The FOURTH QUARTER 2020 is starting with beauty and movement. Or?

Whaaaat? You're already in the final quarter of a startling year. Can you believe it?! 

Everyone's saying the same thing, "At New Years 2020, I would never have imagined that this year would ...."

How would you finish that sentence? 

Here's a motive from the wonderful Indonesian batik on the chaise where I sit to write this morning. Looks comfy, right? But even the batik is shocked by the endurance of Covid. haha

I wish you could hear what I'm hearing now. Chimes. Birds. Dogs barking. People singing. The wind in the trees. The metal roof flapping where it's coming loose.The hiss of someone's broom sweeping leaves off the pavement. It's a windy sunny morning.

Most of you can probably identify with our flaked-out dog and the fish swimming in the bowl behind him. 

"Goin' nowhere." That's what what it feels like sometimes, doesn't it? Hang in there.

Thursday

We get to walk the hills of Lembang. The day is hot but breezy. Some parts of the hike are easier than others.

Today, we start at the bottom of a hill that we usually drive halfway up. With 3 cars and some motorcycles, we're not sure we can turn around at the top. So we walk 2'-3' paths between fields on either side. A slip of the foot means a 2' or 5' fall.

It doesn't seem as steep as it is ... most of the way. The diverting thing is that we follow the leader, looking at our feet, especially on the edge of a drop-off or when climbing rocks. We stop for selfies, which helps us catch our breath in the +85o sunshine. We have to keep drinking water or we dehydrate.

We're headed to the top of Gunung Batu (Stone Mountain). Someone is erecting monuments, left and right, at all the hiking destinations. They're also carving out roads, making this hill an easy tourist destination. But there's currently a detour while they pave the main road. And the detour road into the area is one car wide. 

Men stand at either end of long blocks, letting one lane of traffic through at a time. Not sure how that works on weekends when cars already were lining up bumper-to-bumper for miles, without the main street closed. People are patient, especially if they're traveling with friends or family. Every part of the experience is part of the journey.

We used to climb a very rough trail to enjoy this panoramic 360o view. Bandung is on one side of the volcanic bump and Lembang lies on the other. Now there are steps hacked into the mud or rock, and the path near the top is wider.

Notice the new bamboo "fencing" at the side of the hilltop. If you lean on it, you'll take a flying leap into the valley hundred of feet below. 

Here people know not to lean: it's more of a boundary marker than anything: "Any further and you've begun your own flight. You're on your own, idiots." Even the little kids are smarter than that.

"It's all downhill from here," says our fearless leader Veronica, once we've climbed almost 30 storeys to the top of the hill. But I seem to remember more climbing ahead. 

Sure enough - there are at least two more long slopes along the way. We make a total descent of almost 50 storeys. We have four young people along today; they say they'll be back to "walk off some of our Covid-belly." My empathy is whole-hearted.

Here's the life-cycle of jackfruit in one picture: buds, blossoms, the small fruit emerging, and two fruits, one almost ripe and one ready to pick and already buggy. When you drop the bugs ones, dozens of white maggots hurl themselves of the fruit. Ugh. Been there, done that.

At points the trail peters out. Then we have to clamber up a bank to keep going and re-join the trail.

The views and fresh air are totally worthwhile.

We marvel at the condos built into a dirt hillside opposite us (center, below). A good rainfall and combined with an earthquake might bring that down in a hurry. But maybe the footings are bored into the rock. Maybe.

Of course, what goes up has to come down. Our walking sticks are total lifesavers. We're a happy group of 11 plus 3 dogs today.

Twice, we traverse two steep paths through villages. One bumps us onto a main street. Yes, this is a main thoroughfare. People exclaim at the domba (sheep - our poodle) and the other 2 dogs. Most people are deathly afraid of dogs and make a wide circle around us or dart into a corner between houses.

There are lemons ripening in groves beside the path. Many yellow fruits lie under the trees. Fields of tomatoes and chili peppers are also unpicked, the fruit dropping to the ground.

"It's not worth the transport to town so they are left on the vines," Veronica tells us.

"Pick-your-own" is not yet a concept here. Jakarta and city tourists might enjoy roaming the fields to pick and buy the fresh crops. The flowers overhead on the trees are lush and brightly colored.

And in the graveyards, the shrubs flame red over the Muslim graves. All the headstones point toward Mecca.

We marvel at the terracing that cuts entire mountainsides into farmland. Can you see the big platforms niched into the hillsides? All that labor is done by hand with picks or hoes.

Another handmade treasure is the bamboo and rope gazebo Kiki and Troy (Veronica's family) have just completed. There's no nail in this traditional construction. We end the hike with a picnic in the shade. 

There's predictably too much food. Marie has brought Greek yogurt and yogurt drinks; Angela has made several dishes so delicious I take some home after, Paulina and her daughter bring cakes; Angie bakes German bretzel; Veronica has her famous cheesy eggplant bake; and on and on ... it's a feast!

After, everyone loads up with a ready-made supper.

Friday

My home office desk is a complete wreckage of projects when I arrive in the morning. I start churching through existing projects. First up are a few edits: articles and books waiting for attention. 

Once those are sent off, I load up a fresh supply of birdseed. Bandung locals love their birds and you can buy every bird imaginable. Locals have competitions every weekend, betting on formation, song, color, etc. - with big prizes for the winning bird.

Nearly every neighborhood has a bird shop. They sell cages with/out birds. You can buy seeds, maggots for the bigger birds, feeders, and perches.

I put away the quilting fabrics before hauling my trusty Bernina sewing machine onto the desk. It's business before pleasure this morning. (Plus I hate a cluttered desk.)

 The 27 beanbag chairs we purchased for BIC and movie night are over-full so they're not comfy. What to do? How about 3 new sets of liners and covers for the excess stuffing? I make one enormous chair, a kid-sized one, and one inbetween.

I'm grateful for the 100 yards of white zipper purchased last week ($12 incl. 200 pulls). W patiently threads the pulls on the zippers; we use up 6 yards and slip a pull onto the remaining roll so I can cut the next zipper to length and start sewing. 

Actually, sewing is the easy part of this task = each liner and bag has only a zipper and 2 other straight seams. Easy, right?

It takes most of the afternoon. My first chore is undoing the plastic bags around the purchased chairs. Our helpers push-pull the knots closing all kinds of plastic bag. I'm terrible at that - I sometimes need a fork to pull them apart.

The 54 knots (@2 per big storage bag) are just as stiff and tight but bigger. Takes a while. 

The second chore is opening each chair to empty styrofoam pearls from its packed, slippery liner into the new one. I slip the open zipper of the new sack over two chair backs and pour. And pour. And pour the styrofoam. Finally, I pull a new cover over the new liners, repacking everything for storage. Whew. I'm happy that's done.

And then I've run out of headroom for more sewing. I leave the machine on the desk for the next project. It's more fun= two quilt tops. Online, W has ordered a cutting mat (@25% of the cost at my USA shop). When it comes, I'll zip through layers of fabric with a rotary cutter. Sometimes, scissors are overrated.

Saturday

We take a break from Pizza Saturday with company. Waldemar, Kirsten and I enjoy a Tupperware full of toppings on our personal pizzas. It's quiet and restful. Except that on Saturdays, W does the captions for tomorrow's BIC Online Gathering. I read, edit, and relax while he works.

Sunday

Oh the joys and pain of Covid season. Sundays that means monitoring the Gathering from our porch. For lunch, we eat out, social-distanced at the Ethnic courtyard, a restaurant nearby (2500 steps there and back, a short walk.) 

We leave our neighborhood through a narrow opening between houses. (Straight ahead, see that little gap?) If you don't know the staircase is there, you'd walk by without suspecting that the 3' opening leads to an entire subdivision of +80 dwellings.

Mind you, there is a 1½-lane road in as well. It's narrow for abut a block. When one car comes in, the one going out has to wait at one end - unless both cars are little. Two experienced drivers can squeeze by ... often with mirrors pulled in. Did I mention that there were two drainage ditches on each side of the lane? Last year, they filled in one, so now you just have to watch that you don't drive off the edge when you exit. On the other side, just make sure you don't scrape the car on 8' concrete wall that bounds the lane.

Once up the uneven steps, we're in the next kampung (village.) People are sitting in the lane, mostly unmasked. They visit and eat food from little shops, like this new pop-up that spans the thoroughfare. We step aside for motorcycles zooming through. It's too narrow for cars.

At Ethnic, I try a new menu item - herbed roast beef with roasted vegetables ($6.50).

W says, "I'd order that!" after he tastes it, but his rösti (fried potatoes) whit mushroom, cheese, and chicken is just as good. K's happy with her grilled cheese sandwich, too.

One of our friends is sitting in the same courtyard. "Is that Danny?" we ask, but we can only see half of him from the back: he's behind a post.

He wanders over later to say hi. I don't know about you, but at this point, every person we see in person is a treat for the heart. When we get to the counter to pay, he's given us another treat - the bill is paid. Thanks, Danny. You're a good cook!

One of my favorite desserts at this time of year is Chinese mooncake, baked for the fall harvest season. I bought some lotus flavored ones through Dr Hanna last week. Those came from Jakarta, the last lotus batch of the seller's season.

Clau sends over a fish-shaped mooncake with sweet red bean filling. Clau's drop-off point is Dr Hanna's house, so we pick up the gift on our way home from Ethnic.

Life is better with good friends.

Read more:

*I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort. Isaiah 57:18

*Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

 

*The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV

*“Because your heart was penitent and you have humbled yourself before me, I also have heard you,” said the Lord. 2 Chronicles 34:27

*Jesus said, “Those who are well, have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Mark 2:17

*I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:9-10

Moravian Prayer: God of grace, we come to you for forgiveness. Thank you for listening as we confess our sins and for giving us the hope of life eternal through your grace. 

Oh Lord, our shepherd. When we have lost our way and are hurting, you are always there to pick us up, comfort us, heal us, and bring us back to the fold. Thank you for caring so much. Amen.

Hats, pods, blooms, beanbag chairs ... and loneliness

Monday, September 28, 2020

It's gusty outside - the wind whips the leaves back and forth. Many days we get some rain, though it doesn't last lng. The scaredy-dog wants to come in, away from the stormy skies. The chimes have been singing non-stop, along with a new canary. It's my half-birthday; I have another half year before I'm a senior citizen. Woohoo.

When the sun's out, it's hat day - but now every day is mask day. Here, cloth masks cost 50c and up. I have one for almost every outfit, I think.

I work in the BIC office from 6:30 to noon and come home for lunch. I'm not really hungry and I decided to stay home. There's lots to do. I make calls, fixing an agenda, and clear emails. I do 100 pages of initial edits for the book that's been open on my computer the past weeks - and interact with our teams. I even watch an episode of Korean drama between work.

The neighbor's vine is covered with red flowers. And there are the strangest pods, which looks like rafia balls after their black skin peels off - just lying beside the road. I have to stop and look more closely. Sometimes a garden shop will plant seedlings in these - aren't they interesting?

Everywhere you look, there's something wonderful. This dotted 5" pod releases golden "helicopter" seeds from its sides and then shatters into pieces of wood below the tree. It's very messy.

This opens into a woody floral shape and its seeds drop out.

The prayers are loud and fervent today. Covid has hit hard and many health and government workers are sick. Last week, we saw the main mosque towers as we strolled through town. Below, the streets were almost empty.

There's a different kind of watchfulness here in daily life. People are alert to dangers and potential hurt; they instinctively avoid harm though they're not really thinking ahead. Here's an example: a city mall with high traffic laid slippery marble tiles on the ramp from the entry to the shops. When it rains, the marble is so slick that people with wet shoes can slide and fall. What to do? Put down a few non-skid strips. That will do it! It puts people on notice to hati-hati (be careful). Most will avoid the tiles.

There's an abundance of creativity but a dearth of maintenance. These downtown planters have beautifully-turned iron bases. The trees and plants are never watered so soon it looks like this.

Tuesday

It's team day - and we're adding a young pastor to the mix. He's without a team of his own so he's sitting in with us. Few leaders seem to have an accountability or learning team. Our team is amazing, a dynamic mix of cultures and ages. What privilege for W and me to sit in with them. We learn all kinds of things that broaden our perspectives on scripture, examine practical matters, and get ideas for the future. 

Speaking of practical matters, can you see the guy trimming trees, machete in hand behind the leaves? He's perched on a thin wire fence above a drop-off to the street.

The plants along every side of the street, snapped on my walk to the office, would have been a dream in Seattle. There's a wild hedge of poinsettias.

In a planter, exotics bloom in abundance. People hardly give them a second glance.

The papaya tree outside our gate is full of fruit. The neighbor has harvested about 20 papayas already.

And the palm by the gate has dropped its 1.5" berries onto the ground. There are stunning, artistic layouts of God's abundance everywhere you look.

I'm in the thick of editing. I've "lost" (jettisoned) 100 pages of 1300 in the edits to date. The goal is 300 pages. Possible? I don't know. It's a lot of work to sort and toss. In between, I rest my brain by creating things.

The walk to and from the office is about a mile, so doing that once or twice a day helps keep my blood moving. Going up the last steep hill, a man carries a plastic bin of , with forks taped to the side. Everyone's selling something to stay alive.

Someone was getting rid of an elliptical machine. I put it in the office. Every hour, I take a break. I speed through a set (pant, pant), poke my head into the sunshine, and then get back to work.

At the fabric store last week, we bought zippers. Well, we got one zipper roll, 100 yards long, along with 2 little bags that contained 200 pulls (@$12). Whattt?! That's a lot of zipping. Have I mentioned that we live in the fabric capital, where sewing are easy to get wholesale? 

But what to do with that much zipper? We'll start with the 27 beanbag chairs sitting in the living room. 

They are almost as hard as rock. I need to take out some styrofoam pearls before we take them to the hall. There may be enough styrofoam for 4-5 more chairs. 

A chair is straightforward. Adult size: fold a piece of 64X48" fabric in half  with right sides together = a 32X48" rectangle. (For  kids, a 64X36" rectangle.) Sew a zipper on one narrow end. Then open the zipper, sew the side seam and the remaining end. 3 seams, one a zipper? The hardest part may be not to "spill the beans", so to speak.

"Simple," she says in her head. If the sewing machine is out, it's no big deal. I'll make a lining and a washable cover of donated fabric for each. (Below, W tries on the chairs for size in the store. That's definitely kiddy size!)

And what about a few beanbags for our beanbag toss game? The beans inside those rotted right away, so styrofoam mixed with small round pebbles may be a better plan.

I was surprised and happy to find a new display case with Daniel Smith watercolors in our local art store. Many watercolorists love this Seattle-based paint and order it online through shops in Spain, Singapore, and elsewhere. Now they just have to walk into the shop.

It's the first time I've been there for months. I might make one or two trips there a year so I can use up the supplies before another trip.

Here's another crafty observation. When you go into a fabric store, you have to know what you're looking for ... or be willing to pull out hundreds of bolts of fabrics to find it. 2 pieces of upholstery material caught my eye last week. I'll use those for the beanbag chairs.

There are no women standing around chit-chatting or explaining what they're going to make while another gossip cuts the fabric. That can take 15-20 minutes in the USA. Here, 3 men work as a team and they're all business. Most tailors are men, so they're shopping efficiently and with focus. What a relief. (I don't go to the fabric store to buy fabric not to chit-chat. But then, I cut my own hair because sitting in a chair for over and hour of waiting and chatter is an ordeal.)

Back home, the quilting fabric gets washed and ironed in preparation for cutting. No, I didn't iron it myself. I have soaked the cotton in salt and vinegar to keep the colors from running. It smells like s&v potato chips for a few hours.

Then I washed the cloths, snapped out as many wrinkles as I could, and hung the lengths to dry. The helper ironed them today. She neatly folds them in precise, damp little rectangles, which I quickly unfold into big pieces. Otherwise I'll just have to iron them again.

... So I need and iron and ironing board in my office as I quilt. The last quilt had already been pieced and basted, so I there was no ironing. I just quilted (and quilted and quilted) to finish it.

I don't know how things come to and through us, but God seems to use us as a pipeline of sorts. But who has ironing spares? Apparently we do. (Remember, Laurie, when we had 10 office dividers at our house, just when we needed them for an NU art show? "Who has those things waiting in the basement?" you asked.)

I remember that when we bought our ironing board 6 years ago, the shop gave us a second one free in some kind of promotion. I intended to give it away but never had a chance. 

"Please give money instead," we are told a few times. So the ironing board stays, stored behind empty suitcases and movie-night pots.

Today, I haul the still-new #2 ironing board down to my office. I cut off its dusty plastic, which is fraying apart. The #1 iron up on the rooftop has been dropped so many times by the helpers that W bought a spare for when it fails. It's still in the box and so I unwrap that, too. Ready, set --- (for snatches of time between work ...)

There's a lot of math in design. When my head clears of calculations, I'll tidy the fabric off my desk. I keep only what I need nearby. The rest will go into pizza boxes: I saved a few-years-worth from movie nights to store fabric by color.

#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#

Here's what I'm thinking about

I hear the loneliness and sorrow around me. We start the fourth quarter of the year on Thursday. Who thought this would go on and on? Over 1 million people have died, which means millions and millions more are grieving around the world.

I look at the attendance charts on the door of the BIC office. The last time we met in person was March 15 - and that last week shows a precipitous drop. We miss each other. 

"Online is not the same," we all say. But it's something we couldn't have imagined as a connector 20 years ago ... God provided this for us at the right time.

For those of you who are following government guidelines of masking, social distancing, and staying out of public spaces, I applaud you. It's your sacrifice to keep others safe. Thank you. We'll be together soon.

This won't last forever.

Read more:

*The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. Psalm 98:2 NIV

*Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.” Ecclesiastes 12:1

*Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” John 1:45-46

*When Paul and Barnabas arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. Acts 14:27

*Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

Moravian Prayer: Gracious God, as we your traveling pilgrims cross the threshold into this new week, may we go forth in faith. Strengthen and motivate us with your word and with your spirit. Sometimes life is hard, dear Lord, but you summon us to come, to taste, and to see that you are good. 

O let us seek and let us find. May we daily set aside the time we need to spend in your glorious presence. Amen.