Birthdays, ants, and standing in line on an escalator

Monday, June 19, 2023

It's our youngest brother Will's birthday: he's 60 today. Yeah, yikes. We're all old. And loving it.

I keep feeling ants crawling on my feet. Sometimes it's real and once in a while it's imagined. We're inundated with ants.

Big black ants, persistent and unstoppable, march over the gate and into the second storey. (Photo found online; these are the big ones.)

Medium brown ones come from the garden onto the porch and inside the house. Hundreds of teeny-tiny light-chocolate ones swarm the kitchen counters. You can't see them unless they're moving = they're so small.

Sometimes trails of ants line up and down interior walls or across the floor. I douse them with boiling water. We try to minimize bug spray, even when they're competing with us for ownership of the kitchen.

W kills a roach, chasing it under the sink and trapping it in the furthest corner. Ugh. It's disgusting to have bugs inside. But it's a lifesaver to have millions of small creatures that eat garden waste and dead animals spoiling in the tropical heat. Just, please, don't come into my kitchen and don't approach me.

On a more pleasant note, the rhythms of the day include an early morning walk before 2 hours of language school. Back home, we study and I write 11 book reviews. My vegan lunch uses up home-made cashew "sour cream." What a great dressing for sprouts and salad.

After a quick nap and lots of tea, it's back to work. Thanks to Jon and Joy who brought my favorite kind of tea from Malaysia last week. We can't find it here and didn't see it on our last trip to Singapore, either.

W and I finish a short series of K-drama: Divorce Attorney Cha. We both liked it. The night falls, a typical Monday except for the added episode onscreen and all those reviews.

Tuesday

It's my niece's 19th birthday in Germany today and she's about to graduate from high school. She's a musician and a great gal. Happy Birthday, Adelina!

W and I walk a couple of miles without the dogs. It's 4 min/mile faster to walk without stopping. By 7:30 I'm off to language school. I'm counting down 4 more sessions to go until break. A countdown is not a good sign. I'm ready for a pause.

Today I write instructions with my limited Indonesian for the helper: bake cookies, but not chocolate chip. She reads, "We're out of chocolate chip" and makes another batch. With eggs in them, they're out of bounds for me.

Seriously. I'm more dangerous with a limited cache of words than I was when I was totally ignorant. Now I mix meanings and provide amusement by swapping the syllables I need with ones that change the meaning. Sigh. Oh well. I'm learning, mistake by mistake.

It's team meeting in mid-afternoon. Most of us are online, though anyone who wants fresh-baked cookies comes over in person.

Wednesday

Walk. 7-8 meeting, breakfast at home. I couldn't sleep last night. There's no sense in just lying there, hour after hour. The mind is pliable at night - whether dreaming or listening. So finally I gave up and listened to a new book by Anne Graham Lotz, on preparing to meet Jesus. 

Midmorning, I call the grandkids to say hi before we head to town.  It's a utilitarian trip. We get groceries at Club Sehat and fleece trousers at a factory outlet.

Many textile and clothing manufacturers are based in Bandung and send wares around the world. Ralph Lauren Polo, Nike, Adidas, H&M, Forever 21, Abercrombie & Fitch, Old Navy, Jones Wear, and many more labels - they're on the outlet racks at a fraction of retail.

Lunch is at Flourish. W praises the bagels for authenticity: "First real bagel I've had here?" I order a salad bowl.

The 6" jackfruit tacos are ok, though the shells haven't been warmed so they're hard. I'll experiment with seasonings at home to see how we can replicate the taste of barbecued meat with fruit from the jackfruit tree in the yard.

Across the street in the mall, we find lightbulbs and spice jars at ACE Hardware. They're celebrating the start of autumn. We're barely south of the equator but Australia and the rest of the southern hemisphere are approaching winter.

The subtlest shifts in behavior defines a culture. In Singapore, you'd get huffed or tapped off to stand on the left if you block the escalator. People are in a hurry so a steady stream of climbers passes on the right. Here, two Sundanese friends happily take up the whole width. Why would anyone rush or want to walk when the stairs are doing the work?

It's overcast most of the day. A hard rain and lightening storm starts after 3:00. Flash-BANG! Bandung hasn't had more than a few weeks of dry season this year, which affects those living with leaks in their roofs more than if affects us. We pull the Porch furniture close to the house, out of the downpour. The trees wave their branches, while the chimes and Spanish moss blow horizontally.

The gardens and vegetable fields love a few hours of hot sun and the rain that follows. The air will be clean for our hike tomorrow but we'll have to choose trails that are flat or rocky. It will be muddy! and slippery on the dirt paths on the steep hillsides by morning.

Read more:

*All who forsake you shall be put to shame; for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord. Jeremiah 17:13

*The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. Psalm 34:17-22

*God said, “To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” Revelation 21:6

Moravian Prayer: Holy One, we give you thanks for your saving water of life, a free gift of your grace. Remind us today, Lord, that you alone will quench our thirst, and give us bodies and souls willing to take a drink. Amen.