These past few days, the cold wind blew in from Siberia making city people very excited by cold winter days. In the north of Thailand, morning frost has made front page news. Luckily we don’t have mountains around here so the temperature couldn’t drop that low. But the plunge in temperature from 27 degree Celsius during the day down to 9 degree Celsius at night has been quite a shock to me and orange cats. We don’t have heating systems in our houses but a fireplace would be a good idea. I ought to investigate how Japanese houses used to have a stove for boiling water in the middle of their houses in the old days.
I looked forwards to the rising sun every morning as the sunshine would slowly warm up the house. The wind factor made it seems much colder. So, I had to put on two sweaters on top of a t-shirt and cotton shirt; altogether four layers! The plus effect of this cold weather is that all the mango trees are in blossoms. This the first time I see mango trees having amazing yellow blossoms; some trees are just full of millions of tiny blossoms.
The sight is just awesome; I wonder how many blossoms would turn into fruits. I couldn’t imagine half of those blossoms turning into fruits; the mango trees wouldn’t be able to cope with the weights. This year we would have lots of mangoes to donate to the local temple and elderly villagers. Ripe mangoes go very with steamed rice and sticky rice with coconut milk. We have almost twenty mango trees of various kinds. So, I should learn to make mango jam and chutney one day.
I had to cut those white flower weeds as they spread very fast. The wind would blow their very small seeds everywhere. Luckily I had found a slighter electric bush cutter whose battery lasted about forty minutes. Petrol prices have continue to rise so using the big lawn mower has become more costly. Working in warm sunshine under blue sky did cheer me up tremendously. Life seemed so calm and simple; the worries and anxiety about the harsh real world of financial and political turmoils and possible impact just vanished among the green trees.
I just loved those blooming mango trees; they seemed to be putting on a fantastic show of strength and creativity. We hardly looked after these trees as we planted them to enrich the land, get some shade in the fields and by chance some fruits would come by to nourish us. Those squirrels in the nearby woods have been feasting on all the fruits including coconuts in our garden. It’s always nice to have plenty of fruits to share with neighbours and friendly villagers. We even have informal bartering systems among some villagers.
In the evening when I was about to water the garden. Kwan, the younger orange cat, noticed a small cobra snake coming out of the pile of dry leaves. The snake was very defensive and aggressive. It actually tried to attack Kwan who was just sniffing what’s in front of her. So, I had to intervene at once; Kwan never confront a young cobra before. She never dealt with ordinary green snakes or poisonous snakes before. She was only one foot away from the cobrao so I quickly entered the circle and picked Kwan up. She was startled by my action but luckily she didn’t jerk back strongly. This showed me that Kwan trusted me a lot.
That snake then turned the other direction and slipped away among the grass. I used to torchlight to see the beautiful patterns of a young cobra of almost one meter long. I was so lucky that he didn’t plunged its teeth in my arms while I was only twelve inches away. The following morning I found the old snake skin! I forgot that we had two spots where visiting snakes liked to come for hiding while shedding old skins. One spot would be under the stairs where gardening tools were kept; this spot was frequented by green snakes. The other was where this cobra turned up. I was quite surprised by the appearance of this snake, as we rarely saw any snakes since the plandemic. My gardener used to come face to face with a big cobra at the back of the garden. She was quite shaken by the experience.
So, the day was full of simple calm pleasure and a bit of excitement in the evening. The weather was very cold in the night; houses in the tropic climate don’t have heating system or hot water. So, tap water was freezing. However we usually have some water heater system for shower. The mini-Ice Age has officially started this year; it’s a four hundred years cycle which had been recorded in many countries around the world. We just have to search for alternative sources of hidden or censored facts and data. That’s partly why I knew we had to grow our own food sooner. So, I have to learn about gardening and try out simple lifestyle in the countryside. This is a journey that brings me a lot of joy and headache but I would not change it for any other offer. It’s good to be close to the earth and in contact with Mother Nature.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.