Oct
13
Snakes, Destruction and Bugs
October 13, 2007 |
The other day we wen’t to my mother-in-laws rice farm so she could check out the state of things there. She made some offerings and prayers, and since it is next to the Nam Moon river, I did some fishing.
I have to admit that I did not catch anything. But Nan of course did get a small cat fish. The problem is, there I was with several thousand baht worth of fishing kit. And she of course caught one…with her bare hands. Then she wen’t on to gather mushrooms, nuts and all sorts of other food that was just laying about.
We came home with 3-4 large bags of it. So once again, we go fishing, and she comes home with food. And she has been teasing me about it ever since.
Anyway, to get to the location of the farm, we had to wade trough the rice paddies that are so full of water now that even parts of the dividing “dikes” are submerged in places. And the river itself, is about to break it’s banks becouse of all the rain we’ve had lately. Not much more of that now, and the farmers will have a real problem. As the rain have to stop soon, so they can dry off their rice paddies, as the rice is starting to go yellow and ripe.
As we where wading trough the water, I saw at least two snakes. That was the reason me and Nan came with Mae in the first place. She is scared of snakes. And so am I. Or so I thought. Where I grew up there are none. So it’s not a creature I am familiar with. But when I saw these, I did not feel any fear. I just stopped, and made some noise with my fishing rod as a stick, and they disappeared into the rice.
Yesterday was also quite busy. We wen’t into town and bought the materials for our next building project. We are adding a kitchen to the house. So we bought the bricks, cement, planks and roofing for it, plus a window and kitchen sink.
I just finished tearing down the old hong nam to make room for the the kitchen. It was a joy taking a sledge hammer to that thing.
This morning I got a real interesting present from Heart, Nan’s seven year old son. He had been sleeping over at his uncles house last night, and came home this morning with a bag full of live bugs for me. 
I smiled a lot, thanked him profusely and asked him if he could care for them for me. Right now he is on the floor playing that they are motosai taxi’s. Who needs expensive toys?
That’s it!
P.S You can click on the pictures to see a larger version
Popularity: 9% [?]
Comments
2 Comments so far
The size of the bugs truly astounds me. Here in Denver, Colorado, USA the only bugs that i have ever seen that big were grasshoppers when i was very young. And it was very rare that they got that big out on the prairie. I am also NOT a fan of the bug eating. I also live in a semi-arid section of the US that has a short and tenuous growing season. No food growing along the side of the rice paddies here. ha ha. The pics are great! Thanks for stepping up and scaring away all the bad ghosts and stuff too.
The large one is a rhino beetle (male), the strongest creature on earth, able to lift up to 850 times its own weight….now for the good bit, chuck it onto the hot charcoal for a couple of minutes and crack it open, tastes delicious. Even though they look fierce they have no bite or sting and are a great compromise for kids without a boxful of toys…lol