Category: Photos

Blue Lotus

Also known as the blue water lily, or blue star water lily, which is slightly confusing since a “blue lily” is a completely different thing. The plant pictured could be Nymphaea nouchali or one of its several varieties including Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea which contains the psychotropic substance aporphine, which lead to the outlawing of possession of the plant where tripping ancient Egyptian balls is apparently frowned upon.

The lotus has roots in many countries and religions, and it’s said that everywhere the baby Buddha stepped, lotus flowers bloomed and that when the Buddha died, they reappeared everywhere that he had walked the Earth. The fullness of bloom and color of the flower also have religious meaning. The blue lotus represents wisdom and intelligence.

I took this particular photo in our hometown of Maha Sarakham, at the Issan Arts and Culture Centre, where Nam’s father was director for many years. They were in a ceramic water planter just in front of the Buddha that he sculpted for the university.

The Dogs of Lad Prao

For as long as we’ve been visiting Nam’s auntie and uncle on Lad Prao 33, there have been a huge pack of dogs running the middle area of the street. During the day, they lounge around in the heat and disappear through holes in nearby gates, but at night, they run around free. It is scary walking there alone at night. The neighbors all complain about the danger and the shits left all over the place, to no avail… We’ve been going and staying there for decades, so we have probably seen several generations of this wild pack.

My Own Private Loch

This is my favorite path to take on my daily sunset walks. It’s a concrete footpath bordering the canal that winds through my university’s campus. The water levels of the canals and holding ponds they feed to fluctuate quite a bit, as the norm for these times of climate change mean that long periods of drought are immediately followed by heavy and persistent rains. When the level is right, though, I can say hi to Nessie.

It’s been raining almost every day since Max settled in here for his summer vacation, but I took him here last week. He saw Nessie. I consider this to be the coolest thing to see in the whole province, and the fact that it’s hidden and impermanent makes it even better.