Black and white

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

When we get back from a trip, it's takes a week or so to get the household going again. After being gone, you see things you've grown accustomed to with a fresh eye. For a while, I've wanted to blank out the prominent zigzag of stairs in the dining room. It draws the eye away from the people in every picture. See what I mean?

Today, PakG tapes it off and starts painting. He has leftover black paint from a neighborhood project so we don't have to buy a can for that bit. (Greatly appreciated!)

When we pull off the masking tape, some of the black paint has leaked onto the wood. I razor and wipe off what I can. There are white steaks where the last painter slopped white paint over the wood.

I get out a few tubes of acrylic paint and a cheap brush. Mixing red, yellow, orange, green, brown, I get pretty close to matching the wood stain. And while I'm at it, I paint out the white splash-overs on other wood walls. Now the eye slides right over the area. Perfect.

The yardman pulls up some roots for cooking and trims a tree that is similar to bay leaf. I ask him to save a bunch of leaves for the helpers. They can dry them on the roof and take them home. Much of the yard foliage and roots is edible.

I finish writing next week's talk, do some edits, and study Indonesian. Before we know it, night falls.

Thursday

W and I head out the door early. He says taking all three dogs into the hills alone last week was "too much." Today, he's recovering from a bout with the flu and is not yet up to a mountain walk. If I use the driver without taking the dogs along, they won't get a walk. So we stay home and the driver walks the dogs a few times nearby.

Last year, someone had the brilliant idea to build a moat around their place. Many yards' privacy walls are built on public property outside their property lines. If the government decides to widen a road, it's a real possibility that the owners have to move their fence. So the landowners build a ditch instead. It would take a lot of work to remove once it's mortared in place. There's an added benefit: tourists' cars are not able to park in front of their house.

That idea is being copied up and down our hill. First, workers use picks and shovels to hack out a trench outside the property line = on public property. No one complains that the dirt takes up half the road during construction.

Within a few days, seven or eight men are mortaring rocks into a run-off channel. It's common to mix dirt and cement without adding pebbles to hold it together = much quick and cheaper than the aggregate concrete we are familiar with. The guys have done 10 meters (30') in a day.

The raw materials have been dumped at the end of the ditch; young guys haul full wheelbarrows and pails closer to the worksite for mixing and application.

It's quite amazing to see how quickly the workers progress. It must be a finished-rate pay. If they're fast, they can move on to another job.

Today both helpers ask for the day off. One volunteers at a polio vaccination clinic in her neighborhood. Foreigners are more likely to give a day off for such things.Working for locals, the women may or may not get permission. I don't care as long as the floors are mopped, counters and dishes get cleaned, food is prepared, and laundry is washed, especially when others live with us and we host events.

The other part-time helper asks to swap today's normal workday with tomorrow. Today's a big day in the neighborhood. I inquire why angkots (little public transportation vans) and cars are parked for blocks near the assistant governor's place. "We're doing a day of pawasan (insight)" says one person. Whatever that is.

It looks like a girls' day out. A woman shouts instructions over the loudspeakers of the new mosque. Inside the gate are racks of clothing and tables of goods for sale. Anywhere in the world, when women do a shopping excursion, the men hang outside together and gossip. Up and down the street, the drivers gather in groups and chatter away. Makes me smile.

W and I eat breakfast out on our first date morning since coming home. He walks partway and waits at the restaurant while I complete the loop. When he heads home, I do 2 more loops to match the missed hike. Total is under 4 miles / 8000-ish steps, with easier hills. I'll get 2-3000 more steps during the day, so that's enough for now.

We hop in the car to pick up supplies after I get home. While W picks up groceries and his treats, I walk to a nearby clothing outlet. Earlier this week, I tried on a blouse in a pretty rayon print. At 1/2 off the outlet price, I couldn't make up my mind so I left it there. My rule of thumb is, "If it's forgettable, it's not for me." I remember it.

Back home about 11:00, I unpack the food, start to wash and chop it up, and the cooking begins.

Both sides of the kitchen get a workout. I bake granola and assemble overnight oats with dried apricots and sunflowers or blueberries and pecans. Just for fun - and because I rarely have dessert - I make a chia-chocolate pudding, Give it a try?

Chia/chocolate pudding - serves 4-6

1/2 c chia seeds

2 c plant milk (heated in the microwave)

1 tsp each turmeric powder and vanilla extract

3 T each maple syrup and dark cocoa or carob powder

Whisk together and let set for 15 min.

Whisk again, cover, and stash in the fridge overnight. Can't wait to try it. (Note: not bad, not great)

I soak beans overnight to use them rather than canned beans. I make 3-4 servings of Mexican quinoa = a colorful main dish.

For lunch, W and I eat minestrone, along with a slice of the whole wheat bread baked on Monday. It's pretty good, with enough for 3 more meals. We enjoy eating outside on the porch. W is grading last week's class papers outside today, too.

I toss the extra servings in the freezer. After a 3-4 hour cooking session, I have food for almost a week. Supper is filling! The quinoa goes atop lettuce for a main course.

We're treated to 2 desserts: the chia-choc pudding (ok, not sweet).

And ripe watermelon. Juicy!

Friday

It's a good start with 2 loops; gets the blood flowing to body and brain. W joins today; he's feeling almost better. These bromeliads bloom once, then the leaves fade as they are replaced by a new plant. The flowers glow in the morning light.

 

Judy and I walk to coffee at Kura Kopi. There's a new motorcycle "gas station" beside the sidewalk. Two ladies pour gasoline from a big container into recycled water and pop bottles. We didn't have one of those "petrol stations" nearby; it's a good business with cyclists already stopping to refuel.

I meet a neighbor walking back. We enter the neighborhood together - and she tells me another elderly resident has gone into eternity. That always grabs the heart, for him and for his family.

Then, it's language study time. The kitchen has been cleaned, the floor is being swept and washed, and I can sit on the porch to crunch through recordings from the first unit. I'm surprised that I remember more than I thought. A refresher is a good idea. Yesterday's granola is crunchy brain food.

The pines overhead remind us of the Pacific Northwest. It's getting warmer; dry season is here.

Saturday

If you don't like the rock going up on your beautifully mortared 9' (3 meter)-high stone wall, just have the workmen chip it off again. And then adhere the stone face you like. Updates to come.

The got or drainage ditch building continues. They're doing an entire stretch of road across from the local garbage dump.

After the stone wall and a concrete ledges have dried, the workers top them with cement tiles. It looks like a sidewalk, but the plants will take over and it will disappear within a few months.

The recyclers are back at the side of the road; we were worried about them because they were ill last week. Pray for the many people who subsist on small earnings.

Read more:

*Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God; how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

*But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Micah 5:2

*Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16

Moravian Prayer Lord, sometimes we forget that Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Ascension Day are all parts of one story. But the story doesn’t end there. Your birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are important because they happened for our salvation. We believe you are coming back for us and for the whole church. We thank you for that hope! Amen.