Bali Bagus

Beautiful Bali, how we love it here.  Time passing as in a sweet slow steady meditation.   There is no rush.  The rain and sun dictates your progression throughout the day.  The first week there was rain almost every afternoon.  The heat and humidity intense.  We often stayed in the pool while the rain came down, nothing else to do.  A couple of times the thunder and lightning were so close and sudden, we had to run to our room.  The rice terraces are maturing from bright greens to golden yellows.  Always the clouds.  We have had wonderful walks along the hidden pathways, through gardens, beside small houses, and narrow waterways to get to favorite restaurants and stores rather than on the main road.  I love these "secret" pathways.  At night you always need a flash light and in the rain it can be slippery, but it is so beautiful and natural to follow the curving quiet paths to get to where you wish to go.  Sweet smiling faces greet you as you pass and never seem to mind that you are here in their space.  The Balinese are such kind gentle people with soft voices and smiling eyes.  Remarkable when you realize how life has changed here with all the invading tourist, motorcycles, and crowding.  We enjoy all the fruits of their labors.  Beautiful lush gardens manicured by hard working men under the heat of the sun.  Rooms cleaned every day by teams of quiet young boys and girls, flowers arranged lovingly on your bed.  Fresh fruit sliced artfully and delicious foods proudly served every day.  A morning greeting like a soft song in their accented english.  We've had wonderful adventures with friends living here.  Walking one day with Alexsandra and Cathirose for brunch along the pathways to Elephant, where we enjoyed hours of conversation and fresh juices. Later wandering back by the market, stopping for croissant and coffee.  Then returning to one of their houses where we sat and talked while we watched the rain for a couple of hours. Later dashing out in a fine drizzle with sarongs over our heads to the small open air, thatched roofed restaurant we love called Lala and Lili's for a delicious dinner.  A long casual day with friends and the beautiful textures of Bali. Morning and evening offerings, small handmade trays made of woven strips of leaves filled with flowers, rice, a cookie perhaps and incense, are placed at all the shrines, in cars, on doorsteps, in shops, and even on motorcycles.  Everywhere you look are these little colorful offerings, which the birds then eat the rice and the dogs take a nip of a cookie or biscuit, scattering the offerings but no one cares.  Beauty prevails here, art is abundant.  Paintings, wood carvings, jewelry, gardens, flower arrangements.  Everywhere you look something has been touched and made beautiful.  Of course there are the usual irritations as well.  The noise from the cycles, the crowded roads which you walk alongside and the cars are just inches away from you, the Mosquitos, the buses which clog the roads bringing in the tourist that come for the day, the food that may or may not taste the same as you had the day before, probably prepared by another cook and so unexpectantly different.  But who cares really when we are treated so tenderly, and with such open hearted generosity.