Harvest!

I'm finally updating the blog, writing from the US after returning a week ago. I posted some harvest photos on facebook but didn't have time to do a full blog post so for those not on fb...enjoy a few photos.

I am struck by how quickly something can end. This rice growing journey that I carried around as a dream for so many years ended almost as quickly as the lush verdant green rice turned a golden hue as soon as water was cut off to the fields. There were moments when I wondered if I would actually get to plow and work the fields as I waited in the beginning and there were moments especially during the actual harvest when I looked out at the fields that still needed to be harvested and wondered if it would ever be over. And then all of a sudden it was. 

I began harvesting the fields of Aunty Yui's cousin P' Doc on November 13, about a week after the water which had been flowing  consistently through the paddy fields up until that point was turned off. I was surprised that harvest began that quickly. The soil/mud in the fields was actually still quite soft and still had not dried up a week later. I spent most of my harvesting days working with P' Doc's team of six hired hands though spent a morning with Aunty Yui's team also. She was unsure if she would have enough help so I showed up and she had ten people working for her and that day P' Doc only had three so I felt a little bad for committing to the larger team. But you aren't reading this to hear about my rice harvesting conflicted emotions! 

Like every other stage in the rice growing season, harvest is back breaking work. Working hopefully with long sleeves and gloves and a sickle/scythe you grab the rice stems and cut keeping the blade down to avoid any accidental injuries. Cutting techniques change depending on if the rice is still standing upright or has been blown over by the wind/rain. 

The cut rice is laid gently down in rows to dry for three days (and it is amazing how quickly is dries turning literally to straw) before being gathered up and tied into bundles which are then carried to the threshing floor. 

It took seven days before the last rice stalks were cut and several more days until it was all gathered in under the safety of a roof in case of late season rain. From that point on the threshing can happen but isn't as urgent as when the rice is laying out unprotected in the elements. 

Threshing happens in a variety of ways - Mechanical rice threshing machines do exist are are starting to become more common, most people still thresh by hand - beating the rice with sticks, others try out other 'new' ways - laying the rice down on the road and repeatedly driving a car/truck over it - all these methods shake the rice grains from the stalk. 

P'Doc

What's the rice been up to?

It's been a month since arriving back in Maehongson. I posted a few photos of the rice on fb but for those not on fb, here's an update.

Since it was transplanted the third week in July, 'my' rice has been growing nicely, fed with a continuous running water supply as well as some fertilizer that was applied once.  'My' rice is Jasmine (Mali) rice which is harvested at 120 days. (There are two other kinds of rice being grown here - type 21 and Gor Khor - both of which are harvested at 90 days, do not grow as tall and are harder grains than Jasmine - so I am told!)

At twelve weeks from being transplanted the rice was shoulder high with no visible grains yet - but so beautiful. Many of you know I have never been here in Thailand at this time of year so to witness the beautiful shades of green was really special.

Two weeks later the rice grains are fully sprouted.

The rice is young and green (and I am not.)

This past weekend (15 weeks since being transplanted) the rice is now as tall as me if not higher but the rice grains are still soft and almost liquid like inside the husk.

But has disaster struck??! There has been some heavy wind and rain which looks like it caused significant damage but I am told that since the rice grains are already sprouted, it is not as bad as it looks and the rice will continue to develop even when blown over like this. It just makes harvesting it a little more challenging.

Harvest in 'my' fields should begin the third week in November but here's a sneak peak as some of the 90 day variety has already begun to be harvested. The weekend before last I had some good friends from Bangkok visit with their kids so we all got a little taste of what's to come. (These are the fields in Naplajat village. You can see the rice is not nearly as tall at the Jasmine rice.)

Duncan

Stories, Anecdotes and Reflections - Part one of the journey

In just a few days I’ll be heading back to Thailand for part two of the rice growing venture.  I can’t wait to get back to see what the rice is doing (growing hopefully!) It’s been a busy two months back in the US with clients and work (including the week in Kabul.) There are still stories and anecdotes I have wanted to share about the first two months in Thailand (some rice growing related, most not) so this is my attempt at capturing a little more of the journey in writing – for myself and for those who are interested.

Pa Tyng

Waiting – The first month was more waiting than I anticipated. I didn’t mind, it gave me time to watch the mountains, something I didn’t pay much attention to growing up but whenever I return as an adult, I am quite transfixed by the rugged mountain ranges that cover this part of the world that I love so much. I’m not sure I ever fully relaxed and exhaled during my two months in Thailand (which was surprising to me) but the net effect of time and a very different pace of life did start to rejuvenate and restore me a little.

View from Microwave Mountain

Cultural communication/expectations – Part of the waiting was definitely entangled up in communication and cultural issues. Though I had been communicating about my intended plowing goals and everyone knew that was my intent, it came as a bit of a surprise when the large tractor showed up and had the fields plowed in a matter of hours. In the long run, this was fine. I am grateful I didn’t do as much physical labor as I thought I was going to do because I would have died. The days I did work exhausted me.

Thailand has a word/phrase ‘greng jai’ that doesn’t’ translate that well into English but it’s about not wanting to impose on someone or cause anyone to lose face so you might do things you don’t want to do, or give answers that, well, aren’t true, in order to not offend. If I asked someone if I could go with him somewhere and I understood that we were leaving at a certain time, and when he didn’t show up at the appointed time, perhaps he forgot or perhaps he never had any intention me going with him in the first place…but couldn’t say no to my face. I wonder how much this played out with the rice plowing as well as a few other times.

There were also some other hilarious moments when things were said that I was very reluctant to broadcast to everyone within earshot…for example, once I had an upset stomach. Everyone (and I mean everyone) wanted to know how many times I had gone to the bathroom. That’s how they tell how sick you are – sort of makes sense, but again, we (or maybe it’s me) have a lot more shame around telling people how many times we have had diarrhea! There were other body issues that were talked about very matter of factly, and I was desperately wishing I wasn’t present!

There were cultural/language phrases that I could never bridge. I often told one friend that she literally knew everyone in the province as there was never anywhere we went that she didn’t know someone. My point was, she knew a lot of people. She would always reply ‘But I’m from here’ as if that was her excuse. I would think, yes, I know you’re from here, and you still know so many people…and I don’t have good enough Thai to explain the nuance!

While I was in Pa Tyng, I stayed in Aunty Yui’s ‘Garden’ house with her son Golf. Sometimes Golf was gone for the night and I would be there by myself. One night  someone was rummaging around underneath the house and I was a little concerned (not as concerned as the one night that I did think someone was breaking in through my bamboo bedroom wall but it just proved to be a very loud tukgae lizard beating it’s tail against my wall and thrashing around) so I mentioned it to Aunty Yui and Golf the next day. I assumed it was their hired hand who helped with the fields but wasn’t sure. Turns out it was and so they asked him if he comes late at night in the future to call out and let me know it was him. The next day he came pedaling up to the house at noon on his bright pink bicycle whistling really loudly to announce his presence! Some things get lost in translation even among those who speak the same language!

Many in Thailand (perhaps most) still believe that you get sick if you get caught in the rain – not that your germy kids have anything to do with it. Beliefs run deep, which sometimes drove me a little bonkers but I can’t judge – how many of us grew up believing that we had to wait an hour after eating before we could go swimming?

And then there were moments that I was grateful for a culture and tradition different than me. It’s very Thai to ask if you have eaten yet and what did you eat? I had one friend would often interrupt a conversation with me by asking if I had eaten yet. She wasn’t thinking of the H.A.L.T acronym I often use with clients (if you are hungry, angry, lonely, tired take care of yourself…) but it served the same purpose, interrupting my stress or anxiety of the moment. I also had two friends who often told me ‘don’t think too much’ as they viewed that as causing myself undue stress. I often didn’t have to say anything was troubling me. One evening when I was having a lot of thoughts and stressed about something, but I thought I was hiding it pretty well, one of my friends took a glance at me and said ‘don’t think so much…have you eaten yet?’ OK, point taken. Thank you.

But sometimes the cultural expectations were challenging. I love rice a lot and am happy to eat it a lot – even three times a day - but every now and then I wanted a break from it and this caused some challenges as everyone knows that rice is the ONLY thing that will fill you up in Thailand. If you haven’t had rice, you haven’t eaten. I could share more stories here but let’s say sometimes there were duplicitous ways of getting around this belief!

Being rooted - I scribbled this down on a scrap of paper one day…’I believe in knowing a place as well as you can, staying rooted – even as I travel, I want a home base but I also want to know where I am when I’m there – looking for anchors and touch points – thus, that’s why I just enjoy sitting in their living area and looking at the view and watching the two weaver birds fly back and forth with long grass building their nests…how the brilliant flame of the forest flowers are dropping as everything else continues to become more lush and green.’

Speaking of knowing a place and being rooted, I was surprised that when I arrived in Maehongson, I wasn’t giddy with excitement at the opportunity of being there for the longest stretch of time in two decades. I was certainly happy and grateful to be there but I didn’t have the level of excitement that I thought I would have - and that I have experienced on previous trips. Maybe it is because over the last ten years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to visit five or six times. I realized that is how my village neighbors view me. When I initially arrived I was walking down the village path and someone passed me on their bike and said ‘Oh Duncan, when did you arrive…have you eaten yet?’ and then kept going. It just felt very normal for me to be there and clearly was normal to this person that wasn’t surprised at all to see me back.

Maehongson

The actual field work – As I was plowing with Uncle Yurn, Tori Kelly’s cover of Seal’s Crazy was in my head… ‘In a world full of people only some want to fly, isn’t that crazy?’ That may be a good theme for this whole endeavor. How many people take a break mid career to follow a dream or do something that doesn’t quite fit the mold we have been taught. Not many.

I was also struck by how the times have changed as society switches from a largely agriculture based economy to a modern cash based one. Twenty years ago farming was still a family affair. Everyone chipped in. When it came to busy times, extended family and friends would show up for the transplanting or harvest. Now the children have moved to cities or if they are still around are working in Maehongson at the Toyota dealership or regular cash paying jobs. That means the work of pulling up the rice seedlings and transplanting the rice is done by hired hands - often immigrants or refugees.  I was shocked when I went out to observe the transplanting that I knew none of the women doing the work. This of course mirrors what we have experienced in the West when it comes to farming/agriculture but to see it happen so rapidly is jarring. 

Adventures  (River deep, Mountain high?) - If I spent the first month waiting, my last month was jam packed not only with rice growing field preparation but many adventures with family and friends. This deserves it’s own post. Stay tuned!

View from Doi Kong Mu

Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu

View of Pabong Dam

View from Microwave Mountain

Duncan

Kabul

I didn't know what to expect when I arrived in Kabul. It's technically still a war zone. American's are flown by helicopter from the airport to the US embassy compound inside the green zone. My flight  from Dubai to to Kabul was remarkably empty, with no kids or families. That seemed to confirm that my latest work destination was going to be a little different. BUT, my return flight a week later was packed full of families and children leaving a very very different impression - one that I was happy to take with me. It felt like Disneyland - and apparently that is what most flights in and out of Kabul are like. I think my first flight was on a religious day where few were travelling. As usual, I can't share that much of my work. I couldn't take any photos once I was there but I got a few as we flew in to this capital city that sits at about 6000 feet elevation surrounded by stark mountains. Here are a few thoughts...

I arrived in Kabul the evening of the recent wedding attack that killed over eighty people, injuring hundreds more. (Weddings in Afghanistan are huge celebrations with hundreds to over a thousand attending.) This attack lingered throughout the week as a backdrop to my time and an illustration of the challenges that so many face in a country that the US is still technically fighting a war. Insecurity and attacks of all sorts are still common and the threat to those that work for Western organizations is extremely high. 

Those I was with this past week risk their lives every day to go to work to help build a more peaceful and stable Afghanistan. They don't know if they will return at night to see their children and their families. Their stories of trauma and grief are only rivaled by their courage to keep showing up. The morning after the wedding attack, everyone was at work. I told them that if a suicide bomber killed eighty people in Washington DC, people wouldn't return to work for weeks. It would take years for us to recover. Every time I led a session on stress and resilience I said that my local Afghan colleagues should be leading it. They know something about resilience and thriving that most of us will never know. Their fortitude is sustained by faith and by family, the bedrock of their society. 

The memories and backdrop of the wedding attack will linger as another layer of trauma for them and a difficult memory for me but what I will remember about my very short week in Afghanistan are the beautiful stark mountains that surround Kabul, the roses and beautiful flowers  in the compound I stayed that the local gardeners take so much pride in, the beautiful green farm land outside of Kabul that I saw photos of...I will remember the anguish and struggle so many face over the opportunity to leave for a new home that offers the opportunity of safety and peace or to remain with family in Afghanistan, continuing to build a more peaceful country, but at the risk of their life and their family. But mostly I will remember the faces of those who have experienced such great tragedy and loss - loss that I will never understand - and yet they choose to continue living, refusing, as Rumi writes, to be a 'caravan of despair.' I will remember their stories of great sadness as well as those of great courage, strength and beauty. 

Duncan

PS The Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina Lamb is a great book that will give you much insight into Afghanistan.

Rice Growing - From field preparation to transplanting.

This blog post is really just to show and describe the rice growing process without too much 'commentary' about my experience and observation from me. I'm saving that for a future post. 

In some places in Thailand, farmers can do two rice growing seasons. In Maehongson, it's usually limited to one cycle that coincides with the rainy season. Each farmer begins preparation of their fields based on their specific location, weather patterns and when their is enough water in the rivers that feed the 'nam hong' (water canal) that brings the water to flood the paddy fields. (Hill rice is also grown here - as it's name implies on hills (often slash and burned) and this requires no flooding. That's not the rice I'm doing.) 

I arrived in Maehongson and specifically back in the village of Patyng (where my parents lived for eight years) the second week of June in preparation for working in the fields. The plan was that I would help our former landlord's family in their fields. Golf is the 30 year old son of our former landlord and I would be helping him. 

Golf's great grand parents used to own the entire plot of fields seen below. At some  point two sections were sold off. The lighter green fields are split between Golf's family and a cousin.

Rice growing begins with the initial seed bed preparation. The rice is soaked over night and then scattered where it sprouts and grows for four to six weeks. The rice was already sprouting by the time I arrived in early June.

While the seedlings are growing, the rest of the fields are usually flooded, plowed and harrowed into liquified mud ready for the rice to be transplanted in. Before mechanized times, water buffalo and oxen were used only to be replaced by large oversize roto tillers. Both options are long, hard, exhausting work which can take up to two weeks.

Astute followers of photos that have been posted here or on facebook may have noticed a picture with a tractor in the background...let's just say times they are a changing. I kept asking when plowing would begin and I didn't really get a straight answer. All of a sudden after I had been 'waiting' for several weeks, a guy on a tractor appeared and for the princely sum of 800 baht ($25) an hour the fields were completely plowed in about four hours. Done. And I wondered, ok, well clearly that alters my plans a little as I thought I would be able to do a little plowing! I certainly don't begrudge this decision though. Who wouldn't choose to spend that money to save so much time and physical energy?

This is the first time Aunty Yui(and perhaps anyone in this village) has rented a tractor to do this - and honestly it's surprising it hadn't happened before. At the time I thought that everyone with the right sized fields would quickly switch to doing it this way - but as it turned out, I'm not sure that they will do it this way again. The tractor simply didn't plow the soil deep enough. Perhaps if that can be adjusted they will use the tractor again but if not, it's back to the hard laborious work of using the 'roto- tiller.' 

The tractor was a novel sight - many people quickly appeared to observe.

Aunty Yui - overseeing the tractor. 

And just like that the fields were plowed!

Normally if doing it the old way, the fields would have been flooded prior to the plowing. Using the large tractor, the fields were plowed and then the water was allowed to flow into the fields and flood them. But for about a week there were some issues with not enough water coming through the nam hong to adequately submerge everything, allowing all the grass and weeds to rot. 

Eventually the water was flowing sufficiently

I knew I would still have the opportunity to work with the roto tiller as the fields  can't be harrowed using the tractor. But I really wanted to do some actual field preparation and plowing. I eventually found it in the fields of Uncle Yurn where I spent time helping to cut the long grass and weeks and eventually a day plowing. I wrote on facebook that 'Uncle Yurn doesn’t really look like Mick Jagger but there’s something very Jaggerish about him when he screams past me in his motorcycle with side car or when he’s dressed to do field work - maybe it’s his sun glasses or maybe just his attitude. It’s like he doesn’t care what anyone thinks! Anyway, he has been gracious enough to take me under his wing so to speak when other options have fallen through - though he’s also fully used me to work - which I wanted- no babying here. He makes it look easy - plowing with grace and ease, perhaps like Jagger dances. I on the other hand initially was plowing like a water buffalo doing ballet. Fortunately by the third or fourth field I had a better hang of it and was letting the ‘beast’ do the work. And Uncle Yurn trusted me enough to go off and do other things. But my hands are blistered, cut and mangled, my shoulder sockets feel like they have been torn apart and I can barely walk. All in all a good day! Fortunately Uncle Yurn’s wife is the village masseuse - I will be visiting her tomorrow! No picks of me plowing - Jagger doesn’t take pics, he’s in them. But the proof is my dirty self!'