Attercliffe of Bangkok

ATTERCLIFFE OF BANGKOK

by me

Banana palms fruiting

Machinery chugging

Behind corrugated fences

Coconuts lying redundant

On the grass

Helicopters

Bright butterflies

On clear blue skies

A long wait for the Sheik

Who talks and talks

Hours go by

In the grassy dark of palms

a thin white cat

eats duck I bought.

I wrote this on our first trip to Thailand, many, many years ago. It is about waiting for the Captain as he did some business connected with cameras in the unglamorous downtown area. It was all fascinating though, back then. The city was not yet one solid traffic jam. We could walk down the little Soi off Sukhumvit where our friends lived and see blossom and butterflies and snakes. That tells you how long ago it was.

The photo is of Cabbage Palms not Banana Palms, ones that are growing just down the road. The Captain doesn't have the photos from our Thai trips in his gallery. They were so long ago!

And Attercliffe is the industrial area of my Northern hometown - once among the world's foremost producer of steel. Now of course the steel industry has gone elsewhere and Attercliffe has been transformed, is quite glamorous in parts. But in my childhood it was roaring steel mills, blackened stone and constant busyness.

Heavy rain on Wednesday, once again lying in sheets on The Green - and still it rained. I had a double Zoom session with my sisters in the morning which was so encouraging. How would I feel now if I did not know the truth - Christianity being called "the way of the truth"? And Col chauffered me to the Hall on Thursday night. An excellent meeting, of course, with an encouraging little talk from a member of the Governing Body.

They always end by telling us how much they love us. And I can feel that love in the way we are taught and organised so carefully and so gently.

There is a special campaign this month using the Watchtower magazine An End to War HOW?

You will find it featured on the website JW.org. And today is a special day at the Kingdom Hall, with lots of witnessing being done. I hope to join in, in my small way, from home, and via Zoom.

Col left early for The Field where he is now waiting for it to open. It apparently sounds promising and is in good detecting condition, so hopefully he will have a happy and interesting day.