Austin is ONE

The day Austin was born he WON my heart, today he is turning ONE.  I love this little guy.  When ever I see a picture of him my heart gets all soft and warm, like frosting melting on a warm cake.  

Happy Birthday Austin, Love Nana

Traveling Thai Style

Diana and I decided to take a two day trip up north on the spur of the moment. She was leaving to go back to Venezuela soon and I wanted to learn how to travel Thai style.  Diana speaks Thai, plus 8 other languages, and is great to have when you are traveling and having to converse in Thai - which I DO NOT speak!  For example on the trip I told the driver to turn right in Thai - what I actually said was that he was crazy!  SO, it is best for all concerned that I do not try to speak much...so Diana was very helpful
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We stayed in a "guesthouse" which is very much like a hostel - I splurged on a room with air conditioning and a private bathroom.  Our room cost 400 Baht which is about $12 USD.  Oh and it came with a roll of toilet paper!!


We decided the first order of business was food, I was opposed to eating at the "POO" restaurant - so we ate next door.The buses are a pretty cheap way of getting around - but we had my driver - I was not going to do everything Thai style.

Traveling Thai style is pretty easy - if you know what you are doing.

Thanks Diana for the experience!

A time to learn and a time to PLAY

There is a time to learn and then there is a time to play.  I decided that I had done enough learning and it was time to play. 

There are rules when you visit the ruins and temples; they mostly deal with the statues of Buddha.  I am very respectful of religious buildings and sacred places – but then Diana, a friend from Venezuela, and I came upon this 11^th century site  - not visited much and without any religious buildings, I reverted into a kid again.  Without a “do not climb” sign posted,  I CAVED IN and just had to PLAY!!

Si Satchanalai Historical Park, Sukhothai, Thailand

Visit with the MONKS

One of the things that I love about living here in Thailand is that I am learning so much about different cultures.  My religion is very important to me and here in Thailand religion plays a central part of the community.  Thailand is 94% Buddhist; in fact they have almost 41,000 temples or wats to worship at.  Some are in ruins while others are still being built or renovated. 

On one of my adventures I was visited several wats and while exploring I spent some time learning about the young monks.  They were very open and friendly as long as I did not get to close.  It is a serious offense for a monk to be touched by women, even in passing.

Many young Thai men and boys spend time serving as a monk.  The temporary duration usually last for 3 months and sometimes coincides with the death of a loved one. The boys will shave their heads and eyebrows and follow 10 strict rules.  Fully ordained monks have to follow 227 and Buddhist nuns have 311 rules to follow. 

The monks follow a simple life a which starts early in the morning.  They walk around the areas adjacent the temple to receive alms from the local community. This is where practically all of their food comes from.

Socially, every Thai male is excepted to become a monk for a short period in his life, optimally between the time he finishes school and the time he starts a career or marries. Men or boys under 20 years of age may enter the Sangha as novices - this is not unusual since a family earns great merit when one if its sons 'takes robe and bowl'.

Traditionally, the length of time spent in the 'wat' is three months, during the Buddhist lent (phansa), which begins in July and coincides with the rainy season. However, nowadays men may spend as little as a week or 15 days to accrue merits monks.

There are about 32,000 monasteries in Thailand and 460,000 monks; many of these monks are ordained for a lifetime. Of these a large percentage become scholars and teachers, while some specialize in healing and/or folk magic.  

Ruins in Black and White

Ancient ruins, cemetery's and old buildings have always fascinated me.  I think it is my love for history. The architecture, craftsmanship and the intricate details that the builders incorporated into their work tell a story and I want to know what it is.

Sometimes when I review my photos from some of those places it doesn't look quite right to me.  It doesn't express the feeling that I would like it too.  That is when I look at the photo in black and white.  By doing this I feel as though I understand the essence of the story the photograph is trying to tell.  

I love Black and White

Sukhothai

I am a planning freak, call me organized, call me travel plan crazy - but I like to map out my trips well in advance.  For example, I purchased tickets for a trip to Cambodia last December for October of 2012, I know, I know... I am way ahead in the vacation planning department - but if I don't plan the trips would not ever happen. BUT last Sunday evening I stepped way out of my comfort vacation planning zone and decided to take a two day trip to Sukhothai, Thailand leaving the next morning.  Talk about spur of the moment...and I wasn't going to stay in a hotel or a resort - I was going to stay at a guest-house or hostel. (very back-packerish of me, don't you think!)  I was not brave enough to head out on my own, so I took Diana who is currently living in our spare bedroom until she leaves to move back to her home country of Venezuela this month.  Diana speaks Thai, and eight other languages, and was willing to go with me on this crazy adventure.


I love history, I love nature and I love driving...So I went to a place that was full of history, that had a natural countryside appeal and as for the driving I left that to my driver Sayan.  Sukhothai is about 425 km north of Bangkok.

Sukhothai, literally translating as the


 "Dawn of Happiness"


was the capital of first kingdom of Siam.








  A flourishing city in the 13th and 14th century.  The zenith of its influence was around 1275 when King Ramkamhaeng ruled.  He was both the temporal and spiritual leader.  Under his reign the kingdom was peaceful under one religion, Theravada Buddhism. The people were content and happy ( I can see why - the king did not require them to pay taxes !! I like a king like that)

As I visited this ancient city, I was filled with awe and wonder.  Everything centers around the main Wat or temple, they were devoted to Buddha and his teachings.  Inside the old walls of the city, it is peaceful and you get a since of the pride that the early Thai's had for their city.  The chedis and buildings are decorated with carvings and ornate designs.  Even though it was 1250 AD - they wanted there city to be beautiful and the remains shows their pride.

I loved using my camera and had a great time visiting this wonderful place that is so rich in history.

Date Night with ELI

It is a nice balmy Thailand Friday night, if you call 85 degrees at 11:30 PM and 78% humidity balmy!  Ron is on a business trip to the motherland, America.  He has been gone for a few weeks now, and when he gets back he is off to Jakarta, Indonesia and then to Manila in the Philippines.  We rarely have dates nights, we do more date trips - our last one was to Ko Phi Phi for some scuba diving.  I usually find myself alone on the typical Friday date night - but tonight was different.


I had a date with a handsome blond with big beautiful blue eyes and eyelashes that any women would kill to have.  His name is Eli and he is FIVE.  Eli and I found that we share many things in common...


1.  His favorite color is green and so is mine.
2.  Eli loves hour long foot massages and so do I - especially when they cost $6.50!
3.  Eli loves stuff crust cheese pizza, just the pizza part and I love just the crust part so we make a perfect pizza eating machine.  Eli ate his age in slices, while I stopped at three crust.
4.  Eli loves to cook  and guess ...so do I.
5.  Eli loves to walk - so I walked him home.

My Friday Date night was perfect and I have the pictures to prove it!

Thanks Eli

May Day Memories

One of my earliest memories is when I was in Mrs. Anderson's Kindergarten class.  It was May 1st and she was telling us about the festival of May Day.  She told us about dancing around a May pole and making May Day Baskets.  I made my first May Day basket that day!

Heidi in 3rd row 6th little cutie!

Wikipedia explains that "The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers. Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized during the process of conversion in Europe now a more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the Maypole and crowning of the Queen of the May. The one thing that I remember is fading in popularity, and that is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps. 

I remember making May Day baskets and picking flowers from my yard - placing them in the homemade basket and leaving on the neighbors door across the street.  Tony and Marion were quiet old neighbors and I always had a soft spot in my heart for them.  I think they received May Day baskets every year that I was in elementary school.  The baskets got more elaborate as I got older but the message was still the same..."someone this thinking about you and wishing you a wonderful May Day".

I miss those days...I missed it this year - but I think I will try to revive the May Day Basket tradition for next year.