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. 

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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. 

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