Color the world

Monday, April 15, 2023

The Monday routine of walks and meetings flies by. My usual Monday language class is rescheduled for Wednesday.

Saturday, I stroked acrylic color on a canvas with an old credit card. Today, I push more color onto the base straight from the tube, swirling some of it around with the head of the tube.

Later in the day, I smear on a few greens. The canvas leans on a ledge in my office to dry. I'll outline and highlight the vase and plants after I think about it some more.

I walk over to DrH for a quick visit after a trip into the garden for some blooms. She's a disciplined and focused person, recovering quickly from double knee surgeries.

A drive across town nets vegan staples: grains, nuts, spices, and beans. We make a quick stop at a pharmacy for probiotics so I can make vegan yogurt. One more parking lot: at the main grocer, we grab supplies a sick friend needs. I'm home in time for a late lunch.

My goal is to cook for a few hours and freeze some meals in advance. I like shopping the freezer when I'm tired. 

There's time to pray with unexpected callers, too. Some days, time becomes elastic, thank God.

I indulge in a 10-minute nap before the evening. We join PakD for a feast of Chinese food. The food was good last time with the restaurant's Malaysian chef. However, PakD tells us they have a new chef from Hong Kong. Wow - the cook outdoes himself on a steamed fish, meat appetizer, fish skins (amazing! to my surprise), sauced tofu, and vegetables. Tea flows! as we empty our little cups. 

For dessert, W orders a mango cream while I enjoy the Chinese-style bitter jelly. I had no idea we could find that jelly in our town. It's been years since I ate it in KL and Singapore.

PakD drives us home after 9:00. Our bedtime habit is to name 3 things we're thankful for. Tonight, we thank God for many blessings as we prepare for sleep.

Tuesday

Language school starts across town at 8:00. First, there's a walk, a couple of overseas calls to family, pulling fresh bedding from the cabinet, and writing up the chore list for the help. Before school, I also bake yams and make a vegan meal for my supper. There's no time for breakfast but I grab a banana and a thermos of tea ... and I'm off.

W and I eat vegan chili for lunch. After, I boost my Indonesian with kid-books-on-video from the teacher. Our team meeting is online. (One person caught Covid during a conference last week.) We love to see the beautiful faces of those who serve with us and hear their updates.

Before the helpers leave, I draw a blank schedule on the fridge. Next week is Lebaran, a holiday week that ends the Muslim month of Ramadan fasting. The women fill in the blanks with days they want to work. They get paid by the day but have already received the doubled wages mandated by the government. If a boss is amenable, locals take a week off to visit family. However, many workers must stay to serve families who have guests coming. It's a quiet week ahead for us so our helpers are off.

The house is blissfully quiet by mid-afternoon. W 'the restless one' heads down the hill on another walk. I stay behind to write; I'm happy with +3 miles on my tracker from this morning.

Meal delivery is cheap and easy - cheaper than buying ingredients much of the time. W regularly orders food that I'm not hungry for. Since he decides to join me today, I add lamb-ish rendang (spicy vegan stew) and vegetables to bulk up supper. The baked yam is sweet as honey.

At night, I meet with my spiritual director AlaineB. Each month, she challenges my walk with Jesus and my faith. When I read notes from our meetings, I am amazed by how God is present in her work. The rain patters on the trees as we say goodbye.

Wednesday

Mornings are peak energy and focus times for me. However, many mentors and our family live in opposite timezones. To connect, much of that productive time gets swallowed by calls. I might have to swap the time of day - my night for their mornings. They have one call with me while some mornings, I'm on one call after another ...

We take a closer look at the hedge beside the street, swathed in pink.

Each flower is a masterpiece.

W makes and posts his Wednesday theology video during our porch date. No walk to the restaurant yet: I have to figure out what fits my vegan diet before we have breakfasts out. Today' I enjoy overnight oats with blueberries and almonds, prepped yesterday. Totally yummy.

Much of the afternoon, I'm prepping food. I make oat and cashew milk and oat yogurt (1 c oats, blended with 4 c water, boiled, cooled, add probiotics, refrigerate.) Ha, let's see what it tastes like tomorrow!

Thursday

Since some of the drivers are already mudik, traveling to their ancestral homes at the end of Ramadan. The hikers meet at our place for a walk nearby. Within 1/2 km (1/3 mile), we are on a steep hillside in the forest. My shoes are slippery which means balancing carefully on slick green patches of concrete. There's no standard of building; the paths and stairways are unevenly poured in neighborhoods and on trails.

We quickstep past a woman burning garbage, the smoke of plastic covering the path. We dig in our walking sticks for the very steep descent to the river - oh so slippery! before we hike up the other side. The new pulse-counting app on my watch goes crazy: ding ding ding. Yeah, yeah. (Must set it higher than 150bpm next time.)

Anything left untrimmed is soon grown over, including this playground. Either one spends a lot of time in the garden or you hire someone to beat back the new growth (under $10/day).

A few wander down to Curug Dago, the waterfall.

These shallow steps are typical: on the side of a hill with no railing. They're quite even (for here) but overgrown and less than a meter (3') wide. Watch your feet - and your balance.

We recross the river on a pedestrian-motorcycle bridge.

There are many Islamic orphanages in bandung. This huge one is also a boarding school. The seasonal chants of the children are shouted from loudspeakers to ring across the hills and valleys. Children memorize parts of the Quran from an early age.

Another climb, this time up our hillside ... and then we decide on lunch at Ethnic, a few blocks from home.

Some who haven't been able to hike today join us for the meal. It's always good company - and a reward in case we lost some calories. hehe

I choose rice steamed in banana leaves plus veggies. Fried tempe and fried tofu are as close as I get to a healthy meal; this regimen avoids oil, sugar, and salt.

A few friends come by after for tea.

Roni brings over an orchid she found on a January hike. It hasn't bloomed. I hang it between ferns thriving on our green wall - let's see what kind of flower it has.

Later, I snap off a ripe jackfruit (.5 meters, 1.5 ft) for the helper to take home. No sense in it spoiling here since we don't have company for the next week or two.

One of the sweetest surprises when we come in the gate is this gift: PakG has washed and fluffed up Bailey while we were away this morning. He feels soft as a lamb.

The succulents spill over the sides of their trays. In the hot afternoon sun, shaded at noon, minimally watered - they're growing well.

The abundance of texture and leaves is a pleasure.

Friday

We walk, read, and relax. This is an intense weekend because the religious leaders have determined tomorrow will be the end of Ramadan. There will be 24-7 rounds of chanting (yes, night and day). People will go to the mosques and come home to feast with their families and friends. And there are fireworks all night. Those who participate are exhausted when it's over.

The trek across Indonesia is most intense in the past and next weeks, so we pray for safety. Traffic is unbelievable. It can take 12-18 hours on a motorcycle to do a 2-3hr trip. Sometimes cars take longer! We pray for God's presence to be apparent among those who seek him, too.

Read more:

*The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. Zephaniah 3:15

*Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

*So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19

*God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

Moravian Prayer: Our Lord, seeing the violent chaos of our human-making, you could justifiably wipe your hands of us and leave us cowering in fear. Instead, you offer us your powerful love. Give us wisdom to open our hearts to your Spirit and courage to follow where you lead.

Oh merciful God, you see the division, the fear, the self-loathing that threaten to exile us from one another and from you. Bring us out from our places of isolation. Gather us into the home of your heart. No longer strangers, join us together as members of your beloved family. Let us be those who bring your peace into our families and neighborhoods. Amen.