Saturday was busy, but a good busy. I spent the mo…
Saturday was busy, but a good busy. I spent the morning and most of the afternoon filming at a nearby temple, and after a filling meal at Rosemary’s Kitchen with cast and crew, I went to the Sandcastle for some rehearsal with the Muddy Basin Ramblers. We have a show next weekend at the Dream Community in Xizhi, so we got some overdue practice in, and David also recorded 16 songs on his new recording setup, the main component of which is my old Powerbook, which I sold him some time ago. He let us listen to some of the stuff, and it sounds really good, practically album-level quality.
It had been a while since we last got together, for various reasons. Afterwards we retired to our friend Chris’s balcony overlooking Bitan. Gradually people left, until it was just me, Slim, and Chris. Rusty the cat was sleeping on my lap while Slim made faces at her, mocking her lack of opposable thumbs, when she bolted up to the edge of the balcony, scrambled for grip, and fell off the side. We heard a loud thump! as she hit the awning downstairs, and when I got to the edge to look, I saw a white streak heading off into the bushes. We went down to look for her, and I found her hiding in the bushes next to the bridge and brought her back upstairs, apparently unhurt. That’s two lives that cat has used up so far.
Last weekend I took a bus to check out Thumper’s burrow in the hills above Angkeng, the same hills I have a lovely view of from my rooftop. We walked around the community and talked about life in the mountains. It sounds a bit isolated to me, but then again a few years ago I would never have thought I’d be living out in Xindian. They’re building quite a few new complexes up there, and I suppose they’re nice for families, and apartment buildings are good for people who can’t afford any housing in the city, but I’d have an issue with all the stairs in any given building, I think. Thumper certainly has a nice front yard full of interesting plants and other things like a blue stone that shines red in the sun, though. I’d love to have a yard, but I’m happy I have a balcony, even though I had to get rid of a wasp’s nest last week. It was stuck on the railing. I found it when I was sitting on the lounge chair out there one night when I put my hand on the railing and felt a cocoon of dirt. Luckily no wasps stung me.
It got quite hot last week, with thunderstorms every day, but now it’s cold again. The guard downstairs told me I shouldn’t bother with the clothes dryers in the laundry, and to use the sun instead. “What sun?” I asked.
“Well, when there is sun. There’s usually sun by this time of year, but global warming’s screwed everything up,” he replied. Well, at least I get plenty of clean water from my dehumidifier.
