Typical rhythms of life

Wednesday, October 7, 2026
The day ends with a meal at #WaerongEthnic, a neighborhood favorite. Lew takes a break from his studies and treats us to dinner. Thanks!

We walk by a new tourist destination. How many more can the hill support?

The groomers are just wrapping up. Bruno is making the transformation to a traditional poodle clip like Anton's. The dogs come by for hugs and pets - they know they look good.

I cut off Bruno's nose Mohawk so he could see, earlier this week.

The two guys give him a clean muzzle but don't wash or groom him. His topknot will grow in.

Thursday
Our first hike in a half-year? WONDERFUL. We take two dogs, Anton (black standard poodle) and Juno (labradoodle). Bruno, the tender-footed newcomer, hops in the car but he doesn't have enough muscle for a hike. Anton gets a quick hug from Evva before we set off.

While the rest of us tackle the tea fields, PakG takes Bruno on a short walk.

All 4 dogs hiking today are from the same breeder in Bali. The #BaliPoodleDoodle dogs are unmatched in temperament and athleticism. We highly recommend them.

The dogs are sure-footed on steps, trails, and bridges.

They splash in the pools under a waterfall to cool off. Juno finds ditches along the way to play in.

The views across the tea fields are stunning. The dust on the trail has settled with the occasional mountain rains.

Our dogs walk every day but haven't hiked for months, just like us. No problem. They know what they're doing. They run ahead and come back (sometimes reluctantly) to a whistle.

We eat at a roadside cafe which we call Warung Angie. Angie, formerly the hiking leader, loved to eat there so we nicknamed it in her honor. They have an innovative tap in lieu of a faucet: a hose, bent over a sink, stopped with a custom stick. To wash your hands, you pull out the stick.

I pack the fish scraps and chicken skins for a dog treat when we get home. (They love it.)

This is a major tourist road up the mountain to many resorts. It's barely one lane wide, plus shoulders. There are carts, pedestrians, little shops ...

and trucks squeezing by. And I mean squeezing by. 

We turn as far to the left as we can without hitting a shopfront. The driver pulls in the side mirrors for a few extra inches of room.

Vendors zoom by with their wares customized on motorcycles.

I shower off the hike before reviewing an article for an academic journal. The guys pick up the garden fences that are not yet stained or attached: it's supposed to rain today. The first mango drops off our tree, half-eaten by pesky squirrels.

We get news that a friend's coworker (24) has died after collapsing during a marathon. And we read that both parents of an acquaintance have died a quarter-mile apart, hiking in Death Valley. There's much grief to offer our Master, who understands pain and sorrow. May God console these families and friends as they mourn.

Friday
W is testing the setup for movie night, either this week or next. His stack of electronics is a marvel.

I read Lew's notes (excellent work) before he heads back home to celebrate Monica's birthday. You can't miss your wife's special day! Walking around the yard, I note things for the yardman to prune, to move, and to replant. 

PakG stains 4 of 10 fence posts and bamboo panels that they've completed. "It takes a long time to split the bamboo into sections," he observes, "but it takes even longer to sand all the edges so that they won't cut anyone." He goes to the mosque for an hour, something he hasn't often done since he started working for us.

Although this is technically a 6-religion country, schools, government offices, and many businesses close Fridays for Muslims to meet at noon. Sundays, it's business as usual. I don't know if employers are required to give Christians and Catholics equal time off for their religious gatherings. There are many public holidays since everyone celebrates the days off for everyone else's religions.

Saturday
It's a full day. The dogs sit near W, looking forward to their walk. 

When we come in the gate, Bruno gets a walk on the wide side, the woods in front of the Project. His feet are getting tougher. Juno walks along for the fun of it.

Even with a few rainfalls, plants have begun to erupt with flowers.

Purple 2" blooms are spread across the pavement as we walk by.

There's a pause at a 1 1/2-lane-wide crossroad. A big tourist bus is turning left from one narrow street to the other. People walk behind and around it. 

"Can you imagine pedestrians walking behind a moving bus in the USA like that?" I ask W. We shake our heads. When there's a niche, motorcycles zoom beside it as it swivels.

It reverses and pulls forward five or six times to avoid the trees growing across the limited paving.

Another long-tailed lizard has met its end. It's bright green skin begins to fade.

I cook porridge and cut the most delicioius! golden mango for breakfast. Replant orchids. Make calls. Review books. It's a quiet morning.

Read more:
* Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. Psalm 102:1-2

* Seek good and not evil, that you may live. Amos 5:14

* For there is still a vision for the appointed time. If it seems to tarry, wait for it. Habakkuk 2:3

* See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 1 Thessalonians 5:15

* The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. James 5:7

Moravian Prayer: God of justice, as we face the evils of the world that threaten us, give us the strength to overwhelm that evil with the good that comes from you and your love. Let us seek your kingdom every day. In Jesus’ name, we pray. 

Lord, give us the patience that we need: patience to wait for you, patience to trust in you, and patience for our souls to be still and know that you are God. Amen.

Shoring up boundaries

Sunday, October 4, 2026
This week, my feeds become choked with Christmas information, inspiration, and magazines. Really? Already? A friend counsels me to reduce the decorations and leave some Christmas ornaments in storage this year. I take her advice seriously and will consider it carefully. Hmmm, decor and design are great fun for me and not a burden. The Project staff gets the boxes, trees, and lights and returns them to storage. (Last year, moving in a few days before Christmas was the exception!)

The morning at IES Bandung is a pleasure, as always. Meeting Family, hearing the scriptures, and Shibli's encouraging talk provide a welcome beginning to the week.

Afterward, Tota and Joanita take a group, including us, for Japanese food. So good.

And Chandra drops off Titik's beautiful Sunday arrangement.

We plan a restful afternoon, while a group of young adults hangs out on the Porch. With the addition of Epsom salts, my bathwater turns a nasty green. I read my book in the tub anyway, showering off whatever was growing beside me.

Monday
What a pleasure to wake up to this on the serving counter.

I make lunch for the yard guys, who weed and clean up in the morning and shift heavy logs from the back to the front of the property in the afternoon.

Three guys can barely lift the heavy wood. They roll them across the yard instead. Even so, they're exhausted by the time the wood is in place.

W is doing financial reports. I'm so thankful I don't have to keep track of expenses and income. Then he and PakG pick up white secondhand shelves for the entry. IbuS dusts them off. I'm not convinced they belong there. We'll see if they make good shoe racks for movie night and other events.

While the guys are gone, I bake another loaf of bread. There's no measuring, no recipe, and the work is quick. W has eaten only half the breakfast porridge (seeds, oatmeal, and nuts) so I toss the rest into the dough. I do a few shake-and-folds as the bread rises. There's too much dough for the small breadpan so I pull off 4 pieces for breadbuns. By lunchtime, they're done, still hot as they accompany homemade soup.

Mud and leaves block the drains a street up from ours. This happens when they're not cleaned regularly, even in dry season. During the rainy season, garbage and detritus wash into every crevice.

The gap between the new concrete blocks at our place is worrying. "It takes 10 guys to lift the grate," W notes. The cleanup underneath won't be easy if they don't make a smooth channel.

Then a city crew shows up and spends the day digging, cementing, and sloping the drain.

We walk out to an early supper and get this "welcome home" at the gate.

Oh no - the hedge is leaning out further after mid-afternoon rains. It's as dark as dusk at 2PM and then sunny for an hour or two. The owner promises to send over his yardman; with every rain, the hedge leans out more. "I hope it doesn't fall before he comes," says PakG, avoiding walking under it.

Tuesday
What a beautiful sunny morning. The clatter of drills and picks from the front gutter echoes through the neighborhood. One by one, iron grates are set in place. The road is extended to their edges to provide a solid parking strip. 

Today's excitement at the Project? The stinky horse poop that was destined for the flowerbeds? Not going to happen.

"Give it 2 weeks to finish curing," said the stablehand. The 50 kg (120 lb) bags have already sat in the yard for 5 weeks. (Burning the plants with "hot" manure is not a good option.) Looks like they have 2 more weeks to go.

Instead, the guys are building a barrier to prevent Anton and Juno from destroying the flowerbeds. Those dogs have no regard for plants, tearing through the borders or digging for rodents. The yardman orders 4-meter (17') bamboo. W and I are curious how they'll make a fence from the long bamboo canes.

PakD cuts the bamboo into 1m (36") lengths and the uprights into 60cm (24") lengths. Then he splits the short lengths into 6 pieces and starts building the sections.

The border goes from open and trampled to getting the first support posts.

Either the men have done this before or they've seen someone do it! They ask if they can stain the fence to make it last longer. W happens to have fresh wood stain on hand, from a windowsill repair last week. 

The ladder that broke (with someone on it) chipped the windowsill. That was repaired. The impact - or the man's hard sweeping across the roof - also broke a tile. We find out when the ceiling in the bathroom spouts a water stain.

Someone else climbs a bigger ladder to replace the tile but his adjustment has water pouring down the wall during the next rain. More trial and error in the works... Meanwhile, the tall we-almost-chopped-it-down because-the-leaves-look-weedy shrub has burst into bloom for the second time this year. The flowers last one day. With many buds, it blooms abundantly for a few weeks.

I write some book reviews and read an upcoming collection of poems by Deborah Garrison: I was a First Alto in the 1980s. If you grew up then, you'll enjoy her poetic memories as much as I did.

The helpers start baking thousands of Christmas cookies. Many will be eaten long before then. I show them how to make bread buns, bake a dozen, make lunch, and cheer on W, who is working in the pool.

By evening, W and I have eaten a few of the chocolate chip cookies have been eaten and some has been given away. The rest are stowed in the freezer. I throw together vegetables, broth, and dried gnocchi that is 2 years beyond the expiry date. Not bad. We finish the homemade crackers, too.

The dogs show up at the back door for their own evening treat.

The battery-powered candles glow in the entry as night falls and the Project is put to bed. I negotiate the purchase of commercial shelving from someone who needs to sell it to someone who needs the sturdy storage. Everything is about connections.

Wednesday
When the sun comes out, the solar fountains in the old plant pots chortle at full capacity. I contact a dear friend. We chat until W calls me outside to check what the workers are doing. Men typically don't like instructions or questions from women, so I avoid such conversations whenever possible. In recovery, W often passes those interactions to me. But I know the guys don't like it.

The house and yard are full of life. Inside, someone is cooking lunch for the workers and doing laundry. A doctoral student is hard at work upstairs. The leaning hedge along the driveway is trimmed and pulled back to the wall by the owner's crew. Our yardman splits more bamboo for the garden border. Boundaries are set and repaired.

Read more:

* But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as never to forget the things that your eyes have seen. Deuteronomy 4:9

* If you seek him, he will be found by you. 2 Chronicles 15:2

* A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:2-3

* The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” John 4:25-26

* Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:18

Moravian Prayer: O God, you reveal yourself to all who seek you. Open our hearts to your presence, that we may recognize your voice and proclaim your truth. Fill us with your spirit, that we may follow the anointed one with faith and joy. 

Lord, we thank you for the wonders we have seen and the ways you’ve revealed yourself to us. Help us to always remember your faithfulness and proclaim the truth of your resurrection, sharing the joy of seeing the Lord with all we meet. Amen.

Putting things in place again

Thursday, October 1, 2026
It's almost dark at 4PM. W and I are ready to rest after resetting the house after Games Night. The Project is a calm, quiet space when we don't have guests. 

The rooster I bought at the meat counter goes into the crockpot, beady eyes and all. The temperature is set on low to cook overnight. The meat will be frozen. All parts - including what we won't eat - flavour the broth. Tomorrow they'll be tossed to the dogs - they'll love it.

We're happy to relax over an early supper. The stretch-and-fold bread dough is easy. The wet dough requires no kneading. I estimate the measurements; how much do I need to fill a small loaf pan?

Stir together in a bowl:

• 3 parts flour stirred with 1 tsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp salt.
• Add 2 parts warm water and stir until a wet dough forms. (No need to get all the lumps out.)
• Cover with a towel or plastic wrap for at least 15 minutes.
  
  

Throughout the day, when you pass the kitchen counter, wet your hand, then:

• Pull up a quarter of the dough, flap it around, and lay it back into the middle of the bowl. Rotate the bowl a quarter-turn, doing a stretch-and-fold on each quarter.
• Cover it up, forget about it for 15 minutes to 2 hours, and repeat. It rises after each shake. (Make sure your hands are freshly washed and rinsed! so you don't transfer tastes to the dough.)
• Shake-and-fold 3 or 4 times, covering after each.
• Transfer the dough to an oiled loaf pan. Cover it again.
• Let it rise +30 minutes until doubled, and bake it at 425oF / 220oC for 30-35 minutes.
  

The recipe says to bake until it sounds hollow when tapped. Since my hottest oven maxes out at 350oF / 180oC,  I leave the bread in the oven for an hour.

• Cool it on a rack for at least 30 minutes.

Delicious. We slather the warm bread with Fix & Fogg ChocoNut Butter. Essentially, it's peanut butter with chocolate = dessert-like goodness. (Thanks, Lisa, for bringing the NZ treat to our house!)

Before 6PM, the security lights click on. We close the windows and draw the curtains.

Friday
The Project is resting as staff has other obligations. One is attending the circumcision of a child in her family. I'm up much of the night, wondering how to fit all the obligations into the coming day. Finally, reluctantly, I eliminate the women's walk that would take me away from 7 AM to noon. I simply don't have time.

W and I walk the dogs. They're ready to go and wait at the door while we pull on shoes.  Bruno's gait is steady until the last two blocks when his feet start to hurt. We put Paw Balm on his footpads when we get home.

Government workers are widening the drainage channel by our fence. The ditch catches the runoff from two directions since we live at a crossroad. Water jetting down the hill and surging across the street in front of the Project can overwhelm the current system.

There's always something in bloom. This tall tree is vibrantly purple.

A recent priority for the city government is to remove the little vendor stalls that have been built on public property. They narrow roads, while customers jut into traffic and slow everything down. This shelter has been a simple rest stop. It's empty at 6AM, but later in the day will be buzzing with drivers of private cars and on-call taxis. The lady who sells ramen and drinks will be missed; she also keeps the intersection swept and cleared of garbage.

"I wonder if the good fruit vendor is still at the roundabout," W says. No. It's gone. Yesterday the bulldozers demolished it and similar pop-ups. "Borrowing" space along the roads is illegal, but the rule hasn't been enforced since we've been here (+12 years).

Shop owners scramble to get their goods out of the way. In one day, their livelihood and everything they've built are in ruins. Where will sellers and vendors relocate their businesses, especially in overcrowded neighborhoods? 

Where will neighbors go for the goods and services these small vendors offered?  It's not only the fruit and food sellers who disappear. It's the expert mechanic everyone goes to for a tune-up or fixing flat tires. Gone is the welder who makes gates and repairs tables. The little coffee and ramen carts move here and there, avoiding a shutdown. [We find out Sunday from friends that portable vendors are ok; the permanent structures are being dismantled.]

Friends and partners have requested updates and videos. We put that off for a month until W could speak more clearly. We film one-off rough takes in the backyard, add photos for others to edit in, and send them off. One by one, the checklist gets shorter.

We make a quick trip to the grocer. Overnight, the chicken broth has cooked. I freeze several bags and cube trays before refilling the slow cooker with drinking water and new spices for a second round. It cooks all day. I try some stretch-and-fold rolls. It requires a casual walk-by lift and cover several times in the morning. I bake them in time for supper, as a side to the chicken soup.  

Some dog-baby gates arrive, thanks to Kel. As we open the package, Bruno walks away and lies down with his face away. "No more gates for me," he may be thinking. He's learning to roam the big Project yard with the rest of the pack.

W figures out how to put the gates together, and indulges me with a short walk before dark. No dogs come along because we're walking through a narrow neighborhood lane lined with a plethora of cats.

The orchid sent in August is still stunning on the Porch dining table. The other orchids gifted to us months ago are on their second bloom.

I'm less excited about the weeds seeding in the laundry courtyard and send a heads up to the helpers to clear them out.

Saturday
A long stream of children and moms show up at 1PM, before any volunteers arrive. "What's going on? Their normal time is 2- 4 PM," I text to the group leader.

"Oh, we have a parent meeting in the conference room first," he tells me. The parents disappear into the room but someone looks after the kids (not me!). It's noisy fun as they run off their energy.

We're fine with that, but please let us know in advance when you change plans for 115 kids. There are more parents today, maybe 30 or 40 who are not learners. To compound the surprise, PakG takes off to a parent-teacher meeting for his own children before the sessions start. Daniel swings by for a Porch talk. 

We notice that Bruno can't see past his facial fringe. The little mop of hair on his nose has grown in the week he's been here. He can hardly see past it. (This was when he came, 1 1/2 weeks ago - poodle hair grows quickly.)

I clip it and suddenly he's more alert. Maybe it's like removing a veil from the eyes.

He barely looks up, relaxing in the backyard with kids shouting on the other side of the carport wall. The other dogs are out cold; they pay no attention as I walk by.

Most of the volunteers are students who love dogs. When they're done with the kids, the dog pack gets immersive socialization. It's good for them all to be petted, hugged, and shouted at by happy people. It's a whole new world for Bruno, who essentially lived in a big room with another dog and a few adults around. He happily accepts the love. 

Even Bailey, the small deaf poodle, enjoys the attention. "He's too old for walks," PakG told us yesterday. He had to be carried home on the second half of a slow walk. No worries, he can go around the Project yard at his own pace.

At 5, Eki, Lyong, and their dates drop in for cookies and a chat. It's wonderful when young people from years ago come back to visit. They've matured, are working adults, and have made progress toward setting up their own families.

Sunday

The roar of machinery at 2 and 3AM is strange. When we go for a walk, we see that the street drains are partly filled with concrete blocks to line the channel. Who was sent by the city at that hour? They leave a big gap between blocks, filled in by rocks. Hopefully they make one smooth path - otherwise the sticks, leaves, mud, and garbage will snag and clog the drain in no time. 

The 10K Padma Run starts at 5AM. Runners are beginning to cross the finish line as we walk by at 6.

The dogs accept the runners who pose for selfies with them. They ignore the squeals of "oh they're so cute!" and the foot traffic. There's no hesitation or flinching. Bruno watches the others and accepts it all as his due.

Read more:
* You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again. Psalm 71:20

* Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, 
you his servants, the descendants of Israel, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 1 Chronicles 16:8-14

* The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial. 2 Peter 2:9

Moravian Prayer: Saving God, we thank you for rescuing us. You save us from the troubles and trials that surround us each and every day. You even save us from ourselves and from our sins. May we continue to find in you peace and rest for our souls. Amen.