50 Years Ago: Apollo 8 to the Moon

As a youngster I had been an enthusiastic fan of the American space program, especially in the early Project Mercury years.  These feats were heroic and dramatic, and I followed them eagerly.  I lost track of its progress during the Gemini phase and the early Apollo, because I was a coming-of-age teenager and had a lot of stuff on my mind, such as girls, Rock n Roll, and an addiction to reading.  So it was a surprise when I heard about Apollo 8 much, much later.

Because fifty years ago today I was towards the end of my Marine Corps recruit training at Parris Island, SC.  USMC Boot Camp had been intense, and we had not had any news of the outside world for months.  No radio, TV, newspapers, etc.  Nothing. 

We had finished our basic recruit training then we did the intensive two weeks of rifle science and firing on the Rifle Range.  We had only a Command Inspection and a spell doing mess-hall duty before we were to be graduated as Marines and sent on to Camp Geiger, NC for Infantry Training Regiment. 

A half-century ago on this night we were marching back to the barracks very late after midnight after a very long day working at the Mess Hall getting ready for Christmas dinner tomorrow.  We marched in step but more relaxed, under a bright moon.  The Senior Drill Instructor, whom we obeyed on instant reflex, gave us a puzzling marching command.  Instead of “Eyes Right”, etc., he said “Eyes Up!  Platoon!  Look up at the Moon.” 

Confused, we looked up and saw the bright Moon above.  The Senior DI said:  “Be proud.  Three Americans are orbiting around the Moon right now.” 

I was dumbfounded.  What the Hell?  We had no word of the space program for a long time or any hint of this Apollo mission.  All we could think is that this took real balls. 

They strapped three astronauts unto the top of a massively huge ballistic missile and then lit it and rocketed them up out of Earth’s gravity-well and then around the Moon.  The Apollo 8 crew did 10 orbits then returned to Earth.  What a ride!  In the annals of exploration, this was one of the most audacious voyages of the modern era.  I’m still in awe. 

-Zenwind. 

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Loi Krathong 2561 BE/ 2018 CE

The Full Moon of November is the festival of Loi Krathong, where folks float little baskets on the rivers and waterways which are lit with a candle.  It is a family affair and children are a big part of it.  It heralds the end of the Rainy Season and (supposedly) the start of the drier Cool Season (although I’m still sweating my farang ass off in the still-lingering humidity!). 

During this last week along the street to the river they have been building rides for children, booths for selling loads of carnival stuff, and a stage at the river for a band with tables for revelers.  (During the political riots of 2010 and the Great Flood of 2011 this festival was locally absent; but now it’s back to normal and thriving.) 

This year I chose not to go out into the neighborhood under the moonlight.  The crowds are just too packed for my tastes, too many slow-moving crowded sidewalks with small kids.  The bands are not to my taste either, and it’s impossible to find a spot in which to view them anymore.  In the past I could view the band from the bridge, but the crowds are too dense now. 

So I watch the Full Moon in private, absorbing its tranquility. 

-Zenwind. 

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US Marine Corps Birthday 2018

The US Marine Corps celebrates its birthday on 10 November.  On this date in 1775 John Adams proposed, and the Second Continental Congress approved, the formation of two battalions of Continental Marines.  Appropriately, the first recruiting locale was a tavern, Tun Tavern in Philadelphia.  The rest is history. 

Fifty years ago today, I was in my first week of Marine Corps Boot Camp, a Hell I had been warned about but could never even imagine how horrendously cruel it would be.  (I wrote a bit more about that time HERE.)

It was the first chapter in the true overall Marine experience, summed up as: 

“And when he gets to Heaven,

To Saint Peter he will tell:

‘One more Marine reporting, Sir.

I’ve served my time in Hell’.” 

-Zenwind. 

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Seasonal Changes

I am aware that the seasons in my original home town area of NW Pennsylvania are in radical change right now, and I miss those changes, the sights and smells and the feel of the air.  As October matures and the leaves change color and then drop completely by Halloween, the ancient Seasonal Turn comes about when pastures no longer grow and one must have already filled the barns with fodder for livestock which must last until the greening of May. 

The seasonal turn in the north temperate zones – when pasture grass and green leaves come around once more after May Day/Beltane, and then half a year later the green world dies again at Halloween/Samhain – this is an ancient timetable more basic and earthy than solstices and equinoxes. 

Here in Thailand we are also about to experience an important seasonal change, that of the end of the Rainy Monsoon season and the beginning of the general Dry Season which includes the shorter Cool Season.  By this coming mid-week (Halloween) the dew point is forecasted to be much lower and far more comfortable than anything we have seen for many months.  I expect to see some stars in the night sky again.  (For so many months, I have only seen a star a couple of times a month and the Moon only a bit more often.) 

I’m looking forward to not packing an umbrella every time I go out, to walk even short distances without being drenched in sweat, and to turn off the a/c at home for long periods of time. 

-Zenwind. 

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New Immigration Office

Today I did my obligatory in-person 90-Day Report of my current Thai address (although it has not changed in 12 years).  The new aspect of this routine is that my province’s Immigration Office has just moved to a new location.  It is more spacious with enough seats, is much closer to home and easier to get to, and has much better access to taxis for getting back.  I like it.  (So far.) 

The last provincial immigration office – which had opened within the last 10 years or so – was located far to the north and way out in the boonies amongst rice fields with no taxi traffic, so I would have to pay a taxi driver to stay to take me back.  This meant the driver would have to wait anywhere from a half hour to three hours.  I hated that aspect of it, but I admit I did like the country scenery of the trip.  That building was rather new and was air conditioned, but all immigration business was done in just one room, so there were many times when I could not get a seat and had to stand for an hour or more, packed shoulder to shoulder like a sardine.  Nightmare. 

But the immigration office I went to in my first few years here was even more of a terrible nightmare.  It was in an old area of Bangkok, and the building had no air conditioning and was absurdly crowded.  The smell of fellow aliens offended even me!  Tuk often went with me in those days – and she still always does for the major annual April visa extension – and we would celebrate finally getting our dread business done by going to The Hard Rock Café for lunch.  We are glad that first office is behind us, although we do miss The Hard Rock Cafe. 

This new office promises to make immigration ordeals more bearable.  (We hope.) 

-Zenwind.
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Monitor Lizard on the Prowl

Showering after a very long Sunday midday march in the neighborhood and after some protein recovery intake, with a big mug of iced beer in hand I took advantage of a lull in the rain to sit out on the downstairs courtyard stoop to give some time and attention to Fat Cat, our adopted outdoor cat.  (She cannot come inside since she attacks Pinky, our long-time indoor cat, so she has to rough out a lonely life outside that we try to solace with regular food and with as much attention as possible.) 

As I sit, Fat Cat parades back and forth next to me, relishing the petting and talk I give her.  Suddenly she stops mid-stride and looks intensely down the narrow courtyard.  I follow her gaze and see a Monitor Lizard ambling up to our end of the courtyard from the direction of the drainage ditch. 

This monitor was not the biggest I’ve seen, probably being an adolescent, but they are always still a sight to see – like a dinosaur in your immediate presence in the 21^st century.  Its nose-to-tail length was more than a yard, and nose-to-butt was over a cubit (18 inches).  It was slender with long legs and huge claws.  Tongue repeatedly lashing out to smell for the food that is often left out for cats, it patrolled around the courtyard areas where food is often found.  It came within five feet of us, well aware of us and not afraid.  Fat Cat was only marginally afraid, staying close to me but just watching with wary fascination.  I got a chance to study its eyes as it ambled about very near us, and it was eerie.  It never let up its awareness of me – implacable reptilian gaze. 

These lizards are amazing.  Each and every one I’ve seen is uniquely different.  I believe it is true what I’ve heard said from people who know these monitor lizards well:  that each one has a unique personality – like cats or dogs. 

Monitors are often called “reptilian cats” because of their intelligence and cunning as predators, and for their speed and strength.  Years ago we finally figured out the mystery of the periodic disappearance of three kittens when the fourth of the litter was found dead.  An adult monitor had methodically hunted down and eaten three half-grown kittens over a period of several weeks.  The fourth was not eaten because it was too big at the shoulders to be swallowed – it was old enough to be neutered – but we found him dead with his head and neck slathered in saliva.  The monitor had grabbed him by the head, probably broke his neck, and then tried to swallow him before giving up.  Imagine a reptile that is able to ambush a cat! 

Today the monitor looked straight at me, five feet away, and seemed to consider moving closer.  Cat food had often been left close to the stoop I was sitting on, so it had that in mind.  Its narrow head was turned straight toward me so that both its eyes had me in focus.  Fat Cat was beside me, a bit behind, not taking her eyes off the beast.  I simply extended my hands slowly, forward and wide to the sides with palms out.  The lizard got it and slowly turned and ambled away, nonchalantly sniffing other places and eventually climbing up a vertical pile of wood and debris with amazing ease. 

I usually have my mobile in my pocket at all times, but at this moment just out of the shower I didn’t have it at hand.  I really regret that because I could have filmed this extended exotic encounter at close range.  The lizard was not shy or eager to run away, and I could have recorded that haunting yellow dinosaurian eye that regarded me without fear and with seeming equanimity. 

-Zenwind. 

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Asalha Puja, Monsoon Season

Asalha Puja, the major Buddhist observance during this last Full Moon, is a big deal in Thailand, an extended public holiday. 

It is a celebration of the Buddha’s First Discourse after his Awakening.  He teaches his five old fellow ascetics who had formerly practiced with him in extreme renunciation and hardship.  Buddha declared the Middle Way between the extremes of self-mortification and gluttony, and he taught the practical way to enlightenment:  the Four “Noble Truths” and the Eightfold “Noble” Path. 

Stephen Batchelor has reanalyzed the Four “truths” in his Secular Buddhism project, emphasizing them as tasks to be practiced rather than truths to be believed as dogma.  After 50 years with Buddhism, this key discourse finally makes sense to me and integrates well with what I’ve always practiced as a heretical Dharma Bum. 

The day after Asalha Puja also marks the start of the Rains Retreat in Theravada lands, when monks stay close to their home temples for three months until the Rainy Season ends.  The monsoons blowing in from the Indian Ocean dump a lot of water on us this time of year. 

-Zenwind.
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Frantically Reading

I am hopelessly behind in my huge volume of correspondence.  Can’t keep up with writing emails to friends and family. This is because I am trying to read as many of this year’s Prometheus Award nominees as possible before the voting deadline of July 4. 

As a voting member of the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), I now realize that next year I will have to start reading the nominated novels immediately after they are announced at the first of the year.  Some of them are very long works, and some are sequels to previous novels that I haven’t yet read. 

The Prometheus Award goes to the best Science Fiction novel with libertarian themes published in the last year.  The Prometheus Hall of Fame Award goes to older works including short stories.  (Because I find the Hall of Fame nominated works hard to acquire, I rarely vote on this category.) 

Of the novels I’ve read so far, my first choice vote will go to Powers of the Earth (2017) by Travis Corcoran, first of a series.  Powerful stuff.  Also good reads getting my secondary ratings are Darkship Revenge (2017) by Sarah Hoyt and Artemis (2017) by Andy Weir (also author of The Martian (2011) which was made into a fine 2015 film). 

Gotta go.  So much to read – so little time.  

-Zenwind.

June's Monsoons

It is officially the Rainy Monsoon Season, although we had a lot of rain earlier in the normally drier Hot Season of March-April-May.  (There is worry that the dams/reservoirs up-country are dangerously brimming full with water and that predicted heavy rains in September-October threaten us with floods down here.  Government mismanagement and stupidity.  If we get flooded again, I will be pissed.) 

I got caught in one hell of a rainstorm a week ago while out in the neighborhood.  I had a small compact umbrella in my pack, but it was not nearly enough protection when the heavy gusty rain hit.  I came home drenched.  I now pack a rain-cover designed for daypacks, and if it looks like the rain may be heavy then I tote a bigger umbrella.  But the rains are deliciously cooling, if only temporarily. 

For the last week the weather reports call for thunderstorms, but weather is not an exact science.  Each day with predicted rain has had mostly sunny and breezy weather, perfect for drying clothes outside.  One still must have an umbrella handy when venturing out, because a thunderstorm can come quick without warning. 

In other news, I have been reading a lot but not writing enough.  I have many book review drafts yet unfinished.  My first priority is exercising, so I often spend the most productive part of the day out sweating in the intense heat.  Feel the burn!  I hope to post reviews on Zenwind soon. 

-Zenwind.
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Beltane 2018

It is Beltane in the northern temperate zone, with the full-blooming of May ready to explode into full Spring.  A landmark time of year up north.  I miss its radical changes.  

A few days ago we completed our annual Immigration Bureau Nightmare.  Every late April I must appeal for an Extension of Stay due to Retirement, with extensive bank guarantees of having a bit of money at hand (to prove I’m not a complete bum) as well as new requirements about proof of residence in the Kingdom from the “House Master” (owner of the house, my father-in-law) of the address I live at.  They hit us with new surprises every year (I think they like fucking with us), and it’s always a stressful ordeal.  After a full morning of tension from being at the mercy of these bureaucrats, right up to the last minute, I finally got permission to stay for another year.  Although it’s been several days since this ordeal and its lead-up, I am still feeling effects of its extreme stress and tension, with sleeplessness and now quite debilitating physical pain knocking me out.  Relax – heal, and psych up for next year. 

We’ve had unusual rains for this time of year that have tempered the usual horrible heat a little bit.  It is still humid, but if the sun is clouded over it is somewhat of a relief.  I ventured out for a long walk today, but the clouds parted and the sun boiled me.  I returned drenched in sweat. 

Please take note:  I have made major changes to my personal communication routines, because I’ve been trying to increase the battery life of my phone and tablet, which are my main devices.  (I am sick and tired of always replacing worn-out devices.)  Therefore, I have deleted the social media apps that notoriously devour battery life, even when they are only downloaded to the device and only running in the background and rarely ever used.  The main culprits here are LINE, Facebook and Facebook Messenger.  To me, they are always mainly “chat” apps, and I’ve always hated chat format because I am more of an email or SMS text guy.  (Slow and deliberate with time for delayed thought and response.) 

LINE has long been the premier social media app here in Southeast and East Asia, one that allows all sorts of calls, etc, for free over an internet connection such as WiFi.  All Thais and farangs here that I know use LINE.  Facebook Messenger has copied this exactly and has recently been a big hit in America.  But, since I don’t use them much at all, they are a waste in that they deplete my batteries by running continuously in the background.  And I don’t like their intrusiveness into my privacy. 

Asian friends and family members are pissed at me for deleting LINE from my mobile devices.  I think the same goes for my Western friends that use Facebook and FB Messenger.  But I don’t like these platforms.  (I’m not sure but I may have FB Messenger access still on my old laptop, which I rarely use, but I think my access to my LINE account is lost even there.)  To contact me, use my email address or use SMS text messages to my phone number. 

My current personal task is to balance my reading/ writing projects with my exercise routines.  I am behind on all fronts.  I did complete my Zenwind review of Ready Player One – which unfortunately required that I sit around too much.  I urgently need to exercise much more, or else I decay.  I’m currently reading a very intriguing biography of a controversial contemporary, and I’m taking careful notes in case I want to review it later.  Reading and writing are addictions, so I must counter that by getting out and about much more. 

Find the balance.  Aristotle’s Golden Mean.  The Buddha's Middle Way.  

-Zenwind. 

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Songkran 2561 BE /2018 CE

Songkran is going strong, and it ain’t over yet.  It is the biggest holiday of the year.  Technically, it is a three-day festival starting on 13 April, the traditional Thai New Year, but since two of the days fell on the weekend this year they have extended the holiday to include Thursday the 12^th and Monday the 16^th, making it a five-day weekend.  Bangkok sees a mass exodus as people head up-country to be with relatives in the provinces, as well as folks flying out of the country to many places.  The highway lanes heading north were jammed Thursday and Friday.  Our neighborhood is deserted. 

The roads are incredibly dangerous.  Thailand’s highways are recognized as the most dangerous in the world, with more fatalities per capita than anywhere else.  (Libya had been number one in this dubious distinction for years, but their civil war has eased a bit and thus many of their road deaths.)  TV news has coverage of the carnage, with dash-cam shots of accidents as they are happening as well as the aftermath wreckage. 

We also see TV coverage of the water-throwing in the city.  This tradition has evolved through the years.  Because it is the most uncomfortably hot and humid time of year, sprinkling of small amounts of water on the hands and/or head of elders was a gesture of respect.  Now it is a free-for-all.  Venturing outside may get you drenched.  In the farang and tourist parts of the city there are the most chaotic mass water fights, but even in our neighborhood one might anticipate getting wet. 

In the last several years I have seen a lot less water and have usually returned home dry from trips to the neighborhood store.  I never take my daypack at these times, and I put any valuables in Ziplocks.  Yesterday, the 13^th, I went to the store and passed two groups of kids with water hoses.  They looked at me but let me pass by without hosing me down.  Maybe they feel compassion for the old guy (or, Tuk suggests that I look menacing when I wear shades). 

Today I walked the same route.  The only water-throwers were some very young kids (with parents nearby) on the corner just outside our house.  The deserted sidewalks didn’t give them much action, and when I walked past them they didn’t dare to wet me with their squirt guns or bowls of water.  When I returned I stopped and said some of the few Thai words I know.  “Hello.”  Then I held out my hand and said, “Please, water.”  They carefully poured water on my hand, and I then wet the back of my neck with it.  Then I thanked them.  Smiles all around. 

We don’t go anywhere.  Tuk would rather spend her five days off at home.  Myself, I would like to go into the city to see some movies that will be discontinued soon and then catch a gig at the Rock Pub.  But I don’t want to get doused with water and then sit in a cold a/c venue like a theater or pub.  Also, the holiday highways scare me. 

The neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. 

-Zenwind.
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Hot Season 2018

Our “winter” Cool season was brief, and we are now into our Hot season.  Unbelievable humidity.  Heat Index over 100*F.  I think it is important to regularly get out into the heat so the body and mind stays conditioned to it, so today I did a four-and-a-half kilometer forced march in the noonday sun.  I try to do this two or three times a week.  I wear shorts, short-sleeved shirt, sport sandals, a sweatband, broad-brimmed hat, and shades.  I return drenched in sweat.  I then have some protein, stretch, shower, and then turn up the a/c. 

I am into week 5 of a re-started weight training program with my set of dumbbells.  The saying goes that this is that week when one feels “power”, and it is true.  I don’t work with weights that are that heavy, but, using them three times a week with adequate protein and rest, I feel the results and it feels good.  Walking my 4k neighborhood route today, I felt new spring in my step and felt like a healthy animal.  I am sleeping very well. 

But I haven’t been writing much, continuing the slump I’ve been in for a long time.  I have drafts of book and movie reviews that are barely started, as well as drafts of correspondence.  I definitely need a new laptop, but I keep putting off the purchase. 

Tuk said yesterday that at the end of April – after Songkran holiday and then our annual Immigration Office ordeal for my extension of stay – she would help me with getting air-conditioning in a second room, our third-floor one.  This would make a great study for me.  I have the money saved for it, but I need her to have time to navigate the purchasing of the unit and the supervision of the installation crew.  We need a very powerful a/c unit up there, because it is the top floor of our flat and has a flat roof directly above it that soaks up heat from the sun.  It is a hot room.  (Between you and me, I think Tuk wants me to have that room as a retreat because she thinks I turn the a/c far too low in the one room where we have it.  I turn it down while wearing only swim trunks and sitting directly under the a/c unit’s blower; she sits away from it and wears a fleece jacket!) 

Songkran festival is coming up, mid-April.  Hottest time of the year.  

-Zenwind. 

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Eve of Magha Puja

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Tomorrow is the Full Moon of Magha Puja, marking one of the Buddha's early speeches, distilling his main message:  "The non-doing of any evil; the doing of what is skillfull; the cleansing of one's own mind. This is the teaching of the Awakened."
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-Zenwind.

Burns Night 2018

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It is the 259th birthday of Robert Burns, the great Scottish poet.  Burns Night is celebrated in the dark of winter (either on his actual birthday or on a near weekend night).  Friends are gathered, favorite poetry is read (of Burns’ or of any other favorite poet), and toasts are raised.  A nice fire can take the chill off and give light to a cozy gathering. 

I am dusting off my book of Burns’ collected poems and will browse.  (I don’t have the winter chill here in Siam, but I relish that great northern tradition just the same.) 

Raise a glass to Mr. Burns!  To the spirit of great poetry. 

-Zenwind.

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