Living With Nature

How we love this beach, it really grows on you. You begin to appreciate it's simplicity. We have had big thunder, wind, rain, clouds, sun, and the doldrums. All in the past few days. Our bungalow is maybe forty feet from the shore break. You really learn to live with the elements. Waves lap the shore, the palm fronds dance and make a sound like soft clapping. The rain beats a percussive beat on the roof tiles, and the fisherman go out in their small kayaks, set their nets and slap the water with their paddles to drive the fish into nets. We lay in our lounge chairs and find it impossible to read. The "show" before our eyes captures our attention. Planes fly from BKK at a steady pace and drop in from the clouds to approach the airport just behind the hills to our right.. The small boats run across the channel to the island across from us and the catamaran comes several times a day across from Hat Rin on the next island. Wind surfers, kite sailers, and a few annoying jet skies troll out beyond our beach. Sellers of sarongs, jewelry, fruit, ice cream, and wind chimes parade up and down the beach hoping you will buy something. The vista is changing with the sunlight and the clouds, light and dark, water green and deepest blue. Hours pass. We know all the regulars, others are intruders on our space. We hoard our bit of beach and give the evil eye to anyone who dares to come within spitting distance of our chairs. So nice to live in the moment, nature our driving force. The three girls who come to clean our room, "Sweep, Giggle and Mop" arrive and take command. Within minutes our bed is made, the teak floors cleaned and the bathroom sanitized. They leave as they came, laughing and talking constantly in their high pitched sing-song tonal Thai. Today we rented a motorcycle. I am afraid to go far but there is a secondary road that connects our little beach resorts that runs in a convoluted path and is not so busy. Found new restaurant and had wonderful pad thai for lunch. The owner asked us if it was good? We said really good. She laughed and said her cook took the afternoon off and so she cooked our order herself. It was great. Such nice mellow people. On the ride home we saw a water buffalo, fighting cocks, stray dogs, and water ponds filled with lotus blossoms. A great day.