Connections form between young and old As the tribe gathers at these tables Every nugget may not be gold And truths told as if they are fables
The dining room, like a rush-hour train A gaggle of gossip between gulps of water The old folks never tire to explain Love for their new grandson and daughter
Two hands touch to make a familiar bond Share secrets down the generations Soft in comfort where love belongs And meets all expectations
Shared with WDYS #257 picture prompt and also submitted for an assignment at AllPoetry.com as follows: Write a 12 to 24-line poem in any style that uses simile. Keep the imagery consistent and clear.Make sure that you use two clear examples of simile in your poem using the words ‘as’ or ‘like’ as discussed in the lesson. Try to write in the present tense and incorporate at least one concrete use of the senses in addition to imagery and metaphor, which was covered in the previous assignment.
Exhausted so far. Skipped my alarm and slept deeply for another hour.
It’s the past week catching up, and it only involved two days of teaching! Thursday and Friday are my busy days now so Saturday will be a regular sleep-in I think.
Today I’m grateful for:
Nong Na coming to stay at our house to take care of Cap and Tig for the next two days for us.
The best thing about today was:
Ending it being in Bangkok again.
The weird thing is though, it didn’t seem to take much effort or organising (though admittedly Amy was taking care of all the details for this trip).
I even got a longer-than-expected afternoon nap that Amy woke me from saying ‘We have to leave in 20 minutes!’
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I took some jackfruit to Baipad’s with the intention of giving it to her mum, hoping that Baipad would still be sleeping but she was in the shop playing with her sister.
I gave her the fruit and she said ‘I don’t like jackfruit!’ I said that was fine and to give it to her mum, which she did.
I will talk to her sometime about thinking about something better to say!
Anchan sent me this picture and I’m happy to see her enjoying life. Her friend is my old student Pompam who is a good kid.
Exhausted but Amy has me up and running around again. It’s ok. It’s 1pm and it feels like I’ve done about 8 hours already. That feeling is good sometimes. Still plenty of day left.
Today I’m grateful for:
The salted caramel popcorn Amy brought back from Australia. It’s pretty good, not too sweet. There’s also a pack of chocolate-drizzled popcorn here to look forward to too.
The best thing about today was:
Pretty much everything I guess. The time has gone so quickly despite what I wrote earlier. I guess I’m trying to squeeze in the things I normally do when I’m here by myself along with all the things that I’m now doing with Amy too. I’m kinda looking forward to going to school tomorrow because I only have one class so will be able to spend time with my best friend, coffee, all morning.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
The neighbour’s kids all came and played with me yesterday whilst I was picking weeds out in the driveway. They even came with me into the entertainment area when I was hanging from the gym rings. Of course, the boys wanted a go too so I lifted them up and they grabbed on and they screamed for me to help them as they lost their grip. Today, uninvited, they came right up on our terrace whilst Amy was trying to sleep so I quietly went out and tried to keep them entertained but that lasted all of about ten seconds. After entertaining them again for a few minutes I managed to usher them away and came back inside to find Amy reluctantly awake. She wasn’t grumpy about it though. As I watched things on TV and Amy read, they snuck back and around the side of the house and started tapping on the window. Amy said not to engage with them and after a while, they got bored and went off on other adventures. I don’t mind the kids at all but our cats hate them and always run off and hide somewhere. I don’t want them coming back every day thinking they can do as they please here.
Something I learned today?
China just tested a new high-speed train that can reach 453 km/h! This could make a train trip from Beijing to Shanghai just 2 and a half hours. That’s pretty wild. I just hope that one of these things never crashes!
What is something I’ve been wanting to try, but haven’t yet?
Hmm…I think that probably the obvious choice for me now is to travel to Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. This was one of the reasons for us to be located in Thailand, ease of travel in Asia. Somehow at the moment, I’m a little afraid to travel again though. I feel like I’ve lost that mojo a little. My life has been so comfortable here that I can just enjoy everything without going anywhere.
I took this picture because being a cat (with a caring owner ) has got to be the best life.Fatman report
I don’t want to leave here These familiar sounds and smells Every hour, stand up, sit down With the tolling of the bells
The time of laughter and joy Mixed with frustrations and tears I want to be a kid forever I don’t recognise these years
Freedom and future evaporate As responsibilities reveal their load I fail to understand how adults work I don’t want to know the code
19th June 2023 – At 55, as a teacher, I’m finally enjoying my school years!
Today I’m feeling:
Last night the aircon in the bedroom was working again which was a relief…until! The power went out sometime while I was sleeping. I woke up hot and sticky and checked if the ELCB had tripped which it hadn’t so there was nothing to do except to try and get back to sleep which I did eventually and when I woke again, which may have been 5 minutes or 5 hours later, the power was back but the aircon stopped working! So when my alarm went off I elected to snooze it though stirred myself before it re-triggered. I pushed through an ab workout and slowly my brain and body woke up properly. By the time I was in class, I was set and felt good for the whole day.
Today I’m grateful for:
Breaking a guitar string that I had a single replacement for without having to open a new pack. It’s simple but I’ll take what I can get.
The best thing about today was:
The feeling of flow in the classroom. Sometimes being a teacher feels like herding cats and whilst that can be frustrating today I had the energy to run around and keep everyone focused (from time to time at least).
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Before I left school I met a few grumpy students from my last class. They were grumpy because they had been blamed for someone else’s garbage outside and had been made to clean up around the whole playground. When I got home Kru Wow had sent me a picture and message about the rubbish my students left in her classroom. Possibly the same students who had been wrongly accused outside! I apologised to Kru Wow but those kids are a very messy bunch. It’s up to me to check before they leave though.
Something I learned today?
Apparently, the forecast for this rainy season is no rain until August. Fuuuuuu…..
What is a dream or aspiration that I have yet to pursue?
One of the main ideas of being located in Thailand was the easy access to the rest of Asia but due to covid, I’ve barely been anywhere. Still want to visit Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia as well as get back to Japan and China too.
Little Nicha (front) took this picture because she stole my phone out of my pocket while I was talking with JubJib (back). I was curious about what photos I would end up seeing and this is my favourite. Noah, JJ, Fah, me and Nicha. All good kids.
I am so happy and grateful to be able to afford to fly to visit my friends.
Hanlon’s Razor – never attribute to malice what be attributed to stupidity.
To-do list
Follow usual morning routine ✅
Wear make everywhere ✅
Meditate ✅
Find out about SIM card ✅
Enjoy time with Epit and his kids ✅
It was a terrible start to the day as Amy and I fought over money and my travelling. I was so upset I wanted to cancel my plans and not go to KL. I don’t feel like Amy’s frustrations are really about money or me travelling but more connected with her feelings about Thailand.
I want to suggest to her that she goes back to Australia later in the year and work there for three months and see how she feels. Something has to change.
My plan now is to try and enjoy 12 months more of teaching in the school and if I can’t get on with it then I will stop and just teach at home and online. I think Amy can go back to Australia and work if she really feels like money is going to be a big problem. It doesn’t have to be for six months at a time but that’s up to her.
Another possibility is that she really gets behind teaching at home. I feel like she hasn’t really invested herself into it to make it a viable income yet.
The other thing we should do is to sell the house. I’m sick of always having to think about money and if it is spoiling our happiness even when we live in a beautiful home then we can live anywhere. It doesn’t matter. So long as I can have a space to call my own and a happy Amy then that’s what I want.
I am so happy and grateful to have reasonable health that allows me to do the things that I want. Getting up at 6 am, taking a one hour flight, driving for 3 or 4 hours, getting lost, ending up at the beach to take photos of a beautiful sunset. Despite an average hotel, getting lost, bad traffic, no alcohol being served, average food and a dirty beach we stayed in great spirits throughout.
09.18 – Packed! A T-shirt, one pair of shorts, a toothbrush, about 50 CDs and 30 7″s for Malaysian friends and er….some…er…toys which are not available over there!
1994ever 