I was--briefly--the king of the world at the swimming pool on December 1st.

One day the swimming pool will be crowded. That is not today when there are only a few families living in this newly built housing estate. We are the only people who use the swimming pool at night. 

20221201

A somewhat pinkish sunset?

20221201

Red is the sunset on this rainy evening.

I mean a very nice red that started out kind of light and then just got darker and darker.

Photos below are in reverse chronological order. (Because Google does not give me a way to control sort order when importing photos.)

20221229

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

My partner put the tree up on 20221128. I guess she felt it. We'll just have to go dark on 20221207, Pearl Harbor Day. At any rate, I like seeing the tree. Next up is the yard, including a huge Christmas tree in front of the house.

It was easy to decide where to put the tree.

Only one location was possible.

20221128

Jingjoks: They sure do put themselves in unfortunate situations.

Disclaimer: Photos deliberately NOT provided.

This morning started with a bit of unpleasantness here in Nakhon Ratchasima. My partner found a dead jingjok (small gecko lizard) in the track of the sliding window. the one by the kitchen table. We share dirty duties depending on who is less freaked out by a particular situation. In this case, the duty fell on me.

Extracting the body of the jingkok was difficult due to the narrowness of the window track. Tweezers would have worked perfectly, but I wasn't going to pick up a days-old jingjok body (still soft) with any of our tweezers. Now that I think about it, needle-nose pliers would have worked well. Too late now.

The ants had already discovered the jingjok body, and were going about their business. Not so bad. Just ants. But what were those white things that look like grains of rice? They're moving? Oh, shit! Maggots!!! 

I finally got the jingjok body onto a paper towel using the blade of a thin box cutter. I took the body outside to its final resting place. Fortunately for me, while I was doing that, my partner went after the writhing maggots (not so many... only three or four... that I saw...). I am so glad I didn't have to do that part. 

It was a team effort. The entire area has been sanitized. Breakfast was completed. There are many and diverse creatures here--even in town. But let there be many and diverse creatures. So it must always be here on this plashy earth. This morning gives us promise of a glorious day.

Thanksgiving dinner in Nakhon Ratchasima

Thanksgiving dinner in Nakhon Ratchasima this year. I'm thankful. 

20221124

I thought: "There's something strange about that cloud..."

And I was right. Underneath the big white cloud were some very dark clouds, and it turned into a lightning show with a touch of thunder, followed by a brief windstorm, and ending with some toy rain. Still, it knocked the temperature down from 28 to 26 degrees, and I would normally be grateful for that, but it sure would be nice if the rain could hold off until the farmers finish harvesting this year's crop of rice.

20221117

First Christmas song heard on November 17th.

First Christmas song of 2022 heard in the men's bathroom at Central Plaza on 20221117. It was Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree. I shall strap myself in for a very long ride because they'll be playing this stuff through February at least. 

Maybe I'll get myself a modern-day Etch A Sketch for Christmas.

20221117

Last day of the 2022 Phimai Festival

Too bad, too sad for those who attended the Jayarvaman VII show on the night of the 13th. They got rained on!!! Not as bad as it sounds because it's so warm here that when you get rained on, you're not even cold--just wet. We watched it rain from the hotel window. It finished within an hour, and the party started right back up--until the next set of rain. 

Not dying fast enough?

Drink some of these.

Thank you (NOT!!!) 7-ELEVEN for exporting the idea of slurpees.

20221113

Phimai Historical Park in the daytime.

ปราสาทหินพิมาย / Prasat Hin Phimai was great at night with the special lighting for the show. But it is equally great in the daytime. Not sure how many times I've been, maybe three or four? It doesn't matter. If you come over here to visit me, you will be dragged up there. You have been warned, but the good thing is that you will probably like it a lot. How often do you get to walk around thousand-year-old buildings?

20221112