Change 20 - no change

After a long debate about whether we would continue to keep our office and staff house at the same location, we check available houses for rent. Nothing much out there, so we're staying in the same place for now. I don't like it much, but I don't have to live there so I'm going along with what my staff want to do.

It does have a few positive points - a nice yard and strange fish pond.

This is my contribution to That's My World - a site of great pictures from all over the place!

Change 10

I found my old camera (and equally as important, the charger). I took this picture while on a long run this morning:



I love these flowers, which start to bloom in January. The seasons are such a change from the other side of the world, where everyone is getting snowed in. Just look at these flowers and know that there is spring elsewhere in the world!

Sky Watch Friday and Change 9

Change of plans: We originally planned to fly back to Vientiane but the airline called me and said that the flight had been canceled. I guess not enough people on the plane.

It's easy enough to drive to Vientiane now, though it takes eight hours. However, it's eight hours through incredible scenery, especially during this time of the year when the skies and clear and the late afternoon light is so beautiful.

The tall grasses glow in the sunlight. People cut these grasses and pound the seeds out of them before tying them up to make brooms.

Closeup with moon.

Grass in the sunlight.

Mountains in the distance.

Last view of the plum tree before we left for Vientiane. I imagine that by the time I return to Xieng Khouang, I will have missed the final stage of the blossoms - when they fall off and cover the ground with pink. I tell my friends that this is Xieng Khouang pink snow.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

Change 7

I've been in Laos for 12 years, and have seen a lot of changes here. The roads in Phonsavanh, the capital city of Xieng Khouang, are all paved now. We have 24 hour electricity, and a municipal water system which pipes water into houses.

There's also a different mindset. Laos is more in the world, while at the same time, preserving its cultural base. More children are going to school, especially girls. This will have a big impact on the country in the future.

I cracked up when I saw these heavily leaden tuk-tuk. Inside, there were ten young women, all high school students on their way home at the end of the day. It's difficult to see in the photo, but the four girls in the back were eating sour fruits dipped in a mixture of sugar and chile peppers.

Change 6

My change for today - no camera. As I get older, I get more easily distracted and forgetful when stressed. Yesterday, as I was preparing to run off to the airport, my staff besieged me with problems and questions. As I sat down in the plane, I suddenly realized I had no camera case. With the engines starting to rev up, there was no way I could run off the plane to look for it.

When I got on the ground, I called them. The camera is not in the office and they looked around the airport too. There are worse things to happen - but I find myself seeing an image I want to capture and reaching for my camera. I finally borrowed our project camera from one of the staff. It will do for now!



We accompanied a TV crew making a documentary on UXO survivors, to the house of one of the people we've helped. This is the cow pen, with a beautifully blooming plum tree in front of it.

Change 5

The change in weather between Xieng Khouang and Vientiane is always surprising. Phonsavanh, the capital city in the province, sits at an elevation of 4,000 feet. Rice fields surround the city, and mountains stand around it so it's a mountain zone rather than a tropical rain forest.

Even though I warned the people who went up with me, they still gave a gasp of surprise at the temperature and the wind as we got off the plane.

Change 3 and wisdom

I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there., Richard Feynman

A humble quote from a famous physicist and educator.

I was listening to BBC, which had an interview with Andrew Zuckerman who has put together a book and exhibit entitled "Wisdom." The web site is amazing. The fifty people interviewed share their wisdom on wisdom, which is, as one person puts it, is more of a question rather than an answer.

Skywatch Friday - 2 January 2009 - a season of change

The skies are so changeable. In one day, so clear and a moment later, cold and overcast.

I told this on my walk and jog this morning.

Peaking at the sky through the branches of my plum tree:

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

Change 1

2009. Like most people, I can't believe it. Change seems to come faster and faster, one year blurring into the next.

Up here in Xieng Khouang, there's always change in the wind. We say that there are three seasons during the day - the mornings are often misty or drizzly, the afternoons warm up and the nights are freezing. There's often a strong wind during the cold season that makes the clouds race over the landscape.

I took this picture while I was walking this afternoon. I had to walk fast because it was so cold but decided to climb a nearby hill. The sight of the clouds and hills glowing in the sunset was exciting.