Kathin, Reggae buses, a steak house, and Sanuk.

We got up today at 4:30, we are going to take a van with some local people to a Kathin ceremony at Kao Yai. The Kathin ceremony is at the meditation center for Wat Thamkrissana Dhammaran. Jit's aunt, who is around 80 will be going with us. Tuke, Jit's aunt, Moit, a cool little kid about 4 or 5 years old, Jit, and I started walking to the boat dock. Sthe and Juke gave two people a ride and were going to come back for us, but Juke ran out of gas, we saw him wheeling the bike back home, and Sthe had to go back and get some gas, so the three of us walked a good distance, it was dark, cool, and beautiful. As the day slowly brightened the sun was reflecting off a cumulus cloud from the day before. The days are getting shorter, the difference between sunset and sunrise it is about 11 hours now. We all got to the dock and across the boat to the van eventually.

We got in the mini van and then waited for some other people to show up, Moey and her friend were going to meet us so that Moey could park her truck. We then picked up two more friends and family members in Bangkok. When we got in the van there was an awful, violent, adventure movie on, I did not especially want to watch people beat up, murdered, and lit on fire on the way to a Kathin ceremony. Luckily there were no more adventure movies, but there was a Cariboo (sp) concert and a funny Thai movie called Jaew (Servant). As I understand it the Servant is a person from Issan who helps the family and knows the families business, anyway from what I could catch, and the visuals, it was pretty funny. There was a dignified white women, the family matron I guess, who spoke Thai in a manner that seemed to be funny. Anyway there were no more violent movies and the movies were not too loud.

The women in black was at the 7-11 and when we returned she was also there at 8:00 at night. I also saw another "regular" a very disheveled man who sleeps on a mattress beside the road. I do not know where he goes when it rains. His "blanket" looks the color of a monks robe and his mattress is against the Wat wall. I think the Klong Toey Wat serves food around 8:00 in the morning and helps some of the people a little bit. The man has very long messed up hair and I would guess he is dealing with alcohol and maybe mental illness. I know that Thailand has a mental health system. There was a man in our community who has schizophrenia. He was hospitalized for a short time and is back in the community, I assume he is taking medication because he makes sense now. He lives in the house right next to Jit's old house. I do not know how street people get mental health care. I did read in the Bangkok Post that care was supposed to be available.

Waiting in the mini van I saw Monks and followers going out to gather food, Motorbikes carrying people every which way, pigeons, beautiful clouds, dogs, street food, a dog sniffing a Taxi's tire, a brilliant orange Taxi, bicycles, a ragged looking green bus, and Pepsi signs in Thai. People are getting ready for the day and all the systems are starting to work, it is Sunday morning.

Driving over the express way, with the sun coming up, I could see the silhouettes of minarets and Wats. There were many apartment blocks with clothes hanging from windows. The more I notice the more interesting the hanging clothes become. I see clothes hanging to dry in the oddest locations.

A see a sign advertising "Alpine Golf" which seems pretty odd in the Bangkok area. On the way to Kao Yai I also saw a totem pole beside the road, I thought I saw it in 2004, so I was looking for it again. The totem pole is just before you pass by the concrete plants on the highway to Korat. There are also cowboys, cows, and steak houses by the road. We stopped for a steak on the way back and it was, for me, not meeting my expectations, it was tough and cooked in some kind of sweet brown gravy. I think that is what a steak is in Thailand. We did eat at a Sizzlers in 2004 and the steak was what I was expecting. It is odd to see cowboys and spirit houses.

There are many corn fields on the road to Kao Yai, I had some corn on the cob at the Kathin ceremony and it was wonderful.

When we got to the ceremony I saw many buses and vans. I think the event was publicized well in Bangkok. The Abbott seems to be very well respected. He spoke a long "sermon" that was listened to attentively. The ceremony was very different then the one I experienced at our local Wat, especially there was no wonderful music. There were many large tents and people sat and ate, it felt like a large fourth of July picnic. A thunderstorm passed over and it poured, some trucks and cars got stuck in the mud, but everybody helped out and it all worked out. There were many nuns in white robes in attendance. There were some farangs wearing white. In the rain we went looking for the van, I said it was fun, the rain is not cold, and the person I was with said it was Sanuk. She was right, it was fun.

People bring pre-packaged buckets of gifts and pre-wrapped gowns. It seems a little insincere, but the buckets are for sale near every temple. I wonder what the monks think about all the buckets of stuff they get. It is supposed to be useful and essential, but it must be pretty boring too.

One of the people that was with us is very deeply in to Buddhism, to me she seemed a little like a "Jesus Freak" from the 60's, she was blissed out. Watching the happiness and attention in her face was amazing, but also unsettling, just like it was watching some of the "Jesus Freaks" when I was much younger. People sort of waited for audiences with the Abbot and she just stayed, and stayed, and listened. We spent an extra hour waiting, before we could go, because she would not leave. It all worked out though, and she is very sincere about her beliefs.

On the way back it was raining in the mountains and I could convince my self that we were in Western Washington with the hazy mountains, the green trees, and the road.

The steak house that we stopped at was right next to a bus rest stop. After eating we went shopping and the most amazing crazy buses were there. The front windows and sides were covered with VERY colorful decals and designs, the buses blared music when they arrived that sounded like Thai Reggae. One of the bus attendants was wearing a very obscene t-shirt. I did not get the entire slogan in a photograph which is probably a good thing. I asked Jit how you could avoid riding on one of the buses and she said they were charters. When we passed one of the buses, in our van, it looked like there were speckles of light on the ceiling like a disco ball from a nightclub. Somebody had there leg partly out the window, I assume sleeping. The whole thing was such an explosion of absurd energy that I felt happy thinking about it all the way back home. There are pictures in the blog to enjoy. To me they were Thai Reggae, rock and roll, disco buses. I would hate to ride in one, but I love seeing them!

The sunset was beautiful, we drove the long way to let some people off. I saw a burning tire beside the road and wondered what that was about, but later there was a stalled truck in the dark. I assume it was a warning. Some of the neon lights looked like a carnival. We passed Fashion Island and eventually made it home. We ran to get the large boat before it stopped running at 8:00 and then Juke came in the car to drive us to our community. My mind gets exhausted from all the experiences and sights that I see on our excursions.

Tomorrow we go to STOU and I will get a new project. Wednesday is Loy Krathong and we will spend it at STOU. STOU has some beautiful ponds and I have heard the celebration is a large event for the Nonthaburi area. We might try to visit Phuket to see Woody Leonhard this week. So many plans are mentioned,changed, modified, disappear, and then reappear, that I just try to stay one day ahead, if I am lucky.