Wonderful weekend

Friday, August 22, 2025

After our walk, we have a date breakfast at #NaraPark. I order my usual oolong tea, chatting online with Mom while waiting for W to drop the dogs at home. He and I reconcile our weekend calendars  as we eat, then head home to work.

My first appointment is canceled: her child is ill. After the fading flowers are pulled from last week's arrangement, the feathery dill still looks green. I clean the sprigs and put them in fresh water. Let's see if they root. The bamboo stems left by Clau 2 months ago are finally putting out shoots.

I pull up the book manuscript. With so much data, finding patterns is a priority. Specifics will come later. As people share personal stories and their advice, I plug them into the outline.

Sigh. The outline felt so orderly before stories start to overlap from one section into the next. The rough draft is usually an initial blurt that needs to be organized. Then comes cleaning up information and writing for clarity.

The book club celebrates Anu's 50th with lunch at #CafeBrunswick. The company is wonderful, including Anu's daughter who is an Oxford undergrad majoring in Fine Arts. What fun to see the hopeful future ahead of her.

The book selections are always interesting and often international. This is the next one.

Birthday blessings come with cookies, of course.

It's back to books at home, too.

W is the king of online orders. Today four glass light shades arrive to replace the missing ones from an inherited ceiling fan. My job is specifying "get something like this" and texting him a link. He does the rest.

Saturday

It feels good to walk first thing. Dogs want to go inside the gate with us? they have to sit first. All four plunk their hind ends on the street.

IbuSiti is back for a bi-weekly unknotting of my muscles. We're updating websites, reading and writing, and making calls. Afterward, A and E arrive for their initial marriage counseling session. It's a joy to be part of new things.

W brings back a burrito (a good one!) from the student food court down the hill. Dr Tom arrives mid-afternoon to stay with us overnight. He's at dinner with a friend. We're happy to stay home with a supper of leftovers.

Sunday

W leaves at the usual time but Tom and I walk to the hall before the Gathering, where he gives a touching account of his journey of faith.

Today seems to be blue day. We line up for a photo.

Lunch at Maxi's is time for conversation and updates.

Monday

Another week rolls out with a walk and meetings. Tom joins us for breakfast at #NaraPark and after he leaves there are more meetings. A friend takes home some banana bread after we have tea together. 

Other friends send over a bed frame they purchased in an antique shop over 25 years ago. Since they're repatriating in 2 weeks, they are shedding life here.

Some days are full of tech. Others are full of people, food, and tech. That's today, a connected Monday indeed.

The tablecloths from the potluck last week are ironed and ready for the next event. They'll go back to the hall tomorrow.

Titik combined colors and textures beautifully in the Sunday floral arrangement. 

I take a closer look at here bouquet.

Look at the twisted end of a vine.

Together, it's an amazing combination. What a specialty florist - though Titik insists flowers are her hobby. We missed her while she did a 4-month trip across Asia and Europe and are happy she's back, creating beauty.

W and I relax after an early afternoon of work. I start to cull bathroom and kitchen items. We check progress on the project and then watch My Fat Big Greek Wedding 2. It's a warm-hearted spoof on family ties and traditions.

Read more:

*The Lord said, “I do forgive, just as you have asked.” Numbers 14:20

*[Jesus told his disciples,] This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:9-15

*[Jesus said,] Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25

*On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let 

anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:37-38

*Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Moravian Prayer: Heavenly Father, shower us with your boundless grace and forgiveness. May we humbly accept your mercy, letting it cleanse and renew our souls. May the act of your forgiveness remind us to forgive others, too. Amen.

Sharp spines and long vines

Thursday, September 26, 2024

There's no one working at the house today - only guests upstairs and the dogs in the yard. The helpers are at a family graduation and a sickbed. PakG is on election training: they have to take a day off to be given instructions for collecting and counting votes (Nov. election) and checked for medical fitness. 

Why medical fitness? Working an election is strenuous and many people have died on duty in the past. Election workers are on call for 24 hours - or longer if they don't get the count done and sent off. On election duty (8:00am-8:00 the next day), they are accompanied by a guard even when they use the restrooms. That helps prevent vote rigging or influencing; there's supposed to be no sharing of trends with incoming voters.

We set off on the city walk without the dogs. We walk down to the river with Daniel, a new hiker, meeting Veronica at the trail head. There's a stunning 7" (15cm) lotus blooming on the water.

W and Daniel talk theology most of the way. Look at this "bridge" made of 3 bamboo stalks over the runoff creek below!

And someone has found a parking spot for their motorcycle, a ledge with a 20' (6m) drop-off below, before the cliff down to the river). Um - it's accessible from the main thoroughfare via a steep ramp to their cliffside house. There's some skill required to get down and back.

This bus drive has serious skills as well. He makes a "3-point" turn into parking with 6'/2m behind him and 9'/3m in front of his bus. We give him a thumbs up and he grins back, turning his wheel back and forth.

We cross the busy street, past repairs to the main bridge, partly taken out by a landslide a few weeks ago. 

A new metal structure sits under the cables and wires - it should be interesting to see how those are elevated off the main roadway.

A tree has broken off and is being trimmed from the steep slope above the street.

A man with a bamboo pole pushes the trunk off the telephone wires and cables.

And finally, the tree is felled and ready to be hauled away. The workers pause traffic and quickly drag the foliage to the side.

We walk the university's Treetop Walk (1 km loop). It loops around and up and down. There are school kids, employees on a stroll, and many other walkers.

"Can we take a picture with you?" Of course.

There's abandoned art at the gallery below the trail.

There's a continual shedding of leaves and needles. They collect on rooftops, on the ground, and

and the intersections of branches and tree trunks. This deadly sharp-edged plant soars 8 meters (25') high beside the walkway.

The vines drape from nearby tees.

Some trees have exotic flowers.

Bamboo grows overhead as tall as trees.

It's a beautiful stroll in tunnels of green.

We stop for brunch on the way back at Dalaros, a Sundanese buffet. There's a lineup for people picking up catering orders.

We return along the riverside, but take a shortcut through the graveyard.

Then it's up the hill past UNPAR (university) and through their food courts. We wind up the gang in the neighborhoods. The narrow paths make 90o turns when houses are in the way. They are inaccessible by car and barely passable via motorcycle. Imagine taking those ladder steps to your house ... or negotiating your motorbike through the narrow and winding lanes - probably with your spouse, baby, toddler, and maybe another kid on it.

Can you can see the little minibus (city transportation) that has backed into the lane? I keep walking, squeezing by in the 50cm (25") clearance as it reverses into the gang. I plan to leap forward and out of harms way if the driver turns so the angkot touches me. By the time it gets to the sloped wall, there's no clearance so the guys wait for it to stop and ease around it.

All in all, it's 5 miles (8kms) and 21 storeys up - just about perfect in length with a climb down and up. = A home to home loop - with good company. I indulge in tea and chocolate banana bread after a shower. It's the perfect companion to grading.

Friday

We spot a flipping worm on the road on our walk. Oh wait, our clumsy Labradoodle has stepped on a lizard. The critter runs into the grass, sans tail. Can you spot the pale white creature?

A neighbor's house is making progress from a single-storey ruin to a huge structure.

The 3X-a-year lilies are blooming in roadside planters.

And this? I can only speculate - it no longer bites because I think they ran over a toad during paving.

There's a full day of meetings (a dean, a prayer group for SE Asia, and a book club discussion on the next hill). I make breakfast with leftovers and a scrambled egg thrown into the pan. Then I call Mom. She encourages me with her dream last night, listening to my grandmother's prayers.

A dissertation project comes in from a student. There's a sermon to write for Sunday. And tomorrow our guests come = a full weekend ahead.

Saturday

I stay in bed as long as I can. And I don't walk. I set things up for Laurel's farewell this afternoon, make treats for the party, and write some reviews. 

I'm hardly ever in charge of events. I'm' the backup who reminds the planner what s/he needs to make their event a success. WAs and emails fly back and forth as people ask for things for the event. 

• "Can I come early to set up?" (Of course. I may not be helping but I'll be on call.) 
• "May I cook in your kitchen?" (Sure, as long as you clean up.)
• "Do you have serving dishes? How about knives?" (Of course. How many do you need? - and they'll probably want a cutting board or two.)

W is off to Jakarta to pick up our month-long guests at their airport hotel. We're excited to hand over IES Bandung to them for October, while we work in the USA and Canada. 

"Have a nice holiday," some of our friends have said, thinking of our upcoming month. When they see the packed itinerary, they usually change their greeting. 

They may blink a few times and say, "Hope you have a profitable time and get back home safely so you can rest [in Indonesia.]" haha

Traffic is light so W is home early with the Townsends. Laurel's at the house before 11:00 while I'm sending off the grades for Gail and my recent class.

Read more: 

*Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! Psalm 68:32-35

*For as the earth brings forth its shoots and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11

*The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches. Luke 13:18-19

Moravian Prayer: God, we, like your gardens, constantly grow in our love and faith. Please continue to nurture us so that our small-seed faith may grow into a tree of love for the world. Amen.

Noodle week

Sunday, September 22, 2024

We're up early to gather things for the hall. Prayer is one of our most enjoyable preparations for the day ahead.

Hanny is speaking today, with the help of Alice as translator. They're a good team.

Two ladies are working on a Women's Life Group, probably starting in November. That will give women time to share their opportunities and challenges in light of scripture.

We eat lunch with friends at #WarungEthnic.

When we arrive at the house, a gathering of young families is on the Porch. They do a parenting seminar and clean up so well that all that's left is a Jenga game in the nook. Oh - we get several requests for the peanut butter cookies and the chocolate banana bread baked by IbuS and IbuA. I send those out right away.

Monday

It's a day of meetings. I talk to one university dean online and go see another in her office after lunch. Bandung is full of universities: at least 30 campuses of higher education.

The past few weeks, I've been recruiting faculty and student volunteers for a community service project led by IES young people. I like doing interviews and enjoy meeting new people, so it's more fun than work. The deans tend to be curious about the world and genuinely concerned about their students and faculty.

I take along IbuS' chocolate banana cake for the deans. "Yum!" they agree.

Tuesday

Though we're wrapping up a long checklist this week (grading, writing, sermon prep, and meetings), we stroll to #NaraPark for date morning. We polish off spicy noodles (mine) and bread rolls covered in brown sugar (W's).

Half the morning is spend grading and writing reviews. (My 3BooksFull blog lists 182 reviews this year, but I review about half of what I read.

Meanwhile, thunder and lightening sweeps across the mountains into the valleys. Hearing the storm swell overhead, I unplug my computer. Whew. The electricity goes out with a direct "BANG" on the lightning rod of the house. The dogs hide under my desk and in the shower.

After a few conversations and business calls, the day is in full swing. Laurel comes for lunch before the team meets online. I get a WA reminder that a guest arrives tomorrow. Thank God for helpers. Today they cook, do laundry, and change bedding, preparing for a busy week in the household.

 

Laurel is clearing her room and gifts us with grape juice and other kitchen goodies.

I see a quick recipe flash by in my photos, using rice wrappers to make noodles. Noodles are my favorite staple but this kind is new to me. Why not give it a try?

I combine fresh-chopped ginger and onion, soy sauce, peanut butter, a teaspoon of sugar, sesame seeds, and a bit of oil in a hot pan. The rice squares soak in warm water for 10 seconds before I cut them into strips. All that's left to do is to mix the whole bunch in 2 bowls: one for W and one for me. Delicious and done in 5 minutes.

Wednesday

An early 2-hour meeting takes the place of our morning walk. After, I talk to Mom as usual. And a bonus is a call to friends teaching in Europe.

I write a few more book reviews to clear out the backlog of interesting reading in my online library. As I plow through grading and administrative stuff, I get a WhatsApp: "I'll be there in 20 minutes." Hurrah! our friend from Jakarta is on her way.

We spend the afternoon together, eating lunch at Ethnic so she can try their rösti. Then we hang out on the Porch with tea and cakes. We got to know Tirza 15 years ago in Seattle, one of three young students who made a huge impression on us. The women represented their country so well that we assumed all Indonesians were smart, wonderful people.

After she heads back to the train station, we wrap up the day, put things away, and have one more cup of tea. Peppermint, of course.

Read more:

*Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Psalm 111:1

*The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced. Isaiah 50:7

*When Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Matthew 14:30

*Praise our God, all you his servants and all who fear him, small and great. Revelation 19:5

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise. Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting."

Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.” [Prayer from 1 Chronicles 17:34-36]