good fortune

There's a tremendous interest, there, in luck, in having good
fortune helped along with the right amulet etc.
One morning in Bangkok I started looking for a tiny buddha
to wear around my neck. Everyone around got involved in
finding me the lucky one, then added extras, it was fun.

a lucky find: amulets with Kitaro on youtube

open smiles

A few of the beautiful smiles everywhere.
Perhaps the most affecting was one morning, quite early,
an old man (probably my age!) pedaling his rickshaw
slowly along, with, loaded onto the seat, a whole big tree
cut into pieces. He gave me the sweetest smile, it spoke
volumes, am still enjoying it.

paper forest, see the clip at March 6, (& many others)

songbirds

Many Thai people keep songbirds. To me it seems such a
contradiction, to admire the song yet cage the bird.
I know it's a very old practice. & we get to hear some
rare songs. Even so. One day I stopped to speak to a bird,
she quietly answered: sawadee ka.
Then I saw the sign 'tip the bird' but I was too busy
laughing.

Vishal Vaid on Ted

mouse

The girl dashed through the traffic (which slowed for her,
Thais can be very patient drivers) trying to catch some small
thing, the young monks nearby were laughing. She came back
to her friends clutching a tiny white mouse, & a cardboard
house with it's friends.
Tried to take more people shots this trip, usually asking
first, but am not sure about posting ~ of course I'll
remove if the people ask.

Art Spiegelman author of Maus

more flowers

So many different flowers to be seen

So it's really amazing to find florists & market stalls
specialising in artificial flowers.
I guess in full summer the live ones last only briefly.

Oliver Sacks on Ted ( cant play any of the
videos right now, but this is bound to be good.)
Someone just reminded me, it's the 3rd anniversary of being
in my place.. deepest thanks, love & hugs to Gordon & Wendy.

flowers

Of all the flowers in Thailand, these have to be
the most sublime: Sala (Sal in India)

In the grounds of many temples, it's a large tree, known as
the one beside which the mother of Buddha gave birth.
It's an interesting flower, &, looking at the long stems,
seems to have a lengthy flowering. Most remarkable is the
perfume.. divine comes close to describing it.
Uplifting.. captivating..intoxicating..

The story of the birth of the Buddha

silver

I'll try to show you some of the temples, without overload..

In the silver workers' area there's a whole temple made
from a silver coloured metal. Young boys from the country
are taught how to work in silver, while they are monks.

It gives a different feel to the decoration. I'm no expert on the
different elements, but motifs are repeated at each site,
nearly always with a different twist peculiar to that temple.
There are a few sublime masterpieces, & all have an energy
or a sense of fun, or a simple sanctity from the age of the site.
Even the neglected ones have a forlorn appeal.

An article about an abbot of a southern temple doing
great work with the poor.