Subtle

To know things as it is is to let everything act as they want. Let it be free - because you want to bind it, you have difficulties. It means to have a subtle understanding of our life. And our practice should be based on a subtle understanding of our human life, and a subtle understanding of all the rest of existence.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 

Annapurna has not disappeared

They've stayed open. Ben is in the US, but Krisna is putting time into it and others and they've changed the menu and are gonna see what happens. It's such a cool place that appeals to a lot of different people, not just the hip young ones. But there are just too many restaurants and too much everything in South Bali and it's hard for most places to stay open for long. Here's their Facebook page.

Little Lizard

This little lizard sat still on the floor by our dinning table while we ate there a month ago and I took this photo. Think it was stunned cause Sarah accidentally started to step on it. After dinner it disappeared. Then it showed up in my store-room on the floor the other day and just sat there again. I left it alone. We're used to gekkos and the tiny cecek, not slow moving lizards. I wonder if it's okay. It went back undercover somewhere. It's got subtle blue-greyish markings. About eight inches long. - dc

Andrew in Kyoto

Andrew Atkeison sent this email with photos about his few days in Kyoto. He's having a great time. - dc

Pernikahan

Congratulations Krisna Patra and Alanna Day who were married today in Sanur. Looking forward to the reception at 3pm. - dc

Contradictory Existence

Well, actually, the unity of opposites, the pairs of opposites exist. Good and bad exist. But there is no good without bad. There is no bad without good. We always exist as a pair of contradictory - we are a pair of contradictory existence. Perfect contradictory existence! [laughs] We are like this. We are not perfect, but contradictory existence!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 66-08-17 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com What's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts. 
Didn't edit this much because i think it's interesting the way he said it.

Carl Sagan and the Dalai Lama

Just watched the 12 parts of Carl Sagan's original Cosmos. Truly great with an eloquent finale about choosing life. His frequent dissing of mysticism and lumping it in with religion, myth, astrology, superstition all together made me speak to him sharply sometimes (because he's behind that screen there isn't he?) but I know what he meant by that was not the same as what I have in mind when I use that word. Here's a brief report on a day spent with the Dalai Lama by his talented wife and partner in making Cosmos, Ann Druyan.

Comparing Critters

Really got the catching cockroaches act down. Been getting one every few days. They seem pretty smart to me, I can sort of sense them thinking and being scared. They hide well - well, maybe like a five year old kid. See me and scamper for cover. They're still pretty easy to get. It's good we don't want to catch the tiny cicak (pronounced chichak) lizards that I used to think were small gecko.
Those guys are super fast. But we want them. I tell them to eat the cockroaches but many of them must be too small - shorter in length and way less in width. I wonder if the cockroaches eat them - if they can catch one. The cockroaches aren't bad or dangerous. They're just a nuisance. They're elsewhere sometimes but mainly the bathroom - because of the water for sure. I walk in there and start looking for one. We don't kill anything inside. I use what I call the Have-a-Heart Roach Hotel, a large plastic cup with a hard sheet of plastic a little larger than the diameter of the cup. Quickly put the cup over the critter then slide the plastice under, carefully pick up not allowing any opening it can slip through, walk it out front and release into the bushes. 2017 update: We've stopped new ones from coming in. There are cups over the floor drains in the bathroom that allow for slow draining as for shower water, and now steel wool around the kitchen sink drain pipe where it enters a hole in the floor. The steel wool is better. Have seen up to six at one time in the shower cup and once when it was left uncovered, caught ten in an hour in the bathroom.

In Japan the critter we'd stumble on would be centipedes. I just remembered Elin and me driving up to our Okayama house with my mother, sister, and Kelly, returning from a little trip. I immediately had a danger signal going off in my mind. Left them to unload, unlocked the door, went in first, walked straight to the bathroom, carefully picked up the towel off the towel rack and there was a maybe five inch long centipede on the back of the towel. Oh yes - here's another one - Taigen was staying with us and Elin and I had to go teach classes. When we came back, he was nursing an inflamed toe that had been bitten by one of those chilopoda. He said he'd wondered if he should cut his toe off. Good call not to. Told him I'd read there are no really dangerous centipedes, just painful ones. Glad we don't have them here in Bali. I'd compare my take on the cockroach with a creepy neighbor who comes over and you just wish would leave - and the centipede more like having a really small psycho inside with a tiny axe. 

Hillary gets through the hearing using ancient techniques

She mentions meditation, yoga, and flexing muscles as aides in maintaining her stamina and calm at the 11 hour Benghazi hearing. - thanks Peter Ford

Another example of out of control

BBC on Indonesian haze - it's not here in Bali, at least not that I know of. Authorities say it's harder to fight than terrorism. Got to get a handle on this folks. I think it needs to be seen as a global problem in order to soften people's ears to listen and better get through to people and governments to take this more seriously, to do their part, set an example, that if they let commercial interests rule, they're gonna gag. - dc

Katrinka update

Katrinka's been in the US since October 6th. She's about halfway through her trip there. For the last few days she's been with her son Seth and his mate Dakota and her daughter Story who are in this selfie or is that selvesies. They just left the Bay area and are driving North with two vehicles, one  a 16 ft bed rental truck with what's left of our stuff from storage.
Dear Clare Hollander took the cuke archives, Howie Klein took a bunch and Clay took two truckloads. The rest is going to cheaper storage in Bandon OR where Seth et al live. Katrinka will be with them till it's time to fly back. Thanks zillions Clare, Howie, and Clay for all the help and a gold star for Katrinka!

Physics brain bath

PBS Digital Studios Space Time dept. The presentation is frenetic MTV fast unlike the pleasant, fascinating Sagan and Tyson Cosmos styles - but these PBS shorts wash my mind of beliefs and assumptions more effectively and doesn't contain the opinions about matters they, to my mind,don't understand.

Ian's Birthday party

The birthday tea was fun. Had it at a table outside the rooms up at the homestay. Ians 75th. We're pretty even at tennis but he places the ball better - gets me running. Landlord David was there a little at first and Widya dropped by but mainly it was Ian, Cynthia, Julian - the Brit or Aussie with the baritone voice who lives there, and John, Aussie who is there bi monthly. He's tall, bald, nice, funny. Julian talks a lot and is humorous as heck.
Ian said that all three had John based names - Ian, Julian, and John - maybe the Julian was just because of the "ian" on the end which is an Irish John he said. I think Irish. Julian wants to nuke 3 billion people away to deal with various global problems. I told him I remember being in high school sitting around a barbque at a ranch listening to these right wing ranchers say we ought to bomb England because they're socialist. We had some good cake from Ruths and I don't usually like cake. They all had Nescafe - wow - and Cynthia gave me some Chinese tea from a Chinese friend back in the Philippines which I had no ideas how to spell. She said nobody there trusts Chinese imports. They were putting lead in food and milk to weigh it down more cause it was sold by weight. I said I'd seen a report on how they're poisoning themselves and a lot of foreigners are importing their food. Ian's right - too many people - but maybe effective family planning and management is a better way to deal with that than nukes which are dirty and irritating. 

Pembantu - helpers

K who I think but don't know for sure took the money is doing room cleaning now. I'm on the porch. Not looking for signs of guilt. He's my favorite. His partner W dominates him but they are harmonious. They talk softly constantly when they work together. K's more humble, genuine, a little sad. W is more up, playing a role, singsongy greetings. I like him too. Both are low key, small, from little villages.
I think they're influenced by the station of their caste which is or at least includes the role of servants. I don't really know and am not going to study it or try to understand, but it seems many people here are content with their status and jobs which are appropriate for the caste they were born in. But there are plenty who have clearly broken out of that sense of limitation and who have ambitions and hopes and frustrations. K and W are so grateful when we tip them every month - have to tip all four workers though the two women don't come here much, include it with the rent envelope. We're in the studios down the street by the hotel and landlord's home and homestay has more places to rent and five irritating dogs which don't usually bite.

Errata

The last four excerpts indicated they were from Suzuki lecture 66-08-16 but they were really from 66-08-17. - thanks Michael Katz for the keen eye

A Confusing Moment

Decided to get another rattan piece of furniture, this one with only a top shelf so my legs can go under it and my laptop on the only shelf. That will be the sixth piece we’ve bought from the little old lady who makes them in her hovelesque shop off the busy bypass. We love them because they are light and inexpensive. Nyoman Dogen and I figured out the exact measurements.

Mainly I sit working on the spaciousness of what Katrinka calls the sattee and Nyoman, sofa. I sit with my legs comfortably crossed, laptop on cushion placed appropriately on lap. Periodically, at least once an hour, I put my legs down and I know it would be better to walk around or swim a few laps then but usually want to continue laptoping and it’s a little awkward to keep it stable on the cushion on my knees. Thus out of necessity the image of this artifact was born. I can also use the proposed piece of furniture in front of a chair, the seat of which is half a foot lower than the sattee so that was taken into consideration in establishing the height. We drew a picture with the measurements. Actually I drew one which was lost in the confusion so then he drew one.

The confusion arose when I went to the drawer in the cabinet across the room where I keep my wallet which was there but something wasn’t right. My wallet was open – and empty of paper bills. Juggled that in my head for a moment. It’s never like that. It’s never unzipped in there. Haven’t taken anything out of it or opened that drawer since I put it in there at about six last night. That’s when I paid our sort of doctor 200,000 (bout $15) for an ear check up and some drops to deal with my always wet and often stopped-up ear canals. That's the amount I was going to give Nyoman. What had been left in the wallet were five one hundred thousand bills on one side, two tiny coins in the middle, and some small bills amounting to maybe fifty thousand on the other. Bout 40 bucks. Enough to last me a few days or more. Lucky thief - had just replenished. Unlucky thief – or thief in a hurry - the envelope with the reservoir of small bills next to it was untouched, blending in with the mishmash. Not unlucky but careless me now with that empty wallet - except for those two tiny shiny coins. There’s no time I could have dropped it. Haven’t been anywhere. Haven’t taken it out. When I was sleeping the screen door was latched and when the room was being cleaned I was right here facing the cabinet. Keep reviewing.

Oh –oh – didn’t lock up when I went swimming not long before Nyoman showed up. Never do. I can see the door from the pool --- and double oh oh --- talked to the owner of the hotel with the pool for a while – around the corner out of sight. Maybe fifteen minutes. Must have been then.

Next door told blind man Phillip, his Bali wife Rini, and his trusty aide Nyoman Mabuk. They were on the porch. No one was on their porch when I went swimming. The two males weren’t even back from their daily pub pilgrimage yet. Rini and her nanny Ilu were inside together with baby Mary who looks so beautiful and happy which distracted me for a moment. Philip asked if I had an idea who did it. I said I’m going to forget about it (Sort of). But he persevered, looking at it from Agatha Christie’s point of view, do any suspects come to mind? I said there were a few. He kept probing and I said that really it’s hard to see it as anyone other than one particular person, a person whom we like very much and who knows where I keep my wallet (but not the key to the safe).

Phillip knew whom I meant. I said they can keep it. I’m not even mad – not even at myself. When I suffer a loss, I don’t have to rely solely on the customary it’s only money etc type of thinking to try to banish darn-it feelings. I put it into my research and development budget. Also –as a kid sitting alone at night on the floor in front of the little TV in our den, I was so moved by the scene in Les Miserables where the policeman drags the urchin who stole the candelabra back to the church and the priest, who’d earlier taken him in, says, oh no I gave him that. The verdict here for thievery can be as bad as back then in Paris – a thief was just beaten to death on the street by angry locals in another part of touristy south Bali. No one will be lynched because of this and anyway, might still find that money on the floor or in some place I can’t now imagine. Or someone who knows where I keep my wallet could have walked up to the door looking for Katrinka or me and – that’s possible. Certainly other things I was sure of turned out to be wrong. Ask Katrinka. But I can’t shake the memory of him walking by quickly while just arrived Nyoman and I talked on the porch. Usually they say hello. Oh – if it is him, I bet he’s scared. I would be – running over and over through how all the evidence points only to me. Maybe I should ask him some innocent questions tomorrow so he’s sure I must know and doesn’t build confidence. Whoever it was I’m sure they needed it – maybe a sick child or a gambling debt. It’s hard to keep in mind that even here, rupiah are worth a lot lot more to the working class than the bule.

That all reminds me – need to write about the several times greater amount that my landlady’s sister stole from me in Tiruvanamali while near the Ramana Ashram for four months. I didn’t mention it in the unfinished India Trip Notes. Got to cash in on that 2011 research and development investment.

Megafires are here to stay

At least for a while. Read bout it in the Rolling Stone.

That's the heart pool at Harbin Hot Springs in Middletown, CA - minus the structures that used to be there and around. Burned down with 70,000 acres not long ago.

heart-liver

There's the heart-mind we're used to in Japanese Zen - from China. And here there's the heart-liver. Wrote to MK: You're going to be sailing today. Hati hati (be careful in Indonesian. That's heart heart, the emotional heart. It actually means liver-liver.

It's a Kecil Kecil World

Talking to Katrinka, asked her where she was. In San Rafael on 4th St. by the BOA. In a week she'd been from the airport south of San Francisco to Mill Valley, Stinson Beach, Bolinas, Santa Rosa - and where she'd be in next few weeks - Sebastopol, Mendocino County to see Clay, SF for a few days then up to Oregon as her son Seth drives a truck with what's left of our storage. Just the territory covered in the Bay Area is larger than Bali and we're almost always within walking distance of where we live here.

Suddenly I saw myself as living in a small, limited world while she was in a place of vastness with so much variety and ease of travel. It can be pretty congested here going from one place to another. It was for her too going from San Rafael to Sebastopol yesterday because the hold up on that narrow stretch from Novato to Petaluma but it's just an occasional experience for her in her comings and goings.
I know that the image, the general idea most would get of what it's like where we live is not at all how I saw it and can continue to see it if I take that approach. Overall, yes it's pleasant and there are some super perks, but for me it's like being confined in a nice place. With the schedule of meditation, yoga, walking and other activities, and lots of work, it's a version of putting the snake in a bamboo tube. Yet I'm not eager to get out. Wherever we are, the real limits are in the realm of clinging to an idea of self and restlessness.

Note: Bali N to S is 62 mi (87 km) and E to W 54 mi (100 km) - but its territory is less than that indicates - about 2200 sq mi (5600 sq km). That's about the size of Marin and Sonoma Counties together. Those maps are at about the same scale. Kecil is Indonesian for small.

Note to Katrinka in US on Sanur temp

Remember I said it seemed pretty warm inside sitting this morning but walking down Tamblingan seemed not so warm and a nice breeze. The Guardian site has a little weather box on the left and it was 30 (86) at 8 but dropped to 27 (81) when I was walking here to Art Cafe (good tea made with loose leaves) then 24 (75) predicated at 2.
Figured those conversion numbers out quickly and checked online by typing "27 c to f"  etc - my system is so much easier than the 9/5 5/9 Celsius to Fahrenheit method. To review, memorize the basics - 0 = 32, 10 = 50, 20 = 68, 30 = 86 ( reverse of the prior), 40 = 104, 50 = 122, 60 = 140 (the outer two ends only needed here for reference). Every five degrees C is 9 F so those are easy to either memorize or get to from the tens. And every degree C = 1&4/5 F so two will do with an easy round off down or up. I can quickly get within a degree that way. I know this fascinates you - also a good post for today's Saunters, though I know it's not the first time. However I think this may be a more thorough presentation. - dc

News from Bali Update

Katrinka reads a lot of local news and commentary and turns me on to a bit of it. Here's something she just forwarded me from where she is now in the Bay Area.

Om Swastiastu ...


With August foreign tourist arrivals now in hand, we can begin to assess the impact of airport closures caused by the Mr. Raung volcano.


Last week a purse-snatcher in Seminyak was set upon and beaten to death by his intended victim, a female Chinese tourist, assisted by a group of bystanders. On the other side of the Island in Sanur, an Italian tourist unhappy with what he considered rude service at a local “warung”, decided to stab the proprietress.

Who said you can’t legislate love? The anger and indignation in some sectors over a gay wedding at a luxury resort in Ubud show little sign of abating. The hotel involved is publishing large public apologies while police are threatening to make a scapegoat of a hapless female sales executive working at the Resort.

Bali’s deputy-governor says rules are being drafted to compel foreign workers in Bali to speak Indonesian.

Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs Minister announces she is considering a moratorium on all private sector reclamation projects. Will this include the controversial Benoa bay project?

The Bali Post has conducted a public opinion survey showing widespread displeasure with how the Government is handling the rabies outbreak. A new early warning tsunami tower installed at Kedungu brings to 9 the number of towers now in operation in Bali. The BMKG is asking the public to conserve water as Bali’s drought continues to worsen. And, Police are warning that motor vehicles staying in Bali more than 3 months need to convert their license plates to Bali registration numbers.

Indonesia has committed to spending US$244 million on tourism promotion in the coming year.

Bali Safari & Marine Park combines local ‘Tumpek Kandang’ celebrations with World Animal Day.

Bali’s deputy-governor has angrily denies that Bali is selling dog meat to dealers in Jakarta.

Cruise News: Foreign-flagged cruise ships are now authorized to carry passengers on port-to-port cruises wholly within Indonesia. And, the Province of Bali wants to build a cruise port in North Bali.

Aviation News: Tigerair Australia is certified as “Australian-owned” and eligible to fly between Australia and Bali. Avoiding a possible shutdown for Indonesian AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia is preparing to close and merge with Indonesia AirAsia X.

Annapurna to Disappear

Sad news. Annapurna, our favorite hang out is closing. The “Pay as you Feel” restaurant not only had the coolest crowd and best feeling, it had the best food – to us. Like food at home. Like hippie food. Not much meat or fish, sort of Indian, Indonesian, Mexican. Lots of dishes out in the evenings to choose from. Lots of vegetables.
Great funky, bluesy band Thursday nights. Open mike Monday and Saturday. I’ve played about five new songs there. Katrinka and I had our wedding dinner there. It’s only been open sixteen months and now Ben’s going to the States. Also, he said he can’t afford to keep supporting it. Sure – he should go. He’s still in his twenties. What’s App’d Katrainka and she responded there will be a big hole when she gets back.

Look at their Trip Adviser Page - that material on the table there where Ben's standing was a gift to the place, actually to the family, from Katrinka and me soon after they started. - dc 

No More Q-Tips

Oh boy. Another bad habit to give up. I think I have some cotton from a cotton swab stuck in an ear. Need to have my hearing checked anyway so I think I'll go get that done. I know you're not supposed to use these things for ears but I like doing it - so I read about it and now share this with you. I've only gotten into this habit in the last couple of years so don't think the withdrawel will be too bad. Before that they were something to clean tape machine heads with. - dc

Guilty period

I told an Aussie whose been in Bali for 35 years what a great job the manager of a restaurant she's associated with was doing. Yeah, she said, but he's suspect. Oh no - not again. This sort of thing keeps happening - missing money. Yeah, she said, in America you're innocent until proven guilty, here everybody's guilty. Ouch.

That "in America you're innocent until proven guilty" made me think. That's not exactly what I've seen. A young person I'm close to was going through a pretty psycho period and locked his keys in his car in front of a convenience store and aroused suspicion when he tried to get back in it. A police car came and he couldn't answer or relate to the policeman who threw him on the ground, was very rough with him, and arrested him. The serious charge was resisting arrest. His public defender was only trying to get the charges and sentence reduced in a plea agreement. I met with them and pointed out he doesn't know what you're talking about, that he was crazy and so they had two court appointed psychologists meet with him who said he was cognitively impaired and unfit to stand trial or to plea. So then they just waited for him to get sane which he did and got probation and a fine. There was no consideration by the system that he was crazy when it happened and he might not be guilty. There was no chance for him to say anything, no one really on his side except to get a lenient verdict. That there might be some version other than the policeman's was not considered. I corresponded with the police chief about it and he sent me a list of like 100 public outreach programs they had but nothing to deal with a situation like that. No way to sit down and talk about it, resolve it outside of court. Maybe only in the movies do public defenders have time to find and talk to witnesses, to point out that he wasn't resisting, he didn't understand what was happening. From this and other cases I've been around and heard about, to me the criminal justice system in America is just a big money machine - money for the cops, lawyers, judges, jailers, prison guards, food service people, consultants, and so forth. The lawmakers who are almost all quite well off and obviously have no idea what horrendous amounts even traffic tickets are, just make it more expensive with more laws with longer sentences. Five percent of the world’s population, 25% of the worlds prison and jail population. I'd say that in America you're innocent until proven guilty if you can afford it.

Finally, a candidate whom we can believe

Honest Gil Fulbright is running for president. That's his first campaign video.

Here's his website.

We wish him all the luck in the USA part of the world and enthusiastically post him in the Engaged section. 

Dogs and so forth

Dog talk around here recently. A dog has bitten a couple of people. One woman went to the hospital and flew back to Australia. The owner said there's always two sides to a story, maybe she antagonized it. Also said there was no need to get the dog checked for rabies because "there's no rabies around here."
There's a field across the street and dogs free to roam near fields where they can come in contact with infected animals dog or other - is said to be one of the prime conditions for spreading it.

Woman staying there was scared by another dog in the street who spoke to the landlord who asked what she wanted him to do about it and she said that he runs a guest house and he said something like you Americans always want other people to solve your problems. He's from London. Then she came back with something that antagonized him and he started calling her things I won't repeat and she moved out and lost twelve days rent. Then today walking back from tennis on a road where there are normally no cars except the gates open now for preparation for some event and a large guy in a small car with a normal sized woman next to him drove up to us and wanted to find said landlord and set him straight. This guy who may have been American was super mad about the whole thing. Said he's going to walk by every day and if a dog attacks him he'll kill it. I suggested his approach was going to be counter productive. That didn't cool him off at all. He seemed more dangerous than the dogs.  I think this could all be dealt with better with a sympathetic approach from each side. [That photo is supposedly of some rabid dogs here]

Plus point

I like many places in Asia cause can eat with my hands. Not Japan and I guess not China but India for sure and you can here - or you can suppliment the fork and spoon and occasional knife with a handy pickup. Spoons here are frequently used with forks to cut or tear things apart. Got rice? Can eat it with spoon, fork, or hands. And there are sinks to wash before as well as after eating.

Kuta Report part II

Kuta was great yesterday. Didn't go in the water though it looked terrific - great for body surfing and there were bonafide surfers as well. Just can't comfortably leave my computer and wallet somewhere. Stayed in Starbucks (macha latte sans syrup and tuna puff) till the sun got low then walked down the beach, a sunset beach. Lots of people. The water and waves looked so inviting. Sun a low red glowing ball through clouds.

Guy at Star Bucks had told me to go up the next side street for a good place to eat. It was narrow and crammed with shops and eateries, just enough room for a car to get through - very few of them but motorbikes now and then, and people people - lots of bule. Way down found an attractive, smallish place, no hype, no music, rattan and wood furniture, walls even in some sort of brownish reed mats or something. No table. Aussie guy, 63, large, drinking a coke invited me to join him so didn't have to wait. He was fine but it got a little weird, telling me how he'd bought a double switchblade and then that some teenagers were calling him a pederast so he pulled the switchblade on them and told them not to say that. Police came and he told them it was a misunderstanding and they went off. He said he'd said something to his young nephew six years ago who was naked and put his hand on his thigh and the police had called him about that and he'd said it was a misunderstanding but that he should never have said that but that his sister was out to get him. Police said ok but another complaint from someone else and were arresting you. He said he'd regret he'd said what he'd said the rest of his life and has had no contact with him or his sis since. A big regret. He said hello to a handsome young guy coming in and mentioned some other young guy to him. It reminded me of hitchhiking. Guys would reveal things to me that were so private and exposing. It was a little creepy but listening to him was my role then. And the fish steak, veggies, potatoes sort of like fries, a rare coke myself to blend in were perfect and a surprising low 39k rupiah- less than three bucks. Ride home for 100 with a cabbie who had a lot of questions and comments about yoga, meditation - sincere guy. 33 days till Kelly arrives. 35 till Katrinka returns. She's in bed at the Panama Hotel now. See what can get done. - dc

In Kuta

After dropping Katrinka off at airport, had taxi drop me off in Kuta, the busy, commercial center of Bali tourist trade. Walked down small busy street past shops and young women beckoning massage (yes actual massage mostly - this isn't Thailand - mostly). Been sitting in a Starbucks uploading Apps on iPhone to drown my sorrows. We haven't been apart for more than a few days in almost two years.
Katrinka asked me to get What's App so I did and we've been sending messages back and forth while she waits for her 5hr 15min flight to Taipei with a two hour layover (don't want shorter or greater risk of missing) then an 8hr 20min flight to SFO. That's actually pretty quick - only 15:35 from Denpasar to SF though she left home at 1pm here so that makes it ten minutes short of nineteen hours. She's being picked up at SFO by night manager of the Panama Hotel in San Rafael where she worked for years. Maybe get there at 10pm which would make it 21 hours door to door. We'll see how it works out. I guess this is boring but that's me - constantly counting, adding - time, money, little simple private unchallenging math games. No math whiz. Just enjoy it. Oh yes - steps, breaths.

That's the new airport. Every time we're here they've added to it. When Elin and I came in 1992 it was like a little Greyhound Bus station. I talked to a woman who came here in the early sixties - they landed in a bumpy field and needed a parachute. Cattle had to be shooed off.

Preparing for Lonliness

Katrinka flies to the US tomorrow, returned Nov. 11th so I'm loosing my buddy, partner, wife, lover, cook, trainer, this latter being the one that calls for inner strength. No problem here meditating in the morning and of course with every breath and movement throughout the day. We do that separately. But it's she who instigates yoga and walks. Even my swimming is related to going to the beach together or taking a break from typing and touch padding that she encourages. So there will have to be a sacrosanct schedule.
The Vipassana retreat at the first of November has no room for a partial participant right now as preference is given to those coming for the whole ten days - and Kelly arrives in the middle. I told Lily who runs them I could come right away any last minute time she let me know there was room. A Burmese monk who's been in Singapore for twelve years is leading it and I wanted to be there for that. Of course there are plans to get a lot done in this illusory veil of tears. We'll see. I'll take the kayak out and dream of Katrinka. - dc 

Happy Birthday!

to Kelly Chadwick with love from David and Katrinka. Kelly was born October 4th, 1973, at Green Gulch farm in the room at the top of the kitchen stairs.

 Spirit Pruners - Kelly's tree trimming biz 

Kelly cuke page

Breaking the no Sunday post rule for this breaking news.

Bully for Bali Bule

Going into an air-conditioned ATM space, a woman exiting said something I didn't understand at all so I just smiled and nodded. A woman inside asked me in English if I understood her. Nope. Then where you from she asked. America. Ha!, she said to you in Dutch that she could tell you're Dutch by the way you walk.
She was at  the ATM that dispenses bills of 50,000 IDR. I was at the one that dispenses hundred thousands. In between is a deposit machine. That's common here and in Malaysia. Sometimes see some foreigners in the morning market. Talked to a Spanish couple this morning. Tried to speak to them in Spanish but only Indonesian came out after the first couple of Spanish words. He understood. Said I had a slow switch in the noggin. Told me of an Italian short story about a priest, I think, who spoke many languages and got them all mixed up so he'd have a subject in one language, a predicate in another, and object in another and so forth. He mentioned he didn't meet many Americans here. I said we had a few American friends here. Passing a bar where Aussies hang out, said hi to a couple of them just coming out. Aussies are great to say hi to. Strong, friendly answers. And then there are the Scandinavians. Anyway, we're all bule.

Nice to be

Back in Bali. We love our friends in KL, but so good to be back. It's getting hotter but not too hot and the air seems clean and there are breezes and it feels like we're in a town now rather than an endless metropolis. And can jump in water here. Am up the street from that shrine in a cafe cukeing away. Better get back to Katrinka. She flies to the States in four days. Gone a month. Here or there, the grind continues. - dc

Concerned about Trash

Trash Heroes. Thanks Katrinka for sending me this. Every little bit helps. But also to go to the source to stop the flow of trash and pollution into the air, water, and land there need to be major systemic changes in laws regulations enforced plus an aggressive nationwide educational campaign in media, schools, etc.
Most people here don't seem to notice or care about trash and think it's fine to just drop stuff anywhere. I don't want to clean up their waste. I want those who make the mess to stop or be stopped. Texas was full of litter when I was a kid, especially the highways. Now it's quite clean and neat. It is possible to change. It's a global problem, but Indonesia is 2nd only to China with it's yearly contribution of an estimated 3.2 million metric tons of mismanaged waste, much of which ends up in the oceans. - see this about that.   And from that Wall St. Journal Article:

In Indonesia—the world’s fourth-most-populous nation—people living along the coast generated about 3.22 million tons of mismanaged plastic waste in 2010, about 10% of the world total. Of that, between 0.48 million and 1.29 million metric tons ended up as marine waste, the researchers estimated.

Government officials in Indonesia said they are working out the details of a 2008 law on waste management to improve conditions.

“Public awareness is getting better” when it comes to domestic waste, said Ade Palguna Ruteka, head of the environment ministry’s Bureau of Planning and International Cooperation. Regarding ocean waste, he said, “Indonesia must be concerned about it.”

“Waste management is improving” even if “a growing population has meant more waste,” said Ilham Malik, the ministry’s deputy minister for hazardous wastes.

- dc