind you, I've been using 3 others and my back is always sore. I hate to spend money if we find it for less among the returns and floor models. That is good stewardship, right?
While we're there, I check options for pots for the office balcony. IKEA's little garbage pails ... cheap and can be cut down to size. Plus, when community dinners start up again, maybe we can use them for games or decor. I try a bright blue one. Nope, it just looks cheap.
"As-Is" has European pillow forms (30"X30") marked "display" @$6.50 each. My impression: "Get it," so I pick up 2. When we arrive home, I check the linen cabinet for covers. Ah, yes, I forgot that a friend sent over 2 quilted covers last week. They're a perfect fit and create a comfy back-rest for the benches we use on pizza nights and other house visits.
We pop into a friend's restaurant to say hi. Next door, the fruit stand is selling "stinky fruit" (durian). Any of you try it yet? Two small segments cost $4.50. We have a durian tree in the garden. We'll wait for the fruit to ripen.
Ramadan starts today and ends May 17. Many Muslims will not eat or drink from their pre-down breakfast until the sun goes down before an evening feast. The women are progressively more weary (cooking at 3am... preparing food and cleaning up into the evening hours) and the men have little energy during the day's fasting hours. Children, the elderly, and pregnant women are exempt.
We switch our date day from Wednesdays to today. We record Sunday's talk in the office around 7am. Since we are already near Nara Park where we eat our date-day breakfasts, we combine recording and breakfast.
The three hedgehogs are out in the yard, so cute!
In the hallway outside the office, I spot a perfect little creature, a 1/2" (+1 cm) tiny bug scooting along the tiles. Everywhere I look, my hearts astonished by the One True God. On the one hand, he keeps the planets aligned with perfect physics. On the other hand, he lavishes one small artistic surprise after another on us.
Keelee and I meet for our weekly update . She asks what I'm doodling as we talk. I'm trying to work through a book I've had for ages. I feel obligated to go through it.
"Why?!" she asks me. The sketches I'm making are childish and unappealing. It's a great question. I like to finish what I start but what a waste of hours this would be. I post it to a sale site right after our meeting. Thanks, Keelee! Ah the clarity of a coworker.
However, this palm stalk along the street fascinates me. I could happily draw it and "have" something interesting.
Wednesday
We have an appointment for our first vaccine shot (Sinovac). We're allowed to sign up because we're over 60-years-old and considered residents. The others who may get their shots are medical staff, factory workers, teachers, and essential services.
We are impressed by the organization of the government in the local sport arena. Immediately upon arrival, young people escort us from the parking lot to the "old people" area. They guide us step by step through the process. It is all done with utmost respect and smiles whether the aged are ambulant or in wheelchairs.
We get held up for an hour while they try to find my resident data. The resident number printed out with such a blur that no one can figure it out. Finally, our last guess is the right one. Onward -
The volunteers take many selfies and snapshots with me. No one asks, "Is that ok?" There's a smiling person behind a camera, click, "terima kasih!" (thanks) and that's that. I smile behind my mask with my most convincing eye-wrinkles. I'm the only blond among the hundreds of volunteers, busloads of workers, and the various halls of seniors. I spot only two other foreigners besides W and me. (They're dark-haired.)
Someone comes up while we're sitting at a station and whips a blood pressure cuff around our arms. Then with a smile, they'll off to the next persons. W's blood pressure has gone up during the data muddle but it's just under the permitted rate. The guy checks mine twice because it's the usual: 100/70.
"Like your father," says Mom when I update her. Not much raised his blood pressure, either.
After the jab, more young people escort us to another hall filled with seniors and their helpers. "Please wait 15 minutes. Tell us if you feel any symptoms: a headache, sore arm, or joint pain." W's arm is a bit sore the next day, but that's it. We get a notice for our second shot in 4 weeks.
On the way home, we stop at Borma so W can find some cables or whatnots. I go straight downstairs. Do they have something useful, re-usable, or recyclable for the balcony plants. How about the dippers used by locals for showers?
Pots themselves are cheap (just over $1 each).
We take time for a short break before our weekly team meeting.
Thursday
Much of the week I'm working outdoors. I do 6 takes of a podcast for a group of partners. Then I send it off to Waldemar. That's it for me - 6 tries are enough. W will add Indonesian captions. He's a perfectionist so he may take out the buzzing cicadas and the roars of motorcycles going by. If not, I'm ok with that, too. (= One of us is not a perfectionist.)
The balcony is a comfy place to work. We enjoy meetings out here in the morning shade. Today the space is saturated from a big rain that blew through overnight. Slowly the mats start to dry out underfoot. There's a rumble of thunder and the sky goes dark. The huge downpour holds off until after noon. But by then we're under cover.
Read more:
*Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20
Moravian Prayer; You guide us, our good Shepherd, leading us both in ways seen and unseen. We celebrate your presence with us. Help us to feel the joy of living in you. Amen.
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