A Thai Butterfly

When God Painted Thailand

by me

When God painted Thailand

He splashed on golds and reds

Reds and golds against blue sky

As we walked up Sukhumvit Road

God's paint palette flew by.

The imminent return of some local friends to Thailand reminded me of this, which I wrote on our first trip to Thailand, so over 30 years ago I guess. It got me thinking of how amazed I was by it all on our first visit there. How beautiful and colourful it was; the orchids everywhere; the smell of lemon grass and galangal and blossom; and the steamy heat; the taste and texture of fresh coconut. It was our first time in Asia and we had just come from a cold and wintry Hong Kong, so the contrast was amazing.

Sukhumvit road, or rather the Soi off Sukhumvit where our friends lived, was quiet then. You could walk down it, watch butterflies, watch out for snakes, there was blossom everywhere, and in the morning the guy with the breakfast cart would come along selling hot batter cakes.

The next time we went - and every time after (to visit friends) - the Soi was just one traffic jam. The whole of Bangkok was like London, traffic wise. So I am glad we did get one glimpse of the country lane that Soi once was.

I am still feeling very down. Stressed about whether I will get all the short stories accepted, worried about my health, my sister's health, tackling my field service map. I moped around a lot on Sunday, which did not help.

Though I did attend the meeting, in Pixel form. And also made a rhubarb crumble to greet the weary SUSSAR warrior on his return from a day's intensive training.

It turned out well.

The photograph was taken by Captain Butterfly on Sukhumvit', all those years ago. And the butterfly is called a "Painted Jezebel"! Though I have no reason to believe its character was anything other than impeccable. And I hope it had a happy and satisfying life.

Yesterday was a Zoom day. But that is another story for another blog. And a strange and distressing one too.