MicahJohn

I have now witnessed ลอยกระทง (Loy Krathong). The central feature of this full moon festival is the launching of little banana leaf boats. These boats are equipped with incense and candles. They may also be loaded with hair clippings, nail clippings, and coins. At their launching, wishes are made/prayers are said. The goal is that the sins and bad luck from the past year will float away with the boat.

My friend took me to a college campus where there were all kinds of happenings: food stands, a beauty contest, carnival games, etc. The water wasn’t all that pretty. Some photos from other places are quite impressive.

Not dazzled by the water, I turned my camera and my eye to the sky. In addition to launching candles on the water, people where launching fires into the sky. You can check my video of these โคมไฟ here 18MB or 1MB.

The weather here in Ubon has cooled off dramatically the last few days. I’ve been wearing a light jacket to ride my motorcycle. Last night I enjoyed feeling chilly and drinking hot chocolate. I’ve found myself singing more. I like the cooler weather.

NOTE: this is neither a happy nor a pleasant post. You may not want to read it.

There are a number of geckos in my room which make me hesitant to use toxic things to get rid of bugs. Today I had the sorrow of causing the death of one of these critters who, unbeknownst to me, had taken up residence in my washing machine. I’m not much for handling dead things, even if it is to remove them from my laundry.

This has been one of my favorite songs since my arrival in Thailand. I wanted to share it with you so I recorded it. I wanted you to understand it so I translated it. I couldn’t find a good recording as a reference so it is quite possible that I have the melody wrong. I also have not yet found the author’s name. If anyone wants to direct me to either a recording or the appropriate information to give proper credit for this great song, please do so. In the meantime, enjoy.

ใจที่กระหายและเหนื่อย
ใจที่ทนทุกข์ลำบาก
ใจที่หมดหวังทุกอย่าง
จงเข้ามา

พระองค์เป็นน้ำแห่งชีวิต
ให้เราดื่มน้ำแห่งชีวิต
หล่อเลี้ยงหัวใจ
ให้ชีวิตใหม่
แม่น้ำแห่งชีวิตจะรินไหลมาจากใจ

Heart that is tired and thirsty
Heart that has faced great trials
Heart that has lost all hope
Enter here

He is the river of life
You may drink of His life
He’ll nourish your heart
Give life a new start
His river of life will then flow
From your heart

Recently I received a cello and a Sony eReader from home. Additionally, I was just informed of a marathon coming up nearby in January. So between playing cello, reading any book that is out of copyright for free, and running, my free time has become quite solidly spoken for. I imagine as the newness wears off, some of these activities will become rather less consuming.