This pile appeared on my porch.
A new mountain of corn needing to be shucked. Plus four more feed bags full against the wall. Lucky we got it all in before the rain – but man, shucking that much corn is really hard on the hands.
I got a helper. I slit the tops with a paring knife and started pulled the leaves down. Kiki finished pulling the leaves down and twisted them off the cobs (requires a lot of hand strength on the stubborn ones) – then putting the clean cobs to the side and tossing the shucks over his shoulder. Ay carramba!
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Stepped out one morning to THIS:
Those of you who have been here know the big bougainvillea bush. Somebody decided that this bush was going.
Going, going, Gone. What is INTERESTING about this is the REASON for its removal. We have noticed hornets building their nests close to the ground, a fairly accurate predictor of a bad cyclone season. This bougainvillea was already all wrapped around the guy wire to the power pole. Alas, alas – it was a security problem, and had to come down for the greater good.
The fellows did leave a bit, so it should grow back in time.
***
I was invited to a “pooja” (prayer ceremony) of a neighbor doing her annual house blessing. She had noted the rain on Sunday and said she hoped the weather would clear by Tuesday, when the pooja was to take place. It looked like she got her wish. The morning was clear for the putting up of the flags. When I went at 1pm for the second part, it was still sunny and some of us sitting in the open porch were grumbling about the heat. Pandit-jee arrived about 2 and started. About halfway through this ceremony, a patter of rain started.
The rain got heavier. As Pandit-jee chanted, some ladies got up to move the mats people were sitting on. One person got a 2 meter length of roofing and poistioned it to stop back-splash from puddles at the edge.
And it POURED. Still the ceremony proceeded with calmness and deliberation, as those of us who had been sitting were now standing.
And then what won my heart. From up the hill four men came walking down under a large gray tarp together – making me think of a turtle. Very smootlly they came into the porch and secured their tarp to prevent any blow in. All the while dear Pandit-jee carried out the ceremony as pandits have done for thousands of years.
After it was all over, I told my friend how beautiful I found it. She replied that it was spoiled. But no – I tried to reassure her that is was Truiumphant.
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Happy week, everybody.
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