Wednesday, August 21, 2024
The fragrance of the little jasmine bouquet continues on the Porch table until PakG takes the table to the hall. Round Table Sunday is coming up. We enjoy discussion "around the table" every last Sunday of the month at IES Bandung. Between months of travel and guest speakers, it's been a while since we've had a Round Table Sunday.
I refuse to organize potlucks. Our movie night and community dinner stuff is useful. Laurel and Sayaka are hosting this one and overseeing the details.They ask, "Bring plates, cutlery, cups, recycling pails, round and folding tables ..."
You get the picture. IbuS gathers things and PakG hauls them over to the Green Gate auditorium.
One feed is here: find more on YouTube. Do you realize how astonishing this is? I sit at my desk in Bandung, Indonesia, on a virtual safari with hippos, giraffes, antelope, and elephants on the other side of the world. Amazing!
PakG goes into town for floral wire. I bought some in Seattle but when I ransack the office shelves, it has disappeared. Ugh. PakG wires the seed pods and drops them on my desk before taking the dogs on their second walk.
It's "downhill all the way" except for the 20 flights uphill between going down. haha The first bit is steep = slow going if your balance is tippy or your knees are sore.
It's W's second week of online teaching. I'm grading assignments from my class this week and next.
Every month, I clean the 101 toothbrushes collected from travels. Dentists recommend drying a toothbrush before reuse to kill bacteria. I have a lot of hotel toothbrushes and rotate through them, cleaning them after use. Are they dry by morning? Not always. I turn the heads as I use them so I pick a fresh one each morning or night.
At least once a month, I plunge them into a denture cleaner and rinse them thoroughly. I've never had a dozen toothbrushes in rotation before, but each one feels different. Weird but efficient. (W has his own batch.)
Thursday
What a great hike. We start at the top of the mountain near the monument at Gunung Batu. The summit overlooks Bandung on one side and Lembang on the other.
A few of us go down and realize the rest are will descending so we wait. Can you spot the hikers at the top of this section? Kiki takes someone's arm in the slipperiest and steepest parts. What a great group - we help each other as needed.
This beetle's exoskeleton catches my eye, shed along the trail. I take it home for the grandkids, of course.
Lunch is at Paulina's new resort. We take the funicular downhill to the restaurants. This one is a single rail with 3 cables winching the open platform.
The leashed owls have found perches. How many owls can you spot?
Paulina suggests we share meals to taste more. The Aussie chef presents a perfect fettuccini cabonara for me.
He makes a wonderful spinach fettuccini for Dina. We split them for 2 tastes.
Pasta is my favorite meal; today I've found good pasta! The chef says he'll be offering lasagne and other homemade specialties, starting next month.W and I agree to have our great anniversary meal here in September. (He misses the hike and food to teach class today.)
The grasshoppers are busy munching their way through leaves.
Paulina treats us to sourdough pandan bread - flavorful jam and cream cheese.
After lunch, we relax alongside the koi ponds. P's husband Rudi takes us on a tour to check out the glamping accommodations. It's true luxury.
On the way home, we drop Kiki and Veronica at their house down the hill. Kiki sends along 2 bunches of bananas. One bunch is almost ripe and the other will be green until next week. These little bananas are so sweet they replace the sugar in baking.
ChaCha drops by for a cup of tea and a chat in the "library" space. The table is a perfect spot for escaping the late-afternoon mosquitoes buzzing on the Porch.
After W finishes teaching, he walks downhill from the office to meet me for dinner at Ethnic. We both choose rawon soup (candletnuts). On the way home, we spot a chameleon on the street.
W nudges it with a stick but it's comatose. When we return from eating supper, it's met its fate.
I check the creatures in Namibia before bedtime. There's a new group: a flock of ostriches is drinking beside warthogs who've drunk their fill.
During the night, I listen through Daniel, Hosea, and Joel. Wow - these prophets issue dire warnings and loving promises, page by page. Before I fall asleep again, I check in once more on the Namibian waterholes. Night has fallen for them, too.
Friday
I sleep in until 7:00 before W and I walk. New water pipes are being installed along the perimeter of the street. Its that what the hole under the foundation of the neighbor's wall is for ... ? There is one water jug 3' (a meter) down.
It's a day of meetings on the Porch. Tea, bananas, and cookies are the set menu. IbuSumi works her way through the ripe bunch of bananas and the smell of baking from Kiki's gift drifts the house. The dogs relax outside. The big dogs are not allowed in the house, so one paw over the threshold is almost obedient.
W shops for eggs, 200 meatballs, and 5 bags of little potatoes. I'm cooking for Sunday's potluck tomorrow. It's lunchtime before he's off to teach the last day of his second week (of three) classes.
Before she leaves, IbuS scrubs the potatoes and makes 3 trays (60) of mayo eggs. The pumpkin pies IbuA made yesterday are already in the fridge.
Saturday
After a leisurely walk, I take scissors into the garden to clip grass and flowers. About a dozen red roses are left from last week's bouquet.
We need 12 little arrangements. Because of the repetition on the tables, the bouquets may be plain or unspectacular. Viewed as a group across the room, they are interesting.
I forget the pods we tied together yesterday. Ah, maybe we'll use them next month? Or I can make a "wild things" border around the next big arrangement? (PS. The painting is lying on my desk, the start of maple leaves.)
W and I discuss tomorrow's talk after the food is cooked and stored under thick bath towels. I'll reheat everything tomorrow.
Read more:
*Abraham’s servant remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. Genesis 24:21 NKJV
*But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Psalm 103:17-18
*While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Acts 13:2-3
Moravian Prayer: We so easily forget, Lord Jesus, to be still and quiet. We forget daily practices of prayer and fasting, singing and moving. Thus, we are often unable to hear you when you speak to our hearts. Our desire, beloved, is to listen, to share, to make room for you. Today, we set aside time to be only with you. Fill our hearts with the power of silence. Amen.
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