the good fight

Life doesn't wave as it's speeding by
Better grab on fast and hold on tight
And don't ever forget to fight this good fight
And here I am.

This is my favorite verse in a song written by Mary Chapin Carpenter and i was listening to it today coming home from the Penitas clinic. Listening and thinking about how there is so much going on in the world, in my life, in everyones' lives. Then my brother called me back and he is in a very bad place again, telling me it's his time. Right now, he doesn't see a life that is worth fighting for nor does he have the energy to fight. So, I told him it wasn't fair that life had to be so hard, and i knew it was even harder for him. I told him to tell someone else how he is feeling, someone who is there, not hundreds of miles away, like me. "You have your music, your boys, your Gillian, and I love you," that's what i told him. Because sometimes we can't fight the good fight, can we? Sometimes we have to let someone else fight it for us.

loves of my life

this is sophie. she is a fixture of energy, hope and joy in my life. my husband and i had dinner last night with our best friends. They are also a permanent reminder to me of the essence of growing old(er)--knowing people in a way that transcends petty distancing emotions. And there are my daughters, who can do no wrong, as they are my flesh and blood, so when they might do wrong, i know it's all in the name of my being wrong, probably a twisted perception, and they motivate me to change my perceptions to be more accepting. And that brings me to him, the one i love to blame sometimes for my unhappiness probably because he is the closest one to blame. but i know the only one to blame such things on is me. his name means happy for a reason. and all of this clarity of the essence of family and friends brings me back to sophie. her name means wisdom, perhaps the female god. she encircles our lives with the memory of a God still here, not in conventional ways of church and bible study and prayer groups but in all of these loves of my life.

it's not just about food

market color

peppers, peppers

terengganu market

• more ramputan (hairy fruit)

pineapples: from truck to market, Terengganu

steam boat in cameron highlands

hot pot in Kampah

street market on the road to Ipoh

ramputan to go

night market in kuala lumpur

tea and sticky rice

aunt margaret's tea and sticky rice prepared with love; admired and eaten with love....
and bare feet

leaving the back streets of malacca

malacca

malacca was planned; i remembered its tourist feel but also the old world architecture. what i did not get to see on my last trip were the hidden back streets. the dusty antique store where my daughter found the old wooden wedding plaque (about 5 ft.long---too big to take home!) the young artist. the coffee shop that was delicious and reminded us of home (see blackboard)

on the streets of malacca

roots and herbs

shopping in old china town, singapore

presenting pigeon

yes, pigeon, not as gamish tasting as cornish hen, really. quite good. i didn't know you could eat the things. but of course, leave it to the malaysian cook...wait, no, this was singapore. we ate these with the chili crab (view to the left) best crab i ever put into my mouth.

dim sum

"dim sum," literally translated means "a bit of heart." small delights brought to you in bits, steamed dumplings, duck feet, bbq pork tucked inside of paper thin dough, beef ribs (tiny ones, of course)

this was our first supper in singapore. and it was a foreshadowing of what was to come in the days to follow: the contrast of heat and sweat and fatigue, with coolness, color, sweet food and sweeter company.