Orchids, chameleons, and company

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Hurrah for walks. This one is 27 storeys up in the hot sun ... so we decide not to continue uphill. We wind around the mountain, back to our starting point. It's shorter than usual, too: 5.25 km (over 3 miles.)

At Yutta's house in the mountains, her helper digs up an enormous clump of "bird of Paradise." (The vase is 30" tall.) I have the short version in the yard. Rooting this one gives some additional flower arrangement choices.

I get completely tangled up in language understanding. The afternoon chores is sorting bedding - do we or don't we have 2 sets per bed? Tomorrow we'll have to figure it out. My brain is tired from the sunshine and the walk.

It's back to language study in the evening. PakG's father has been sick for weeks. Today he dies so Gum drives his motorcycle for several hours to the family house, assisting his family with the burial. Muslims are buried within 24 hours when possible.

Friday

Slow and steady. After 2 morning calls, it's back to learning Indonesian; I putter, cleaning fish bowls and walking back and forth for fresh cups of tea. Doing language school online gives me an extra 1.5 hours. Plus, I prefer Zoom calls to in-person, unlike W. He heads off to a pastoral call at a nearby coffee shop.

Can you spot the little visitor on the philodendron leaf beside The Porch where I work? With the garden pots full of water, tadpoles and tropical fish keep us mosquito-free. They're especially valuable after 4pm, when it cools off and mosquitoes go looking for fresh blood.

At class online, I'm more focused. I'm sure the teacher is distracted by the birds singing and the lizard with the 2' tail that runs along the guava branch - but I learn its name. The new word is part of the real world here. Bungolon is chameleon. Can you see it below? 

It disappears when I'm not looking. I only noticed it because its long tail dangles from the branch. Would you have seen it?

I learn the words for "weed" and "shovel," too. Useful, when you're looking at the garden. I can't think of a better location for a classroom. I can review the new vocabulary immediately. 

Driving to school is exhausting in heavy (normal) traffic. Today after class, I'm also not bouncing around on the city streets for another half-hour. (Usually when I get home, the last thing I want to do is study. I want to find a piece of chocolate and read a book instead. haha)

Newlyweds Bella and Sigit and brother Hasfirulloh join us for pizzas in the evening. I chop and arrange ingredients so we can choose our own toppings.

The pizza dough we planned to use doesn't rise - it's been in the freezer too long. So we order two professional pizzas from Nara and put the toppings on that. We melt it together in the oven and then we enjoy our "sorta-homemade" feast. We do have homemade ice cream though.

Saturday

It's the youngest grandchild's fifth birthday. We call (yesterday her time) and get an update on present and can watch her enjoy her birthday cake. 

After a walk, it's a morning of calls. Ibu Ade is over to give our recent arrival a massage, so I request one as well. Feels good to unwind the events of the week. My hair is back to limp so I color it - we can't find the right color here so I buy sale packs when we go to the USA and drag "blond" back with me.

The neighbor comes by during a meeting. Afterward, I return the visit - both of us missing each other. No one is home at our place and then she's left as well. At least I get to enjoy these lovely bird-of-paradise plants inside her gate!

I don't get to eat until almost 2:00. I toss into a pot the leftover pizza toppings, the sauce, and cauliflower from the field we walked by Thursday. = Soup! colorful and good.

When the kids were little, I rarely ate before 2 or 3 in the afternoon. W was gone by the time they woke for breakfast, and after feeding 4 children and cleaning up, I had no appetite. My, how things have changed; I treat myself to a brownie after a big bowl of soup.

Sunday

Last week W shared his story and today I share mine. It's interesting how differently people experience the same events, even when they're together. Our theme is Jesus the light on our path. He shines brightly enough that we can see one step at a time. Our daily challenge is to go where he is leading.

In light of the scathing one-sided memoir by Harry (UK royal family), I'm cautious. I consider the many times I have failed my brothers and they have annoyed - or ignored - me. So what! We forgive - and for the most part, unless someone else brings it up, we forget. That's normal family life, process not perfection, even in an ordinary household. Our kids had fights. They may have snubbed each other with harsh words. But they're friends and confidants. They don't broadcast family failures across the planet. (If they did, who would tell them anything?)

Beside the driveway, the orchids have begun to boom.

Today the hall arrangement is silk poppies and a few kinds of grass from the yard - mostly because I'm feeling zero creativity and we've already got it at home.

After the Gathering, Community Table is a connection point.

And lunch at #Maxis is delicious.

The company is always the best part.

On the way home, I swing by for IbuW's shrimp and corn fritters. Yum!

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*So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12

Whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. 1 John 2:5

Moravian Prayer: Divine Wisdom, help us to understand that obedience to your commandments leads us on the pathway of the liberating power of your love. We pray for the strength to surrender all and put our trust in you. Amen.