contentment in a chair

9.12.12

Overnight rain, an overcast morning, northerly mile high clouds swiftly pass, Beem cuts grass below, Didi begins a wash, should I give her my clothes, an hour of sun dries everything but that hour eludes.  Ought to shave, Laxman tells me in four days the major parts of the renovation should be completed and  he’ll be ready to go. Last night they hung a cabinet in the kitchen, another door was hung.  The dining room needs another coat, same for the window frames.  I sit next to the window at the foot of the bed listening to Widespread Panic getting ready to move again.  I am tired of moving on but I know nothing else.  What a life I’ve found myself in.  Living alone nothing to tie me down, is there peace, may I be granted meaning, Lord?

By mid afternoon the clouds increased and so with it the rain, heavy rain, heavy fog, a wipe out.  Painting continued on into the reception room and now Maya and Laxman’s room.  I know trekking out into unpredictable weather isn’t the smartest move,  a wait until October would be prudent but last year October saw its highest levels of precipitation in memory.  I could wait until November, no, I will do this damn trek in rain sleet or snow.  Last year I didn’t do any treks, my choice this was, ok, it’s not the trekking season yet. 

Since Turkey I have put on weight and I can’t seem to lose it.  Here I joke that I am eating a kilo of rice a day.  At five pm I had a ‘snack’, a large plate of rice with ghee added, and a bowl of curry.  Less than two hours later I am offered another snack, pieces of stir-fried curry chicken, dry rice, like rice krispies only flat, and a curry vegetable.  Less than hour later Maya tells me it’s time for dal baht, please Lord, so much food, I am thankful but really.

Laxman’s mother is here, and they’re putting her in room five.  This must be luxury for her, or is it?  The couple seem to be quite content living in their small house with their small rooms and no kitchen to speak of, so says Beem as if he knows something I don’t.  Contentment will never be found in the most comfortable chair on earth if there isn’t peace in your heart. 

Standing outside next to the router for forty minutes, ridiculous.  I think I’m catching a cold.  What is a remedy here?