Be still my soul

Monday, December 27, 2021

It's the strangest feeling. For the first time in my life, I cannot be certain of the pitch I am hearing. I listen to a Russian choir and take the sounds in my head to the keyboard. I am 1/2 tone too high: it's in D, not Eb.

Perfect pitch wavers unless you  keep identifying it as you age. What was effortless - like recognizing red or blue - is slipping. I don't keep music on around me: my head is already full of rhythms and tunes. External music interrupts the internal flow.

I typically spend this final week of the calendar year as a pause between memories and future tasks. This year I'm surrounded by marvels. There are so many beautiful nature moments on the walks. I collect and put a few things inside the wreath on the dining table. Cones, spider plants, and colored leaves. Everywhere I look, there's something I want to scoop up and thank God for. Sometimes my heart feels like it will explode in worship.

This is the first year we put lights on the little tree upstairs.

The sparkle and glow is pretty as we come up the stairwell. A purple scrap of netting serves as the tree skirt each December. When Christmas is over, we wrap the 4' tree and decor in the netting before we stow it away. 

When oh when will we be able to enjoy all the good food and treats? It might be a week rather than a day of feasting, this week between Christmas and New Years Day.

This is certainly a time of connection. We get and make a lot of calls. The spaces begin to settle down as we host fewer guests.

The house enters its seasonal transition, just as quietly.

We're expecting overnight company today. The bedroom ceiling and walls are cleaned, the bedding is aired, and the corners swept clear of critters. When we text our guests for their ETA, they are surprised. "We cancelled the trip the same day we booked it." Ah, a message not received from our mutual friend.

"Now there's a God-sized gift. It's a timely break you didn't expect," says a wise friend later in the day. We'd have loved to see our Jakarta peeps, but it is nice to have a day or two alone.

We drive to the building supply mall to see if we can find replacements doorknobs. The heavy brass door handles have had 40 or 50 years of use and are coming apart.

Some people love fashion malls with "nothing in them" (i.e.clothing, knick-knacks, and makeup.) I prefer supply shops - full of potential, what-ifs, and "this could be...s". In this indoor-outdoor space, the everything is under a high cover with streets between the stores. Cars park wherever there's room or roll up the very narrow ramp to parking.

We do the best kind of puttering. The mall has a lighting street, a tile street, a plumbing street ... and a big ACE hardware store. It's one of the only places selling holiday decor. I'm looking for ornaments for next year's Advent bags @70% off or better.

One year, the ACE staff took 3-4 days to assemble and post the discounts. Not today: they're already in process. We find what we want immediately. This is my kind of shopping: anticipating the future with what's on sale today. I'd much rather buy when I find something than search for it later. When we get home, we pack the 2022 ornaments away.

We pass the government building: Gunung Sate, a Bandung milestone. It's built in Dutch colonial style like many historic buildings.

W discovers a "real" Vietnamese restaurant. I order un-fried!!! spring rolls, a wonderful lunch. W orders cold noodles, his favorite.

Back home, there's a delightful present on the counter: Tanikota (PakD) has sent organic veggies. Yummy!

If you can guess what this is, I'll send you a special present, regardless of where you are in the world.

Tuesday

IbuA is home sick with a fever. Her symptoms suggest dengue or cikungunia, both mosquito-borne fevers. Meanwhile, the neighborhood is spraying for nyamuk (mosquitoes). The yard man, working today, rescues a dragon fruit tree from behind a neighbor's abandoned garden and pools. There are few larvae in those pools: little fish and tadpoles keep them bug-free.

PakA tames the garden and grass, trimming off frangipani, philodendrons, gardenias, and a zig-zagged stemmed plant that are towering over the porch.

He notices the ant-trail onto the porch and clips back shrubs. Anything that touches the house becomes a super-highway for bugs, toads, or snakes.

Meanwhile I snip back the succulents that are overflowing their trays. Rather than toss them out, we'll swap with friends. I get a call: Angie has a big dog house.

She wants it off their porch and Gypsy will love it. It is cozier than the wire crate where he hides during thunderstorms. It's also big enough that it doesn't fit in our car; Angie sends hers. All our dogs can squeeze in together as they do now.

Wednesday

We have a date breakfast after our walk around the block. There's a horn beetle as big as the front of my shoe, squished on the road. 

We drive into town to find netting to wrap the Christmas trees and ornaments for storage. If we find the right weight, we won't have to strip down the tree and put everything away separately. None of us know where to find fabric netting, so PakG suggest garden screen cloth.

The nursery in town has all kinds of interesting plants, but we'd have to order the screen mesh from her. I buy basil, parsley, cilantro - 6 plants for $3.75. And we ask where to find some in stock. We're directed north of the city to a garden wholesaler in Lembang. Let's go.

On the drive, we spot this home's staircase. Open slabs of wood are fastened to two metal bars, going up to the second storey. There are no side rails. The first step rests on the curb at the end of the parking area. Behind the 8" curb is a 3' drop-off. There are no walls edging the second-storey balcony either. Oh well.

"Everyone, be careful." You could hurt yourself so many ways on this construct. Under, over, sideways, forwards, backwards ... that's just the way it is.

In Lembang, W spots an unusual citrus. Its oranges are striped green and white until they ripen. He buys a small tree, which PakG puts in the garden later in the day.

In one corner of that nursery is a birdcage filled with cacti and succulents. Cool idea.

In another corner are several bonsais - beautiful tiny landscapes of stone, wood, moss, and miniature plants.

Look at what else we see: water lilies and blooming pond plants ...

... leaves so perfect they look almost plastic.

Strands of pearls on strings of green.

To me the shade house is a slice of heaven as I wander the narrow aisles between plants.

There are flower so striking they could be 1' long jewelry, like this purple one.

And we see roots so lumpy and curious they they could be alien species.

We decide on some grasses, flowers, and a $4 tall arch. The roses that somehow emerged in our garden last year have become tall. Drooping, they need to be tied to a hoop. We find some $2 clay pots for the succulents that have overtaken the trays on the porch.

We can't decide where to eat lunch but PakG suggests #SakaBistro, a place where we've had good food and like the tropical ambiance. Most importantly, it's near a gas station and we are almost out of fuel.  order Vietnamese-style soup.

Is there anything sweeter in Christmas week than being outside? Someone has hug a few ornaments on a tree but mostly, it's as pleasant as an American summer day.

We enjoy lunch before stopping by the grocer for guava juice. That's supposed to boost blood platelets after dengue or cikungunia. We'll send some to the helper to see if she can gain strength.

Our own garden is bursting with greens and colors. These bromeliads are just opening their brilliant red blooms. Over the next 4 weeks, the flowers will be striking. Each plant blooms only once, then sends out runners before fading away.

A friend sends this picture of her daughter, made up for her wedding day last weekend. The extreme makeup that is popular here is a one-day bloom as well. The traditional bridal outfits are amazing, packed with meaning in every seam.

Read more:

*Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven. Lamentation 3:41

*Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me. Psalm 38:21

*Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore! Psalm 105:1-4

*Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Luke 1:68

*So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Luke 2:6-14

*Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert. Ephesians 6:18

Moravian Prayer: Holy God, help us to welcome you as children do—full of wonder and delight. We recognize your holy presence and are humbled. Live in us again this day.

Lord, we desire to be close to you. Receive our prayers and supplications. Help us to draw ever closer to you, in prayer and in deed. Amen.