Ants and books galore

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

It's a lazy start to the day. I delay the walk until the day takes hold. Look at the neighbor's potted aloe vera plants - they multiply like crazy in Bandung.

Someone has customized a pickup and painted it matt black, a "cool" and trendy color that traps the heat. Wouldn't be my first choice. It's been parked outside the assistant-governor's place since last weekend.

The helpers go to the hall after lunch to complete the cleanup they started last Saturday. A swish of the broom and swipe of the mop leaves a lot behind (below). But we paid them good money for a deep-clean. They take our secret weapon, steel wool pads that lift baked-on dirt. Sure it needs arm-power but when they're done, the edge of the tiles are white again.

Team meeting is small - most members are traveling, finishing university semesters, or in other meetings. We'll take a break for the next weeks. Those who show up in person get a fresh-baked piece of walnut-cranberry bread, from a recipe Marji shared after last the last Book Group. Delectable.

Later, working at the dining table, I put a piece of bread on a plate. When I finish eating, I carry the plate to the sink. That's when I notice the white plate is SWARMING with little ants. There are dozens and dozens, maybe even 100. I swallow the last bite of cake, ignoring the ants on it. I drown the ants on the plate in the sink and drink some water. Then I squash all the remaining ants on the dining table. Do you think I've acclimated after 9 years?

Likewise, cleaning the office, the helpers are welcomed by black ants. When I worked on the balcony during COVID, I'd spray almost every week against the pests marching up from the garden next door.  I've been working from home so hadn't paid attention. Now there are ants in the bookshelves, the binder clip boxes, and in our office supplies. Ant poop is piled behind the shelves and on the porch.

Wednesday

At our morning study, we urgently pray for a miracle. Two miracles, actually. By Friday, David and Georgina need to have the Thai embassy in Jakarta return  their visas and passports. However, G's Indonesian visa expires on Friday so they need an extension. Over-stay fines are costly. The online renewal has not been working; they can't renew in person since the Thai embassy has their passports! They're leaving the country Saturday - we pray that God will intervene.

On the morning walk, the trees drip with red flowers on long stems. Some blossoms are on the ground but it's hard to see the spectacle in the photo. I'm staggered once again by God's creativity and the beauty of Indonesia.

We pop into GG to check if the wedding supplies are gone and the office cleaning has been finished. The event decorators have left a mess of styrofoam chips behind as they picked up the remaining silk flowers and decorations from the hall. Those will get swept away Sunday morning.

The office looks clean. When I close the door to the porch, black ants swarm across the handle and cross the middle of the door. W swats some off the door frame toward me. I flick them off my arm and blouse but they bite me a few times first. The helpers return to spray and spread diatomaceous earth on the porch and around the edges of the room.

W and PakG bring the pots from the balcony home. W puts diatomaceous earth on the soil to kill the ant clusters. I spread Starbucks coffee grounds around them, too. The pots will be useful - we've been planting clipped sprouts from our Tuesday delivery into soil. It makes me happy to grow broccoli and other veggies from them.

Looking through old photos, my mom's famous Black Forest cake recipe comes up. We've been looking for that and the videos of her making it "just so." Her method makes it special, beyond the ingredients. This cake is our family's go-to for parties, special occasions, and "I love you more than you can imagine" events.

Someone offers free books being discarded by the library of a top international school. Most books are in English but there's Korean, French, Indonesian, and Spanish, too. PakG drives down to get them. They'll be distributed. Leftovers will be cut up for Ruth's art projects or villages will use the paper to roll their cigarettes. We spend $14 on a tall wood shelf to corral bits and pieces in W office (not the shelf below, thankfully!)

Dozens of bags filled with books land on the Porch. The dogs sprawl beside them.

Thursday

No hiking for us while W makes sure his knee has recovered. (It has.) We decide to go to Ciwalk shopping area for lunch. Half of the shops are eateries, including this one with cardboard cutouts of Korean stars. It makes me laugh.

In the center courtyard, pony rides are a draw for youngsters.

A shop called SummerSand upstairs includes a retail section where kids can buy toys. The back half is filled with beach sand. Little kids play with diggers and sand toys while their parents shop.

While we eat lunch at the mall, PakG drives back to the school in the neighboring suburb. Today, they're giving away tables, chairs, and a desk They're also discarding 5 rugs, the smallest @6'X9' (2X3 meters). When I ask for a deal, the seller throws in all 5 for less than $6. The helpers are happy to make the stuff their own.

Instead of waiting for the car to return, we walk up and across the hill to a factory outlet closer to home. We take a shortcut through a hospital parking lot and W poses beside a BIG white flower.

The sidewalk on the main street has been torn up in places by gushing rain and impatient motorcyclists cutting to the side of traffic.

The pavement is somewhat regular though the curbs are all over the place. This one is knee-high. Others are taller. Some are a few inches high. Watch your step! (By the end of the day we have surpassed a normal hike so I don't feel too bad at skipping it.)

We pass a massive Roman villa, oddly out of place in an Indonesian neighborhood. What was the builder thinking? For scale, check out the double, full-height doors under the center portico ...

The fashion outlet includes a food court as well as a whole building filled with snacks. Bandung is all about food. Tourist snacks are mostly fried and packed in plastic bags.

The tiles on the floor are old and beautiful. 

Look at all the 8" tile patterns.

I just snap a few of them.

W is searching the city for his preferred kind of PJs. I perch in the food hall by an open window. The shade and breezes cool the rooms enough so that no air conditioning is needed, even with 85oF (30oC).

We walk over to the big grocer for W's yogurt and meet PakG there. Later, I spend the afternoon writing 17 reviews for various publishers. In exchange for reviews, I get to read the upcoming, latest, and best books before they arrive at physical and online bookstores.

Today I skim books about gardening and art manuals, decor and design ideas, thrillers and romances, theology and leadership. In other words, I'm living the book lover's dream. 

Someone comes by for a few bags of books and I keep sorting. By evening, there are 7 fewer bags of books. Hurrah.

Friday

After a walk, we eat breakfast at #Narapark.

Their new map outlines the restaurants and attractions surrounding the huge courtyard.

The grass near our usual table has been replaced again, as happens every few months. The ground is being built up by the repeated surfacing. Rainfall still courses down the hill and pools at the bottom, creating a soggy plateau. Little guests love to run down the hill, trampling the sodden grass into mud.

The logical thing might be to create a gravel ditch at the V of the hill, then covering the ensuing gentle slope with soil and grass. The water would drain from the plateau and the hill ... and they'd be done. But with cheap labor, no one seems to mind redoing it often.

We return home to the heaps.

Last night, I sorted a dozen bags into topics. I told the helper not to clean up past the bench with the idea of boxing the categories today. What's that? The stacks have been shoved to the side in a mixed heap, leaving a nice path on the porch.

Argh. I leave it for now, opening the other bags. IbuS is a whiz with knots and unties bag after bag so I can pull each book out.

I spend the morning between calls and books. We send another 7 full garbage bags to a friend, put some books in the neighbor's Little Free Library, and offer kids' books to the helpers.

What?! We find Spanish kids' books for Georgina to take along. What are the chances? And then there's a surprise for her. At the neighbor's we find a traditional tortilla pan. It's cast iron, straight from Mexico and the southern States. How does that happen?

In the afternoon, I need a break. W and I walk around the corner to browse the empty house of an expat friend. She and her husband returned to the USA at the beginning of COVID and have not been able to return. We still miss her, especially on the weekly hikes. We pick up a few appliances, sewing supplies, and spices. And Georgina's tortilla pan.

We pass a burglar-deterring fence: the concrete base is topped with "crown of thorns" plants. You don't ever want to get stuck in those 1" thorns.

I'm determined to clear off the porch and am DONE! by early evening. I keep a stack of Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and some classics that I remember from my childhood. Hundreds of books sit in boxes along the house, away from impending rain. In the next 2 weeks, we'll share them at 5 events.

Saturday

It's the last day in Indonesia for our unexpected and wonderful guests, who arrived at our place in early March. God answers our prayers The visa extension for Georgina is suddenly possible online. Their passports come back from the Thai embassy, complete with their language school visas.

They finish last-minute packing, say goodbye to friends, and debrief with us during little Noa's morning nap.

I rework last Sunday's bouquet, tossing dried-out greens and clipping the brown edges off flowers that can be saved. With a few pond grasses, it looks wild but passible. W and PakG take it to the hall.

The day zooms by as I organize the new additions in the kitchen. What will be ours to use? What will transfer quickly to others? I'm listening to the Voice to find out.

Read more:

*I the Lord do not change. Malachi 3:6

*His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. Luke 1:50

Moravian Prayer: God of Abraham, you know us—every hair, every freckle. You don’t change, but we do. We get older, day by day—new lines, new spots. Yet you still know us—every hair, every freckle. What a gift it is to be known by you. Amen.

Canada Day, "here comes the bride," and another art fail

Saturday, July 1 CANADA DAY 2023

A core difference between Canadians and Americans is visible this weekend.

My Canadian friends reply to my "Happy Canada Day" post: "Oh yeah, That's today. Thanks for reminding me." Will they call a few friends over to sit around, have a barbecue, watch a game, or go camping? Maybe. The observance is casual. For most, it's just a long weekend.

Meanwhile, many American friends have been thinking about the 4th of July (America Day) for a while. They'll go to a parade with family if they're in a small town. They've purchased decor, planned parties, and invited friends or neighbors to come around.

The Fourth is a big deal, even in Seattle where summer rarely arrives until July 6. According to meteorologists, around the second week of July, Alaskan air warms up enough to stop dropping rain on the West Coast.

-- I'm rambling.

After a one-mile walk, it's time for breakfast. Many old houses on the hill have been converted to restaurants or businesses, like Miss Bee. We walk on empty streets. By afternoon, the streets are clogged and every parking lot is full.

The bride prefers a long aisle so she and her friends turn the hall around to face the old stage.

I encourage her to be the center of attention (i.e. to set the keyboard off the main stage), to space the chairs 4 tiles apart so people can come and go, and to relax and have fun if she can.

Saturday

It's the wedding day! The celebration with family and friends goes off without a glitch.

I get to pray a blessing at the start of the ceremony. The day is a beautiful reminder of wholeness, of love, and God's blessing on the marriage of a man and a woman.

 After, we hang around to chat. The attendants and bridal couple take lots of pictures, including some fun and goofy ones.

While the beautiful bride and the handsome groom exchange vows, a group of 11 volunteers prepares crafts in the IESB office. They teach English and hang out with village kids every Saturday and are using a weekend off to plan ahead. It looks like a tornado has blown through while they assemble the crafts.

W spends a few hours Friday moving equipment and the sound system for the wedding. Before the ceremony, he has to re-plug cords. Yikes people: please don't unplug and move cords because, strung another way, they look better in photos.. W runs the sound and when the ceremony is over, returns the media components to the Sunday layout.

W and I catch a fast meal at Maxi's. The server brings a typical sauce ratio: a few ketchup packets and lots of sambal (hot sauce). We head home to change and back to the hall to clean up.

Our three helpers arrive after noon to wash windows, walls, and floors. I explain what I want done - with a checklist. "Call me when you think you're done," I remind them. Inspection before payment.

They clean the chairs and wipe down the ceiling fans - oh oh those haven't been done for a while - the dirt flies! Once they're done with the hall and stairs, they head for the toilets. It takes 6 hours and they're tired by the time evening falls.

The office will wait for them next Tuesday. Those bookshelves and windowsills are dusty, the corners are full of mouse poop, and the windows are opaque with dirt. I haven't worked in there for a while, obviously.

Eki drops by to spend the night - he's off to English Village tomorrow. EV is an English language immersion program - fun, good company, and fast progress in learning English from native speakers. About 6 p.m., Eki and I walk over to the hall to rescue W with supper at Miss Bee.

After a delicious meal and a pleasant walk home, W starts hours of work on subtitles. Without those, internationals struggle to understand each other's accents.

Sunday

We're back at the hall about 7:00 a.m. to set up the Gathering. Nice - the hall is sparkling clean. Titik has worked her creative wonders on flowers again. (This is a 2'- / 70cm-wide pot.)

David and Georgina are today's speakers. Their message from Matthew 20 encourages us to listen for the voice of God. However, they note that we can't demand results for our efforts. Especially, they remind us that God rarely chooses people who are exceptional, talented, or strong. Most often, He chooses the weak and helpless to accomplish his purposes.

Afterward, we commission David and Georgina for work abroad and affirm baptism for another friend.

Fennelin's birthday is today. She's invited friends to a homemade lunch at their place. We're spoiled with warm just-baked bread (woohoo, Wolter!), tomato soup, salad, and more.

It's delightful to watch "the littles" run around. IESB has 6 boys in the under-3 age group (no little girls yet!) The toddlers and babies explore the house and amuse us with their antics. They love Falk's toys, especially the climbing unit and slide Wolter built for his son.

We get home in time for a mango delivery. DrH has also ordered some for her household, so we walk over with Eki to deliver them to her house.

On the Porch, three young women are playing games, relax, and chat until almost nightfall. Once Eki leaves, W and I read and putter. We make it an early night and sleep soundly.

Monday

W's knees are sore from all that kneeling (media equipment moves) so I walk alone. The dogs give me the stink-eye at being left behind. I note what's happened to a tiny seller's shed that popped up a few years ago. It's gradually expanded into a neat and tidy store for snacks and fruit. The family's home is a room or two behind the open-walled shop at the busy intersection.

After a few online calls, I walk to the hall to pack away things left behind after the wedding.

Back home, I pick up my brushes for the first time in a month. This cave painting has been sitting for 2 years without any progress beyond putting some gold lines on the bottom. That taught me nothing but I quit before I ruined it. I have no direction in mind beyond: squeeze some paint and grab a brush.

I pick up a tube of yellow ochre and a 1" housepainting brush, squeezing shapes straight from the tube onto the canvas. Oh brother. I forgot to get water. I wet the brush in an almost-empty cup of tea and clean the paint off it onto the canvas.

As I return the ochre to the basket, I grab a tube of dark sap green. Maybe I can scale back the cave? I squeeze some drops and lines onto the canvas and swish it around with the brush. The cave disappears and she's there. I'm frustrated - not another face!

I leave her alone. I wash the brushes and call it a day (or my 5 minutes.) 

I need an art class on landscapes or another subject. The same thing happened in April when I laid the base to paint a field. It sat around for a few months because I wasn't sure about the next step.

When I mixed white, yellow, and red on the canvas, it became ... flesh-colored?

With a few lines from an illustration marker, she said, "Here I am." She's still looks my way, propped on a shelf in my office.

Whenever I notice, I shake my head at her: "What are you doing here?"

Grrr. I'd prefer to get back to botanical painting but I don't have the patience to sit for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.

All through high school, I sketched faces in my algebra and science notebooks. Our parents never cared about grades. Mom and Dad shrugged and signed the report cards as long as my brothers and I brought home As and Bs and occasional C+s.  So none of us made much of an effort.

Algebra and science sometimes meant a quick cram for tests the night before. The classes were utterly boring if they weren't about plants, animals, or or shapes. Yay for biology and geometry, which I loved. (However, my geometry notebook was for writing bad poems rather than sketching. Won the annual poetry prize for those. Who knew.)

Maybe I need to get those high school women out of my fingers, before moving on?

Read more:

*Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance. Psalm 89:15

*The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes. Psalm 119:54

*In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12

Moravian Prayer: Teacher, your laws are easy to understand but hard for us to live up to—to treat others better than we treat ourselves and to love you most of all. We are trying. Help us to do better. Amen.