The Sidewalk Jumped Up and Bit Me

Doi SMOC!  She loved Gumby and Pokey!

Shortly after beginning my high School career at Fenwick High School I remember hearing that one of my 8^th Grade teachers, SMOC (Sister Mary O’Connor) had broken her arm falling on the sidewalk outside of school.  I remember hearing from her, on a visit back to Visitation, that she had not actually fallen – rather the sidewalk jumped up and bit her.  I of course appreciated her endearing humor until I learned recently that sidewalks do have a mind of their own – particularly in still developing countries like Thailand.

It's always amazing what Google Images can pull up

Since moving to the mooban community of Sammakorn – about 11km from school I have been humored by the nearly instant flooding that occurs in the streets during and after a typical heavy rain. Conversely, I have been impressed although sometimes fooled by the sidewalks immediately off the main road.  The sidewalks are often built of generous sized concrete panels which are placed over a large unseen gutter so as to quickly move water away from the main road and into some nearby streams.  These panels are often times uneven (like any city sidewalk) and have caught the tip of my flip flop and sent me careening forward (yet still standing) in what can only be assumed as a strange white-guy dance.  Just a week ago the beauty of the sidewalk panels covering the gutters and the ridiculousness of the flooding streets combined in a calamitous affair reminding me that despite all of the 1^st world amenities present here some aspects of Thailand’s developing nation status still exist in our neighborhood.

After planning to meet friends for dinner at a nearby restaurant it began pouring heavily for nearly an hour.  After our friends said they were still good for meeting up – Megan and I put on our ponchos and scooter to dinner.  As we pulled up to the restaurant I parked in one of the few spots that did not have over an inch of standing water.  As I had just showered I didn’t really want to walk through the large puddles and as such found a spot a little further down the road where I could gently leap to the non-flooded sidewalk and then walk back to dinner.  I made my jump successfully and came walking back the sidewalk to find an electricity or telephone pole in the middle of sidewalk and up against the curb.  With the goal of not stepping in the puddle I walked past the pole on the storefront side and even stepped underneath an awning of a closed produce stand to get around the pole.

This is the sewer during the light of day and with out being truly
flooded with water - and yes that blue thing is a full barrel
for added perspective.

  I then stepped back to the sidewalk on the other side of the post and immediately found my left leg had descended into a pit and right below my knee I rammed my leg into the next concrete panel of the actual sidewalk.  Like the sidewalk at Visitation Elementary School which jumped up and bit SMOC I found a sidewalk that had a mind of its own – choosing to be completely ABSENT.   Although an immediate contusion formed that made it look like I had a second knee cap on the same leg I can say that dinner was delicious as I was granted the options to pick as many appetizers/dishes I wanted and our good friends used the parts of the sidewalk that were “present” to run and get me some iodine to stave off infection.  To date I’m still on the mend and yet quoting my dear friend Katie – “I don’t have any diseases that I know of” from spending some unnecessary time in the sewer.  Just remember if you’re coming to visit Thailand – people are wonderfully kind, food is delicious, & sidewalks may jump up and bite you :)

Living without Seasons

Us hanging out at the airport
during our journey East

We arrived in Bangkok at the end of July escaping a heat wave in Philadelphia which was making me sweat at 4:30 in the morning when Megan and I originally left for the PHL airport. 

Yep... that's only about 13 minutes
with no air conditioning for me

Since arriving in Bangkok I have not stopped sweating for any extended period of time.  In fact every day seems like summer – because that’s what the temperature reflects (76 as a low and 91 as a typical high) and almost every day there is a threat of afternoon rain.  And since it’s the rainy season there is always the chance of a deluge occurring at any point in time… and by a deluge I can only try to describe how much it pours – often within a 30-50 minute time period it will rain 6-7cm (nearly 3 inches).  So to recap, if I even stopped sweating I’d likely be soaked by the rain for the remainder of the day.  So while I sit here in perpetual summer and see friends post photos/comments of fall colors, cool mornings, digging out sweaters, and everything pumpkin (ale, latte, muffins, or even actual pumpkins) I have to consciously wrap my head around the possibility that others are actually in the season, let alone the months, of fall. 

Yep... that could be us one day :)

Photos of us in Maine last year

Last year, almost to the day, Megan and I went to Maine to see the fall colors and nearly froze watching the sun rise over Bar Harbor - now we can only turn down our AC to create excitement for long sleeved shirts. 

(Note: we also found we were the youngest people sightseeing by at least 40 years which leads me to wonder what we’ll do when we hit retirement one day)  With these memories, a glance at a calendar, and/or seeing friends posts I have found that I really miss the change of seasons and to an even greater degree I miss reviewing weather and weather patterns. 

To many reading this blog you may already know that if I go back and do everything over again I would want to study meteorology and become a meteorologist.  Not to be on TV or anything and definitely not to be this guy to the right.    I’m just fascinated by the weather and since moving here have found that there is no regular daily weather report or updated radar I can look at to see where the rain’s coming from and how long the storm may last – it’s not because they couldn’t add these details to their news reports or actually create a detailed weather webpage…it’s just that the weather is nearly the same every

day and when it does rain people take cover and wait for it to end (It’s like Groundhog day – without the snow).  Without significant seasonal changes there’s clearly no need for a daily detailed weather report.  At the very least the one aspect of the weather cycle I get to appreciate everyday are the massive cumulus clouds that fill the sky before they release all their moisture.

Nevertheless, I hope all who are in regions that experience seasons appreciate the fall colors and final harvests.  And for all of those of you who are in climates where there is not significant seasonal change and you actually like it that way… I pity you J

Final Note to readers… although I said “If I could do it all again I’d go back and study meteorology I definitely WOULD NOT change falling in love with Megan!  Hi dear J