Right Place, Right Time

 Enjoy these two short videos. The first occurred during my two days in Chiang Mai as I wandered and went on a walk about. I had made it to Wat Chedi Luang and for whatever reason the usual entrance had a sign telling foreigners go to another entrance. Maybe that sign is always there but like the 'good try not to be offensive and follow the rules' traveler that I am, I followed directions and ended up walking all around the complex, ending right back up where I started 30 minutes earlier but now dripping even more with sweat. So then I just went in the entrance I should have gone in the first time around.

This photo looks like someone did a rough edit or a David Copperfield magic trick to make the top portion disappear but that's what it looks like.

Another view with the new King and Queen

Right as I walked in they were moving the Buddha statue to another temple and I was able to capture what you see in the video which was kind of cool and quintessential North Thailand. And had I not taken the long route, I would have missed it. So while I am on this journey, I am grateful for this early reminder to embrace each day that doesn't seem to go the way I want because I don't know what I might experience as a result. And it has been a good lesson given the relative lack of rice growing I have done so far!

The second video is just me and a friend - also involving a walk about. It's titled Pig Escape 2 because last time I was with Pi Toi and Pi Lee, this one's mother also escaped and unlike her daughter, she did not go willingly back into her pen. Many bananas were required. Again, just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Enjoy!

Duncan

Now about that rice...Update 1

So you may be thinking...ok, Duncan, you've been in Thailand three weeks, when does the rice growing begin? Good question. It actually has begun. In some places in Thailand, farmers can do two rice growing seasons. Here in Maehongson, it's limited to one 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.)

Rice growing begins with the initial seed bed preparation. The rice is soaked over night and then scattered where is sprouts and grows for four to six weeks (so I am told.) This had already happened by the time I got here.

Golf and his cousin's seed beds - the hill behind is where I take all the village pictures from. 

While it's 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 long, hard, exhausting work which could take up to two weeks.

Starting up the beast...

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 last Saturday, a guy on a tractor appeared and for the princely sum of 800 baht ($25) an hour the fields were completely plowed in about 3-4 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 Ba Youie (and perhaps anyone in this village) has rented a tractor to do this - and honestly it's surprising it hadn't happened before. I'm sure everyone will quickly switch to doing it this way and if they can't afford the cash payment, they can pay by promising a portion of the rice that is harvested.

Now the fields will be flooded to allow all the grass and weeds to rot. The good news (for me) is that the fields can't be harrowed using the tractor so I will still get some roto tiller time in the coming days. And there are enough other people still plowing the 'old' way - I'm sure I can find someone who will let me make a fool of myself!

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

Duncan

Where and Who...

If you are new to the Wilson's Wanderings here are two blog posts I wrote ten years ago that describe where I am physically. They still paint a good picture even ten years later...read them here and here.

On the map, here's the lay of the land...

Blue dot, 10 km south of the provincial town of Mae Hong Son is Pa Tyng where my parents moved when I was in 8th grade. Red dot (20km north of MHS) is Naplajat (Fish Fields) where my parents moved while I was in college. These are the two villages I  am staying in while I'm here. A few miles north of Naplajat or west of Pa Tyng and you'll quickly find yourself on the border with Burma. If you're read the 'Thoughts on a 90km stretch of road' blog referenced above, the 90 km stretches from Naplajat south to a little village just outside of Khun Yuam at the bottom of the photo above.

Pa Tyng

Naplajat - harder to capture a photo of the entire village (this photo taken several years ago)

Rain rolling in...

I've posted the view from the front porch in Pa Tyng where I am staying in the garden house of Ba Youie with her son Golf (and wife Nam Waan when she comes home on the weekends from teaching in another village an hour away). The three photos above are of the rain rolling in over the hills which I love to just sit and watch. I had always thought I would do this rice thing with Ba Youie's husband Loong Douie (Golf's dad) but he was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident last year. That partly spurred this endeavor to happen sooner rather than later. 

Ba Youie, Naam Waan and Golf...and a pineapple...

...and here's my morning view from the porch of Pi Toi and Pi Lee's house in Naplajat when I stay there which hosts visitors and village friends on a continual basis.

Pi Lee has a portable rice mill which is pretty cool!

Both houses where I am staying have experienced recent loss. Loong Douie died just over a year ago and in Naplajat, Grandfather Naan, Pi Toi's Father just passed away two months ago. This past Sunday about 100 people from the village and surround area came to remember him.

Pi Toi at her dad's grave/memorial site

This is where I am and the people I'm with. 

Duncan

Things that brought me joy one day...

Some of you might have seen a few of these photos on facebook but for those who didn't here are a few recent things that have been bringing me joy recently...

Making the amazing discovery (and I mean amazing, literally second only to the wide expansive love of Jesus) that geckos love coffee. As soon as I sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee in the front living area of the garden house I am staying (and where this view - 1st pic below - brings me inordinate peace and joy), FIVE of them started scampering skitterishly toward me. They literally smelled it across the room and they kept building up courage to come take a lick or two. I have since discovered that tea even with milk and sugar does nothing for them. I thought I was coming to Thailand to grow rice, but I’m thinking about perhaps training a gecko troupe instead. The most I have had hanging around the cup and saucer is eight - but never all at once – fights frequently break out even with 2-3 on the table at the same time.

this view...

...creeping...

closer...

...IN!

toes do not produce coffee but they are also very curious about them...

Finding larger size critters (just a little larger) hanging out in and around the river that I used to cross daily before a bridge was built allowing farmers much easier access to their gardens and fields on the other side.

This guy eventually submerged himself completely (hippo-esque) and floated down stream a little...they don't get their names for no reason!

Walking old trails and paths that I used to run and ride my bike as a kid (pre concrete), gathering some fallen mangoes (mostly) along the way and by the time I got back to the family I am staying with, Auntie Youie already knew I had been ‘gathering’ mangoes - eyes are everywhere:-)

From Bangkok with Gratitude

View from my room in Bangkok (note the many AC units on lower building in front)

I admit to being somewhat surprised at the enthusiasm, encouragement (and let's admit it - a little envy) that has come my way when people find out about this rice growing season. I am grateful for this, grateful that there are those that 'get it.' Grateful for those that will check in with Andrea while I'm gone. It's been fun having conversations with many about the plan - ranging from clients to colleagues, to Alex (the guy who cuts my hair) who grew up in an area of  South Vietnam where flood waters quickly cover the land during the rainy season. He described a kind of rice that grows fast enough to stay just ahead of the rising flood waters. I'm grateful for the unexpected blessings and words people have spoken about this season - a season of cultivation for sure as I plow and plant in the mud but also hopefully a season of cultivation in my soul.

Parting gifts and words from friends that I'm carrying with me

And I'm grateful for warm days before I left DC getting ready, connecting with friends, making sticky rice and mango and sticky rice and chicken (because if you're going to Thailand, you should practice eating what you'll be eating!),  making sure the house was good to go and enjoying the garden, harvesting some broccoli...you know the important things you do before leaving for two months. 

Practice and Preparation before leaving...

All my flights were good. Flying is when I catch up on movies and there usually is a theme. Sometimes I will watch several films with the same actor in each. This time I watched The Hate U Give and Vice, two powerful movies that seem to kind of sum up the world I am leaving for a few months. And then I watched We Bought a Zoo and a German movie called As Green as it Gets which were more symbolic of what lies ahead. 

Bangkok view at Benjakati Park

Crazy Terminal 21 Mall where every floor (including the bathrooms) is themed after a different city... (Golden Gate Bridge visible here)

Today is a national holiday in honor of the new (very new) Queen's birthday. I admit it is different to see her image everywhere. Some things change. Some things don't. The lady who I always buy my sticky rice and chicken from here on Soi 12 is still here. She provided my first meal of course! Tomorrow evening I'll catch the overnight train up to Chiang Mai. Some more of her sticky rice and chicken will be stuffed in my already overflowing bags!

The real sticky rice and chicken first meal...yes Thailand still is drowning in plastic bags.

Duncan