The Butterflies of December

 

For a moment, I had thought we were finally getting a white Christmas in the tropics.

It was ten years ago, in December 2011, right after the Great Flood of that year forced us to move up to the second-floor because our first-floor living quarters were knee-deep in floodwater. 

Although during the wintertime days I wear only swim trunks and flip-flops at home, I was still aware that it was the Christmas season.  Traditional western carols played in shopping malls, with holiday trees and Santa hats.  You cannot escape it, even here. 

After moving upstairs in 2011, one thing different – and really great – was that in this second-floor room we had a window!  I could see the Moon, when it was phased right, and also the trees and shrubs outside. 

One morning, I partially woke, and from my bed saw the tree outside.  Not having my glasses on, it was a bit fuzzy.  I saw specks of white fluttering over the tree, and assumed these were surely the first flakes of a coming snowstorm – which I’d formerly been quite accustomed to at this time of year.  I thought, “Ah, it’s snowing outside, and we’ll have a white Christmas!” 

But as I became more fully awake, I realized: “It doesn’t snow in Thailand.”  WTF?  I put on my glasses and focused.  Those specks of fluttering white were butterflies! 

I’m speculating here, but I think these particular white butterflies, with their sudden noticeable abundance, are seasonal migrants, flying down to our tropics from colder climes in northern Asia.  I never seem to notice them the rest of the year.  I started seeing them more again this November, and a few more as December matured.  Now, at Christmastide, I see a lot more of them. 

They are my Christmas ornaments. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Winter Solstice

 Here at 14* North Latitude, well into the tropics, our days and nights are almost at equal length, with only maybe 40 minutes difference between Winter Solstice and the Mid-Summer one in June. 

We had our usual one “cold” week of winter recently, comfortably cool like a fine day of summer in NW Pennsylvania.  Going for a walk is almost sweat-free.  Taking a shower, however, is brutal, especially if there is a north wind in my outdoor veranda shower.  It’s the one time of year I wish we had the option of hot water. 

This is my first full day home after a hospital visit to get a biopsy of my prostate.  (I will not know the results for a while yet.) 

I’d been having prostate problems for years, especially at night, and have had routine PSA testing done on my regular doctor appointments.  This month my PSA readings had risen, so I immediately got an MRI.  

Wow!  I had heard that an MRI can be noisy, but I was surprised at the loudness and the weirdness of it; it at times sounded like a construction site mixed with decadent Industrial Rock.  (And I thought acid trips were funky!)  I was instructed to be quite still, but I had all I could do to keep from breaking into laughter whenever a new bizarre series of sounds started.  

The MRI showed one small area that could be an infection – or something more ominous.  So, I opted to be aggressive and get a biopsy right away.  Yanhee International Hospital is one mile away, has an excellent reputation and staff, and I am well known there from many years of visits for anything from dental to foot care – and my paper file is over 3 inches thick! 

So, I was admitted to Yanhee on the solstice, Tuesday 21, endlessly tested, off to surgery, put under, operated on, and kept overnight for observation.  The food and medical attention were great.  The main bummer was being always hooked into an IV where they dripped liters of saline and a lot of antibiotics into me.  Because of this massive hydration (as well as my enlarged prostate), I had to piss constantly, and this meant endlessly dragging the IV stand with me on visits into the head.  I was glad when they finally unhooked me from that ball & chain. 

I feel great, and the doctor was pleased with everything so far.  I will visit him next week to find out the results.  I’m not worried.  Whatever will happen will happen.  It’s all Dukkha in the end, but we do get reprieves along the way, and, at 71, my life has been wonderful. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Loy Krathong

 

Loy Krathong, the November festival where people make little floats to launch out onto the river, was this last Full Moon, but it was a dud because of the Covid restrictions still in place.  Other years – except for the last two – vendors would set up for a week ahead of time, to sell food, toys, etc., and even rides for the kids down by the river.  It was always wall-to-wall people with a lot of families with kids.  Carnival fun, with a lot of lights. 

But people are afraid to be in crowds.  And our nearby river pier, the Rama 7 Bridge, is undergoing major re-construction, making it hard to access the river. 

And the Chao Praya River is incredibly high!  The runoff from the earlier heavy rains in the North is finally reaching us, and the high tides in the Gulf of Thailand are blocking the outflow here in the estuary.  We did not get flooded, but other locations along the river did. 

Not much news here.  Our family is now fully vaccinated, but we are careful.  Masks are mandated in all public places.  Bars and pubs, etc., are still closed, but restaurants can be open for limited hours. 

Thailand is slowly improving its vaccination rate, but it has a long way to go.  Two-thirds of Thais have had at least one jab, the same as the USA.  But Thailand is starting to slowly open up to foreign tourists again and will relax more restrictions in the next couple of months – and I fear this will cause another surge in infections. 

Since cinemas have again re-opened, I have continued to see a few films.  Most are not Oscar-worthy, but they are generally entertaining enough to be worth the two-dollar (senior discount rate) fee to sit in a comfortable a/c theater, most of which are almost empty on weekdays.  I love a diversity of films, so access to them again is a joy.  I combine a trip to the cinema with major food shopping. 

I’m not turning on my laptop much, thus not writing.  But I have been reading quite a variety of stuff, on Kindle and tablet. 

And I’ve been exercising more regularly since my aches and pains have slightly decreased – perhaps because of the end of the Rainy Season and the now steady high barometric pressure, as well as maintaining careful workouts that above all avoid training injuries.  I’m starting to feel stronger again.  For an old guy. 

- Zenwind. 

.

Fully Vaccinated!

Finally, I am fully vaccinated for Covid-19 – although this second shot will not be fully effective until two weeks from now when it does its work. 

I got the second dose of the Oxford Astra/Zeneca vaccine yesterday at the Bang Sue Grand Station.  The enormous venue was crowded, but not nearly as chaotic as 12 weeks ago when I got my first shot there.  It was well-organized, paperwork and shots were done quickly, and everyone was very helpful. 

Tuk’s parents only got their first shot recently (same vaccine at the same place), so their 12-week second dose will be in November.  We are still careful about virus hygiene, since they are quite old. 

Cinemas are open now, but pubs are closed, and there is still a curfew preventing any late nightlife.  A full re-opening of normal life has no predictable timetable yet.  Thailand’s vaccination rate has been dreadfully slow, but it is picking up.  

I often go a week at a time without turning on this laptop, thus I haven’t been writing anything (emails, etc.).  It is more comfortable to browse on my tablet and read books on my Kindle.  I have many emails stalled in drafts, and I must get to it, finish them, and get them sent out.  Apologies to my treasured correspondents. 

I have also been trying to get out exercising more, and my legs feel rather strong again.  Shopping for the foods I like has become more difficult, since there are often unpredictable supply shortages of favorite specialty foods.  Thus, I’m doing a lot of legwork hunting them down – not to mention long treks via train and taxi to the better supermarkets. 

My lifting has long been stalled because of back injuries, but I hope to get back into that soon. 

But my attitude remains serene.  A simple life is good. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Cinemas Open Again

 

Today, the first day of October, marked a long-awaited partial re-opening in the more extreme Covid-hit provinces, including Bangkok.  Bars and nightclubs are  still closed, but now movie theaters and gyms are finally open again. 

I, of course, had to be there for a first showing of one of the few movies now available.  Since there is still an early evening curfew enforced, I will not yet see multiple films while then coming home late.  I will view a film at midday, returning home before the dread rush hours. 

The nearest train station is the new MRT (mass rapid transit) only one mile away, and it is partially elevated (across the river) and then underground.  It connects with the elevated BTS (“Skytrain”) system that takes me to all points in the downtown city worth visiting. 

The great Chao Phraya River is really high, and there has been a lot of serious flooding upcountry, in the North and Northeast provinces.  Seasonal monsoon rains from the Indian Ocean have run into Pacific depressions, and a lot of rain has been dumped up-river.  I don’t anticipate disastrous flooding for us here, but one never knows. 

Of the films showing on this first day of the cinemas’ opening, I chose a less popular one, Reminiscence (2021), reasoning that it will not be available here as long as some of the more blockbuster ones.  This is a neo-noir, sf, thriller with a great cast, including Hugh Jackman, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis (a favorite actor of mine), and Rebecca Ferguson (whom I’m not familiar with).  It is post-apocalyptic, with hints of horrific wars in the recent past.  The sf element involves a future device that can retrieve a person’s memories, and Jackman’s character is a kind of private eye who specializes in this.  Newton, in a great supporting role, works with him. 

Reminiscence is a film I want to see again, preferably on DVD with subtitles, since the dialogue is mumbled and garbled, especially by the actress Ferguson.  This is a common sin of modern films, obscuring clarity by trying to be true to idiosyncratic dialects.  I do admit that dialect authenticity is of great value.  But if you want an audience to understand what the characters are saying – where the story is going – you must enunciate important dialogue clearly. 

It doesn’t have to be the perfect Shakespearean elocution of a Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but a director can certainly try to find a compromise between, 1. perfectly authentic dialect speech that only comes across as jabber to the many, and, 2. speech that is both rich in accent yet understandable to most English speakers.  The first will be hailed by a few purists.  The second will be appreciated and perhaps relished by a much wider audience. 

I am part of this wider audience, and I want movies whose dialogue I can understand. 

I plan on seeing many more movies in the next weeks, including the return of James Bond.  I never misunderstand the speech of Bond, James Bond.  

-Zenwind. 

.

Rain!

 

Rains – hard rains – are finally here.  This time of year is always the most intense of the Rainy Monsoon, and we’re getting it every day now.  But earlier in the year, the weather gurus predicted an unusually early and heavy Rainy Season, and yet that didn’t happen.  Drought instead.  Who can really predict the weather that well? 

On the Covid-19 front:  My parents-in-law have finally received their first Covid vaccinations.  Tuk’s brother recently took them to the big vax center at Bang Sue that I had gone to in late July. 

Plus, Thailand is at a couple of turning points, re: Covid.  After a serious surge in infections and deaths since April, the plague has (perhaps) reached a peak recently, with some downturn in cases and deaths.  So, the authorities are taking a risk and trying to relax some of the strict public Covid restrictions.  As of today, restaurants are allowed to have dine-in customers, at 50% seating capacity, although no alcohol is to be served.  Malls and department stores are now open again, with strict safety precautions.  Still closed are cinemas, gyms, bars, etc. 

Originally, only customers who have been fully vaccinated would have been allowed to enter restaurants and malls, but, since only 10% of Thai people fit this criterion so far – and the Thai economy has been severely strangled by the lockdowns – the authorities have dropped this requirement.  We expect a jump in infections from the increased social interactions, but most folks think it is high time to let loose a little bit. 

I have a haircut appointment for tomorrow, since barbershops have now re-opened, and a haircut is overdue and badly needed in this heat!  So, I will take public transit for the first time in a while to get to my longtime barber in the middle of the city.  Then, some shopping.

There have been political protests for some time in the city, but since I haven’t been traveling it hasn’t been on my radar much.  They are not as massive or destructive as the 2010 Red Shirt riots, and I haven’t been paying attention to the politics of these events as much.  I don’t expect them to affect my travel tomorrow. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Got a Jab!

 

I finally got a first vaccination shot of the Covid-19 vaccine!  It was the Oxford-Astra/Zeneca one.  My second jab is scheduled for mid-October.  It had not been easy getting it. 

I had been trying to pre-register for shots for a long, long time, through my doctor, through my wife’s efforts, and via English language Thai news venues.  But the vaccination programs for expats like me are chaotic, inept, and almost useless.  The US Embassy is no help (unlike the French and British ones). 

But there is a heroic British blogger, Richard Barrow, an expat English teacher living here, who’s Twitter alerts always give us valuable heads-up on numerous important matters through the years.  He pointed out a limited-time opportunity for expats my age to register appointments to a major vax center to get free jabs.  And, after many failed attempts, I finally got registered. 

It was at the Bang Sue Grand Station vax center, the one I visited on a recon a few weeks ago (as reported here on 3 July) to check out the possibility of my parents-in-law getting the vax.  (I concluded that it was far too crowded for them.) 

So, I went to the Grand Station for my registered appointment.  It is an incredibly enormous place, and when future train lines are completed, it will be the largest land transport hub in all of Southeast Asia.  There were not just hundreds of people there – there were thousands!  (Here at Bang Sue, they have been vaccinating 20,000 people a day; one million in two months!) 

Bewildered, I showed a Royal Thai cop my SMS appointment verification on my phone, and he graciously led me through hundreds of meters of zig-zagging paths through the crowds to the station I needed. 

We were herded into lines, standing and shuffling for an hour.  Social distancing rules were rather lax because of the huge crowds, which was quite alarming, but I reasoned that it might be worth it if I could get a jab.  (Does this look like a Super-Spreader event to you?)  It was very well organized under the circumstances, and the volunteer workers tried to keep us moving and as separated as possible.  Air circulation in the vast Grand Station seemed to be extremely good. 

We finally got to the paperwork processing area and were shown to seats, spaced out in rows.  As someone finished their paperwork at a station, everyone moved up a seat closer.  (An older Indian gentleman in front of me coughed quite a bit, and folks in the lines of seats on either side looked over to him in alarm; I soon got up and relinquished my spot in the seating que in order to get away from the herd.) 

After walking around, with a restroom break, I came back to the processing area and found a vacant spot, as it was late in the day and crowds were starting to thin.  The young lady there didn’t speak English well, but she processed my passport and address info.  She had called in someone who spoke enough English to help direct me from there.  I went to a jab station and got the Astra/Zeneca dose, then did the 30-minute observation wait to make sure I had no bad reactions.  The Thai staff and volunteers were extraordinary in the assistance they provided.  

Then I took the (practically empty) public transit back home.  Feeling very good about finally getting the vaccine.  I had no after-effects, not even a sore arm. 

Steps from here?  I could take the second Astra/Zeneca jab scheduled for mid-October.  Or, I could take the first Moderna jab that Tuk registered for all four of us (and paid for) in October – if it arrives as promised.  The word now is that mixing different vaccines often has better results.  I will ask my doctor when I routinely see him in September and figure out the best course from there. 

Tuk needs the Moderna (in October) as a booster, since the Sinovac jabs she got earlier will lose effectiveness at 50% every 40 days.  Her parents, in their late 80s, need any vaccines they can get, and we haven’t been able to get them a vax.  So, it’s not over yet. 

Meanwhile, the Covid crisis here in Thailand is worse than ever, escalating.  We are still officially at “near-lockdown”, as we can only venture out to buy food and medicine.  Otherwise, the streets are eerily empty. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Serious Covid Surges & Restrictions

Bangkok and major provinces surrounding it (such as mine) are now experiencing real pandemic deep shit.  The Covid-19 virus – and especially its Delta variant – is surging, with record numbers of infections and deaths here.  Vastly more than all of 2020’s casualties combined.  It’s bad.  And the vaccination programs here are scandalously slow, ill-conceived and uniformly bungled up – a total embarrassment. 

From this weekend, we are under a curfew: from about 20:00 hours (8pm) to 04:00, and people must stay home unless for absolute emergencies.  Supermarkets and neighborhood convenience stores are by necessity open, but they have more restricted hours, so I am able to get to them for food, either by taxi (in the case of supermarkets) or by trekking on foot to the local neighborhood stores to fill my backpack.  All malls are closed except for their pharmacies, supermarkets, electronic-communications stores, and take-out services from restaurants.  Most everything must close at 20:00 hours.   

But if the government tries to outlaw the total purchase of alcohol – like they did for ten days in the April 2020 lockdown – I fear there will be a revolution, because folks here are really pissed. 

As for my own chances of getting vaccinated soon:  not good.  It is an absurdly incompetent roll-out.  The Thai government is offering free Covid vaccinations – mostly the Chinese vaccines, which no one has much confidence in – but they are so limited in supply that they are gone in an instant.  These and other, more respected, vaccines are promised with numerous websites dedicated to pre-registering for them, but the websites freeze up due to incredibly heavy demand, and pre-register slots are gone immediately.  Then there was the special government-run website for expats’ vaccinations, which was quickly hacked, with registered participants’ data leaked.  Bungle in the jungle.  Again.

Tuk has tried to register her parents and I for Moderna vaccine when it will be (hopefully) available in October at a private hospital for a fee.  She wants an additional jab of this for herself, since she only had the Chinese Sinovac jabs.  She apparently got us registered and paid for – yet I think the hospital registered more shots than they are scheduled to receive.  We’ll see. 

In more upbeat news, the Rainy Season has clouded the skies more, and, even though it is still hot and humid, there is not as much constant sun to fry us as there was in the March-May Hot Season.  The rain and more frequent breezes are refreshing. 

And I am grateful to Amazon for creating their Kindle and providing opportunities to download eBooks easily, books I would otherwise be unable to find.  And Netflix lets me see movies I originally missed and cannot otherwise find (although their movie selection here is not as wide as in the USA).  Spotify lets me find any music I could possibly want to search for, and they help me explore new music.  In the balance: Life is Good. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Covid Devastation

 

The Covid-19 pandemic is seriously disrupting life here in Thailand since April’s Third Wave has ballooned.  We are not in complete “lockdown” (yet), but we are very restricted, especially in the bigger city areas like here in greater Bangkok.  Since my last two posts here (in May and June), restaurants are now prohibited from having any dine-in service and can only offer take-out.  Cinemas and pubs are still closed, of course.  The government’s unpredictably sudden changes of policy are angering a lot of Thai people.  But especially frustrating is the slow availability of vaccines after being promised great things on this front. 

Covid deaths (the officially counted ones) in Thailand so far are now around 2,000, most of these during this Third Wave.  This is a massive jump since last year.  It is shocking, since we had a very good record during all of 2020. 

Vaccines are used up much faster than the demand for them.  They are rationed out, I think appropriately, first to front-line health workers.  (Taxi drivers were later given opportunities to get them, which relieves me since I have to travel by taxi a couple of times a week.)  Institutions with a bit of clout get their people jabbed.  Tuk is a manager in an important state enterprise, and she is now fully vaccinated. 

As for my own chances of getting jabbed, well, probably not soon.  There are vaccination programs set up, many that also include foreigners, with online registration procedures that are most often incomprehensible and impossible to function.  My doctor told me to have Tuk call a hospital that would give me the jab right away, but when she called, they told her they would not.  Other hospitals and vaccination centers have similar glitches.  (TIT, i.e., “This Is Thailand”.) 

Older folks are more vulnerable to Covid, so Thailand is trying to vaccinate them soon.  They had previously set up a major vac center at the huge Bang Sue Grand Station (not terribly far from us), and for the first part of July they are allowing Thai citizens aged 75 and over to have “walk-in” priority without registration appointments.  My parents-in-law are aged around 90 and 88, and I want them vaccinated soon. 

Since this vac site is on a public transit route I know well, I did a recon last week to see how feasible it would be to take the parents there.  The Bang Sue Grand Station is new and not finished, but it will be the biggest transport hub in Southeast Asia, connecting numerous transport lines, thus, it is monstrous huge. 

I rambled around and found how to get from the subway to the Grand Station, and I entered.  A vast space.  They were well organized, and I quickly found a worker who spoke English and oriented me.  But it was obvious that the size of the crowd of old folks and their caretakers was overwhelming.  I realized that I could guide mother-in-law here, because she is one tough old lady, and she might be able to endure the wait.  But father-in-law is too lame and frail for the ordeal.  I decided to come back next week to see if the crowds were less. 

But Friday night, Tuk told me that vaccine supplies had run out at this site due to the enormous demand.  And I’ve found that the vaccines have run out in most other sites.  Back to square one. 

When I travel public transport or am in public spaces, I try to let the Thai people I interact with know that I am not one of those “dirty farangs” (i.e., the legend of Westerners who are “uniformly unhygienic”.)  I wear a mask, as everyone is required to do in public, but I also have a little 50ml bottle of Dettol hand sanitizer (similar to Lysol) clipped to the carabiner on the front shoulder strap of my daypack.  I wear this universally-recognized green plastic bottle of disinfectant on my chest as a badge, pledging that I participate in public hygiene, and I use it regularly.  After all, one does not want to scare off the native populace.  This is my home. 

Tuk is doing well, while working extremely hard.  She has a year and a half before retirement, and she has a very important management role at the end of her career.  She is no longer working from home much, and is going into her office most weekdays.  Her new office location is an hour commute, each way, thus quite a burden.  After hours, and on weekends, she gets work-related phone calls from work colleagues.  She often works into the night and on weekends with spreadsheets, etc.  She is an angel, and we try to support her as much as we can.  On weekends, she sleeps as much as possible, along with the cats.  And she puts up with me, possibly a recommendation for sainthood? 

-Zenwind. 

.

Covid Shadow

The Covid-19 pandemic is still profoundly affecting life here in Thailand.  This Third Wave of infections, by far the worst we’ve had, hit hard since April, and the vaccine program was slow to roll out and is only now really getting started. 

Cinemas are still closed, as are pubs.  Restaurants must close by 21:00 hours (9PM) and cannot serve alcohol.  A truly huge number of small and medium businesses have collapsed for good.  Masks are mandatory everywhere in public.  The Thai tourism industry, a massive portion of the country’s economy, has been completely halted for over a year, and the number of people out of work is countless. 

Tuk got her first Covid vaccination shot this week.  She has only recently been going back into work in person.  She is in management within the transportation division of the state electric company, and her office has been transferred to a new transportation hub a bit upcountry, out of the greater Bangkok area.  Therefore, she has to commute via company van to and from this site, and during rush hour it is still an hour each way.  Prior to this, for her entire career she only had to walk 200 meters to her office next door. 

As far as Covid vaccine for me, I will know more about my chances in two weeks with my routine doctor’s appointment.  I am slowly recovering from a recent vicious cycle of fibromyalgia pain and fatigue, caused by such things as hurting my fragile back by overdoing it, and from overall lack of exercise because of the seasonal air pollution, the intense tropical heat, and blisters on my feet – I need to find some Tincture of Benzoin to protect my feet in this heat. 

As far as better news:  The gross air pollution that has been plaguing us over both the Cool and Hot Seasons (December-February, March-May) has ended.  That toxic PM2.5 cloud over us has dissipated, due to a combination of rain, of farmers no longer burning their stubble, and of fresh monsoon winds clearing the air.  Also, it is a tiny bit less hot during the times when clouds cover the sun.  It is still humid, and when the sun is out the temps still get up to 100*F, but the occasional cloud relief is a blessing. 

This time of year, I still get disoriented when the sun, at noon, is North of me.  Growing up at latitude 42*N, the sun would always be to the South, even at June Midsummer.  But not at 14*N, well within the Tropics. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Third Wave of Covid-19

We are living under new Covid restrictions here.  Movie theaters are now closed, as are pubs, etc.  It’s not a complete lockdown yet, but the opening hours of supermarkets and convenience stores are shortened.  Take-out only at restaurants.  Masks mandated in public.  

The First Wave of Covid-19 here was in the spring of 2020, followed by a lull in its spread.  In the entire year of 2020, Thailand only had 61 Covid deaths, and sometimes no deaths at all for a couple of months. 

The Second Wave started in December 2020 before leveling off a bit by February 2021.  The main centers of this outbreak were a Burmese migrant worker ghetto and an illegal Thai gambling den. 

The present Third Wave seems to have spread, in early April, from a couple of Bangkok nightlife clubs that may not have been following strict pandemic protocols – and the rumor is that some of the owners are in big trouble.  This is a much more serious wave of the virus, and it has spread widely throughout the country. 

Whereas 2020 closed out at New Year with 61 total Covid deaths, as of today our total pandemic death toll is 276, heading fast for 300. 

(To keep some perspective, Thailand’s population is about the size of the UK, whose Covid death toll is way over 100,000.) 

Covid vaccinations here are in a slow roll-out, with frontline heath workers prioritized.  Local production of the top vaccines should be available by June and July, with other vaccines soon to be approved.  News is that Expats like me who are over 60 will get free vaccinations – although I don’t know the timeline; I will ask my doctor when I see him for a routine checkup in June. 

Tuk is working remotely from home and only rarely goes to the office.  She does Zoom conferences with her boss and management team.  (Our cat, Pinkie, has to be confined to another room during these events, since she obsessively wants to be a Zoom star and must be kept away from the camera and microphone.) 

I only go out to buy stuff every two days or so at local convenience stores, and maybe once a week to a big supermarket via taxi, for things I cannot get here.  I miss the cinemas, my meet-ups with libertarian friends, and live music at The Rock Pub – but as a life-long hermit, I can always muster the inner resources to be amused and maintain peace. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Beltane

 

Beltane, the Eve of May, is when green life begins its return in the northern temperate zones – and how I miss it!  Six months in opposite, Samhain, aka Halloween, is when vegetation dies and when one must feed cattle from stored-up fodder for the following six months. 

Beltane is the Celtic “beginning of summer”, when cattle were driven out of their winter barns to the greening pastures.  After six months locked in winter stanchions, my father would let the cows out in the first week or two of May, when the grass was a-growin’ again.  The cows would buck and jump and run with wild excitement, and they would gorge themselves on new green grass.  Father’s favorite months of the year were always May and June. 

This holiday is also called Walpurgis Night in northern Europe.  One can consider it the Springtime Halloween.  Witches’ revel on that night, as in Goethe’s classic Faust as well as in certain Dracula stories. 

(Also, it is Camerone Day.  Vive La Legion!) 

-Zenwind. 

.

Jefferson Day!

 

Happy Birthday, Tom Jefferson.  To me, you are the epitome of the American thinker, the American libertarian radical.  Wish I could have met you. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Songkran, Early Rains, & Covid Third Wave

 

Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year, is tomorrow and the next few days, although it is a week-long holiday here.  Hottest time of the year, when throwing water is customary, yet with a huge Third Wave of Covid infections now raging in Thailand (especially in greater Bangkok) these celebrations will be canceled – just as they were last year.  Multitudes of Thai people are traveling out of the city to their ancestral provinces for the week-long holiday to reunite with family, and the Covid nightmare is only likely to spread and get worse. 

Bars and pubs in most provinces are now closed again for at least two weeks, although the cinemas are still open for now.  We hunker down.  And endure the heat. 

This year, the Rainy Season was predicted to come extra early and to be more intense than normal.  (It might be a La Nina thing.)  We certainly have been getting much more rain, much earlier than is customary, and I do appreciate the clouds that block the hellish sun.  The rain and accompanying wind are cool refreshment (although the humidity and oppressive heat always follow as soon as the storms pass by).  The government has instructed the relevant agencies to prepare for an extra heavy Rainy Season and thus take actions to avoid disastrous flooding (such as we had in 2011), but I somehow doubt that salaried government bureaucrats, with safe, appointed political jobs, will do anything that requires independent thought and initiative.  Sorry, but I’m a cynic. 

Tomorrow, I will celebrate Mr. Jefferson’s birthday.  Truest of American heroes. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Breaking in New Sandals

 

This is an annual ordeal.  Every single year, I have to buy and break in a new pair of shoes – actually, sport sandals – since I wear them out and wear them down in this heat.  My feet are extremely sensitive to abrasion, and always have been.  And I do not wear socks in this climate, so my feet get ripped up when breaking in a new pair.  I always carry a roll of athletic tape in my backpack to patch up wounds on my feet while on the march. 

I always go with sandals from The North Face, a great company, and until this year they had one model that I bought for three straight years, which broke in more easily since the contact points with my feet were identical.  Well, they discontinued this model, and I had to pick a new one.  It is wonderfully cushioned and soft on the footbed, but the ankle and toe straps are different, thus harsh. 

For many years, I had made the mistake of trying to break in new sandals in the Hot Season – not good.  Then I wised up and started breaking them in during the Cool Season.  But, in recent years, our Cool Season has experienced the bane of toxic PM2.5 air pollution, which makes marching hazardous and less regular. 

My sandals wear down from hard use, but also from my sweat in this humidity.  By the time one year of use comes round at the Hot Season, they smell.  And when the Rainy Season hits us in around June, and I stomp through tropical puddles, their wet smell is intolerable and cannot be disguised.  So, I have to semi-retire them annually. 

Slowly, painfully, I’m breaking in the new pair for short jaunts, while still wearing the old for long hard marches.  This is a cycle I’ve come to live with.  But I always carry a roll of tape. 

-Zenwind. 

.

Seasons

The Cool Season is over, and heat and humidity are again our normal condition every day and night.  Sweat city.  The toxic PM2.5 air pollution is still a problem, yet we are occasionally getting windy weather that thins it out a bit.  We still wear face masks for pandemic hygiene, but I am more concerned about the dirty PM2.5 air so I always wear a tight-fitting N95 mask when out and about. 

We are definitely into the beginnings of our Hot Season (until the Rainy Season gives us brief moments of respite starting, maybe, in June or July).  After all these years living here (and a year in Vietnam half a century ago), I still cannot comprehend how hot the tropics are.  It is a shock to this body, whose ancestral origins came from northern Europe. 

Today we had some rumblings of thunder and dark clouds – a bit unusual for March – so I took an umbrella with me on my neighborhood errands (e.g., to the pet store, etc.).  As I stepped outside, I had a classic memory of my father:  there was a unique coolness and scent upon the breeze, reminding me of my youth when he used to say, “It feels like it has rained somewhere!”  Indeed, it had rained somewhere, but we didn’t get any of it except for just the hint in the brief cool breeze. 

By the time I was lugging pet supplies and groceries back home, the sun was out again and “coolness” was a concept deleted from consciousness.  I arrived back home completely soaked, head to toe, in sweat. 

The pubs have just been reopened again, so I may venture into the city soon to visit my friends at The Rock Pub.  Movie selections are still thin, but I have some explorations in mind in the city, as there are food markets I want to check out for specific healthy selections.  Public transit is better than ever now, so it is much more comfortable to travel than it was five years ago. 

My physical strength has declined – and this really alarms me since I’ve always strived to be fit – and I blame most of this on my enforced physical inactivity in the last few years due to the PM2.5 pollution.  And, of course, part of it may be that I am getting older! 

(How did that ancient Indian sage explain it?  “Dukkha”, i.e., the impermanence of life and the entire suite of disappointments connected with comprehending that reality.  Accepting that reality was the first task; letting go of negative reactions to these facts of life was the important second task; then there is the experiencing of this blissful release; and finally, cultivating the optimal ethical path going forward.) 

I think it was the Rolling Stones who sang, “What a drag it is getting old.”  But – besides the physical limitations – I still feel incredibly young at heart. 

-Zenwind. 

.

February, late post

 

I am way behind on posting here, as I had always promised to post at least monthly, yet I didn’t post at all in January.  I do apologize.  But not much has been happening here to report on. 

We are doing well here.  The Cool Season had many more “cold” days than is usual in January, and that made taking a shower a brutal experience – since we have never had a hot water heater in our house.  The relatively colder water, plus the cool north wind blowing through my outdoor shower, made for a shocking and eye-opening wakeup. 

Movie selections in the cinemas are thin, and pubs (such as my home-away-from-home Rock Pub) are still closed.  So, there is not much reason for venturing far and away except to markets for specialized food items. 

The toxic PM2.5 air pollution has stopped me from long neighborhood walks.  We wear masks for Covid, but more for the air pollution.  Again, it is farmers burning rice stubble and cane that cause this pollution (with no wind to disperse the particulate matter), and the government won’t do anything because like all politicians they are whores to populist votes - with no concern for the rights of others to be free from the dirty drifting of toxins into their private spaces.  

I haven’t been using my laptop much, because sitting at it causes great discomfort.  Sitting + typing = Fibromyalgia pain.  I have pain in my hips when sitting too long, and then I’m awake with pain all night. 

It is much more comfortable to read all online content on my tablet, when I can sit, recline, stand, walk around, or lie back in bed – and I do read, obsessively.   My physical comfort prescribes tablet use – yet it is not easy to type on a tablet, thus my silences. 

I have many, many writings in draft – personal correspondence to family and friends, movie and book reviews, and philosophical rants.  Stay tuned, for I may someday publish them. 

-Zenwind. 

.