Rewarding myself with an ice cream by the river after working in the garden.

Some afternoon I would go on a working spree in the garden with a few helpers. Perhaps because I was a moody type with the tendency to be susceptible to emotional waves around the world, I could never tell which day would be very productive for gardening. But last week, I was blew away by the tide of trimming branches.

Luckily I had a good team work as everyone knew what needed to be done. I only needed to give an overview of what I wanted to get done. I would get on with trimming small branches to keep the trees in nice shapes, I had to used the new higher ladder and my small trimmer. The big tools would be used by those with the tasks of cutting off big branches. The two young helpers were getting skillful at climbing big trees. They encountered a few big ant nests; I was attacked by these fierce ants several time. These ants have developed more toxic bites over the years, I have noticed that their bites became very painful and deeper than before. They were very smart and aggressive ants. Unfortunately we didn’t have any anteaters in our garden. Perhaps we should find a predators for red ants to keep the ecology in balance.

Once the trimming and cutting of branches got under way, it became hard to stop working even though the sun was going to set. I had to stop them from working and tidy up the garden; I helped with putting away all the tools and brought them some cold drink. It was an intense way of working and we were all exhausted. I had to remind myself about feeding orange cats; they got up from whole day of napping to have dinner and get out for their evening stroll in the garden. They had no idea how hard we had worked in the afternoon. Lucky cats! They must have done lots of good karma to be living such a nice life.

I was very tired but I still had the urge to reward myself with an ice cream from the village shop. So, I told my cats to look after the house while I went cycling to see the river. They looked puzzled that I would go out while it’s getting dark soon. The village shop was about half a mile away and there was a good selection of ice creams in the fridge. I bought the cheapest chocolate ice cream, I found out it tasted much better than the fancy expensive ones. I noticed there’s more chemical ingredients in fancy ice creams. Perhaps I would have to make my own ice cream one day.

I cycled to have my ice cream by the river next to the local resort. I thought the owner was going to close her small resort as there were any customers in the past years. But the restaurant’s open and there were less than ten guests on that day. This place used to be crowded and full of activities a few years ago. It’s quite popular for group’s parties and wedding receptions. I was glad that the resort’s still open for business. In the past I thought I could apply for a part time job there, the chance became nonexistent nowadays.

The sky became very cloudy as villagers on both sides of the river began to slash and burn their fields after the summer harvest. The wind direction has adversely affected people on the Thai side. Though there’s law to punish people who burned their fields but it’s almost impossible to enforce this law as that meant arresting everyone in the village. There were no incentives or recommended practical alternatives for villagers to stop burning their fields. A very talented businessman turned into top producer of organic fertiliser had suggested workable solutions but politicians ignored his advise as these wouldn’t be conducive to commissions and corruptions.

So, we had to put up with fine dusts and toxic air quality during summer months. Luckily our area was far away from the problematic concentration of unhealthy air quality. The sunset would look rather sad and dull in summer while the river almost dried up. More dams in China and Laos have begun to hoard water for their own use and to produce electricity. It’s rather sad to see the river and wild life being affected by human activities and greed. I was afraid that Mother Nature would punish human beings one of these days. There were still fault lines in Laos and north of Thailand. I would dread a big earthquake which would affect these new dams in Laos and China in the future.

The two big houses near the riverfront belonged to expats who married local villagers. I once saw one family with three children in student uniforms waiting for school bus. Lifestyle around this area could become too dull and boring for city dwellers as most people went to bed very early and got up before 5 o’ clock in the morning. I have yet to adapt to this schedule but I was so used to working late in the evening. Perhaps I was a bat or an owl in one of my past lives. The ice cream lasted me about five minutes, just enough to quench my thirst for vanilla ice cream with chocolate coating.

I cycled around checking out some old trees and usual landmark. The fishermen have moved their tents closer to the water edge. It has become very hard to find big fish these days; I wished there was some negotiated agreements on how often and how much those dams in China and Laos should adhere to. Countries downstream would continue to suffer ecologically and financially if these dams were allowed to operate as they pleased.

Our politicians didn’t have the courage to engage in serious negotiations with neighbouring countries for fear for personal repercussions on their foreign investments. So I could only pray and meditate for some divine intervention and Mother Earth’s help in sending us extra rain when nature most needed fresh running water. The weather forecast just warned people about sudden storms and heavy rain these four days.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.