Beautiful Sunday: slow life in the countryside.

The weather this winter month has been very warm comparing with last year. I didn’t need my sweater this year, there were only two nights of sudden drop in temperature. The morning sunshine always perks me up with bright enthusiasm. The blue sky contrasting to green shades of the surrounding nature work like powerful vitamins to my mind. I hope that Mother Nature would continue to favour us and nourish us with her wonderful colours and vibes.

I promised my cat, Kwan, that I would visit my neighbour’s house to see whether Joan, the bigger orange cat, was still living there. I would carry him back to keep Kwan’s company for a day. Kwan has been looking rather sad and lonely without her brother. She has become very attached to me and tried to be very close to me most of the time. So, I had to walk along the dirt road towards my destination after my breakfast.

The dirt road seemed to be busy with local villagers. I found a villager chopping up bamboo stalks for growing tomatoes. I heard the prices of agricultural produce have gone up this season. So, high returns could be expected. Villagers have started planting lots of lemongrass, chilies, and tomatoes. This villager used his tuk-tuk to transport hundreds of bamboo stalks. This was very ardous task chopping bamboos with sharp a machete all by himself. Life is simple but quite hard on physical demands.

A deep brown truck parked along the dirt road, so I had to investigate the rare visitors. A couple of villagers were picking up local herbs and medicinal fruits growing wild in nature. They told me what they were looking for; the young leaves and stems could be put in soup. The small green fruits could be eaten raw or put in spicy salads. These were supposed to be good for reducing weights and cholesterol level.

They were very nice and answered all my questions. I was struck by their old truck which was very well maintained. I preferred old models of trucks as their structures were very thick and the simplified engine was easy to repair and maintained. Perhaps I would be able to afford a small second hand truck one day. They were bulk buyers of bananas to whom my gardener sold all the bananas from the banana groves.

The new crops of bananas looked very healthy and big. The soil by the river used to be flooded several years ago, the humas and minerals left on the land after the flood have nourished nicely all the plants and trees. All the trees grew tall super fast and banana plants looked much taller and bigger too. I made the right decision to plant lots of bananas in the past. So, we could have some pocket money for the water and electricity bills. My gardener made more money from these babanas than me as I allowed her one plot of land for her to work on to earn extra income. She clammed so many bananas on the land. Banana leaves could be sold very often as people use banana leaves for wrapping sweets and food for steaming.

If we had the funds and know-how, we could probably have a cannabis farm to make more money. But that was still a far flung dream for me; life would become much more complicated and demanding with a cannabis farm. My concern has centered on how to keep the lonely cat happy and cheerful. I stood in front of my neighbour’s gate and shouted out for Joan about ten minutes. The house was still and quiet. There was no sign of either my neighbour or the orange cat. I waited around and kept shouting his name from time to time.

Alas I had to walk back alone without carrying Joan to greet Kwan. I did wondered where Joan could be. The other nearby neighbour’s house has three big brown guard-dogs. These dogs had attacked at least two cats and one kitten in the past. So I was quite worried for Joan’ safety. The villagers still lingered around my gardener’s vegetable patch. They were having a good laugh about something. I was down trodden as I had to tell Kwan that I couldn’t find her brother.

Life in the countryside seems much slower and I could get more things done than being in the city. The peaceful and natural surroundings always calm me down and soothe my eyes. But there’ s always work to be done and new problems to handle. I guess this is what life is supposed to be all about: living, working, solving problems along the way. We couldn’t foresee most of the problems. So, I could only hope and pray for small problems suitable to my capacity and resources. It would be nice if we could have only very light problems which coukd be easily solved in very little time. So, I have to do more prayers and good karma to deserve such a blessing.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.

#beautifulsunday created by @ace108