There's no place like "home sweet home"

Tuesday - Wednesday (and Thursday-ish), October 29-31, 2024

Today is travel day. We've taken our funny family photo and prayed for each other. Timo and his sons are awake when we say goodbye.

Kim picks us up after 6:00 a.m. and drives us and our 4 suitcases to the airport. It gives us one more chance to see each other face to face, which we treasure. The luggage holds a year of Canadian and American goodies that will be strictly rationed for when we miss our families.

Yesterday, I rammed a full-sized down pillow into my carryon bag. Once we're on the plane, I pull it out to pad the seat on the 16.5 hour non-stop flight to Singapore. It pushes me forward so my knees touch the seat ahead. BUT wow, what comfort. We have a down underlay on our sleeper sofas in Seattle (who needs artificial memory foam!) and this works the same way. My back does just fine on the long ride.

Wednesday-ish ... We have a 5-hour layover in Singapore Airport, which is an interesting, clean, and efficient space. There are marvels everywhere: orchid and waterlily gardens, aquariums (like the one below), waterfalls, and lots of shopping. We cruise by it all on our way to the lounge.

Then we climb aboard a 1.5 hour flight to Jakarta.

The airport shuttle takes 3 hours to reach Bandung, thanks to the skillful driver. When we disembark at the shuttle terminal, W spots a taxi SUV across the street. It's big enough to stuff in everything we're carrying. W wanders over to find the taxi driver, who cheerfully takes us up the hill to home.

Thursday-ish

The clock bumps forward 14 time zones so we lose half a day. We are at our place before 4:00 a.m. Thursday (2 p.m. Wednesday, Vancouver time). It's one of our fastest itineraries: 32 hours, door to door. The dogs give us a tail-wagging welcome.

I unpack a frozen coffee cake and cookies (thanks Keelee!) plus sausage (thanks Norm and Shane) and stash them in our freezer. While I'm at it, why not? I unpack everything. I dread facing luggage and laundry that first morning after we get home. It only takes a half-hour to empty household items, books, and my personal things.

Oh yippee. Look who's waiting for us in bedroom and bathroom ... roaches. At least they're dead. W plucks them off the floor and flushes them away.

I write a note to the helpers: "Please don't talk too loudly when you come; W and I are sleeping in." When we wake, they've started laundry and washed the dishes. They show me an outbreak of black beetles in the kitchen.

"Toss every package with bugs in it!" I say. There are swarms in the dry noodles. Meanwhile, PakG washes and fluffs up Bailey the small poodle. So cute.

I weigh in - yikes! the last time I was this heavy, I was pregnant. "Time for restraint," she reminds herself as she refrigerates the Aldi chocolate bars.

The American lifestyle of driving everywhere and eating rich food is hard on a body. We can't wait to restore our health with walks and better eating. I decide on a vegan-ish food plan to reset my taste buds and gut.

The trees are blooming as we stroll through the neighborhood.

These 1' (30 cm) clumps of blossoms dangle overhead.

W unpacks his gear and clothing and then asks, "Want to walk to #NaraPark for breakfast?" We're both feeling the exhaustion of not sleeping and of sitting too long. A walk sounds good though the day is heating up. W brought along a replacement battery for the "dead" robot vacuum; it hums around the bedroom while we're gone.

I'm not hungry, but why not go? There's a halloween party for little kids at Nara.

Every preschooler is accompanied by a nanny. In 2-child families, there are 2 nannies. This is a well-to-do group.

The little kids run around, blow bubbles, look at each other's costumes, and admire the tortoises, hedgehogs, and owls.

The restaurant brings a soup we haven't ordered. We taste it and get charged on our bill. Ah, lesson learned: we'll turn it away next time. It's beef and peanuts in broth. I order my regular noodles but can't even finish those. We take leftovers home.

On the way, we spot a dozen guys moving a huge display case out of a restaurant. Things are still done by hand. When something doesn't succeed, it's shifted away and a new idea replaces it.

Baby Dutch was great at first, tasty and reasonably priced. After the soft launch ended, prices kept going up while the food quality went down. The pancakes were overcooked to hard. The toppings became less appetizing, too. Now they're out of business.

We hit two grocer to check off the helper's list. We're restocking the basics: vegetables, rice, eggs, milk, etc. I have no appetite at lunch but W tries to eat. We finish cleanup and rest in early afternoon.

The collection of interesting dried leaves and moss is growing. I stack it on a slab of tree trunk we rescued from the neighborhood junk pile.

Four stumps have been filled and sealed with polyurethane. They sit on the Porch under cover until we need them for bigger events.

Our monthly email updates are due tomorrow. Oh oh! I usually have more margin to write them. Off to work! The benefit of our annual "quick trip" back to the USA/Canada is that we're back to work on the day we return. Both e-new updates are soon written and scheduled to drop tomorrow morning,

Friday

We walk at 6:00 a.m. in the cool morning air. The trees bloom over our heads.

I love the way these 4"(9cm) flowers hang from bare vines.

It storms much of the day. I call Mom to catch up on the guests who have gone home. She's resting after the exertion of company. It would even be a lot for a healthy person. She's our socialite and the heart center of the family.

My main chore is to clean the aquariums on the Porch. The tanks are green from overfeeding = algae. The number of fish has declined but they're prolific breeders. The population goes up with balanced food and clean water.

I empty the fish bowls one at a time and then IbuS scrubs the Bali glass. Bali glassblowers form glass vases, bowls, and other containers on wooden roots. The wood smokes but doesn't catch on fire as they work. The glass drapes tightly on the wood.  Each piece is as unique as the wood under it. This one is over 2' (70cm) tall.

I've always done the fish cleanup after we've been away but I've come to my senses. Will the helpers feed less after dealing with the green? Maybe. By the time the fish and plants return to their habitat, the glass glows blue again.

I take a tour of the yard. Oh my, the garden is a mess: weeds are popping up everywhere. A rash of beetles drift across the Porch into the house from the garden. Must be their season. I nudge them outside with my flip-flops.

Tiny avocados hang from the tree in the backyard. We'll have fruit in a few months.

Amaryllis and red fruit on a P. macrocarpa shrub create a pop of color in one corner.

The lemon tree is heavy with dozens of lemons. The rose branches have gone wild. A few are blooming but they need pruning.

We join an online meeting with leaders of Asian international churches. Most need more staff. Some have just moved to new countries, which is a cultural challenge. We pray together before hanging up. W and I are dozing in place: it's 11:00pm, Seattle time ... so we're sleepy.

The red rice is delicious at lunchtime. Oops. "There are bugs everywhere in the rice," notes IbuS. I tossed the bag into an airtight container yesterday, just in case. I'd spotted a dusty layer on the bottom of all the natural rice and wondered. See the black flecks? Yup - extra protein. That expensive package is going back to the store ASAP. When W gets there, there's no rice on the receipt. They gave it to us for free?

They've spread through the entire kitchen. It takes me until evening to take out the bins, sort, toss, and wash. Not the way one would choose to spend Friday but hey, we're home!

Read more:

*Some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7

*Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” Isaiah 55:6-13

*There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Moravian Prayer: God our cornerstone, your power brings salvation to the world. It is your will by which we live, and your name that we praise. Amen.