Pioneering

My wife and I have a bit of a pioneering spirit, and sometimes we even find ourselves being the ones breaking new ground. For example, we were the first ones (and only ones) of our organization to do language school in Bangkok. Another example is that we were part of the first team our organization sent to work in Isaan. Earlier this year, we were the first ones in our organization to go through the complicated process of getting back to Thailand. But yesterday, we had a different kind of first.

It was our day off and we were tired of hanging around our house all the time because of COVID-related travel restrictions. So we decided to go check out a couple of waterfalls on the edge of Kalasin and Mukdahan provinces. The first waterfall we went to was in Kalasin Province. We almost didn't find it because the sign was overgrown and even the parking area was washed out from the road such that we couldn't get our car onto it. Tat Thong Waterfall was fairly dry due to the lack of rain this year, but there were some pretty rock formations in the creek bed.

Tat Thong Waterfall

It was not too far to the next waterfall, but it took a while because the road was not in great shape. This was not your typical tourist route. Eventually we arrived at Kaeng Pho Waterfall Park. This park had had both some smaller upper rapids and a larger waterfall downstream. Upstream from the rapids was a popular wading spot. Fortunately, it was a weekday and there were not a lot of visitors.

Rapids at Kaeng Pho

Kaeng Pho Waterfall

After visiting Kaeng Pho, it was getting to be lunchtime. At this point we were in a very rural area that did not look like it saw a lot of tourists. We went through several villages and finally came to a larger one (still quite small, but larger than some of the others) named Non Somboon, which translates, "Bountiful Hill". (There are actually a lot of villages by that name in Isaan.) We finally saw a place that had several pots out on a counter and some picnic tables so we figured it must be a restaurant, even though there was no kind of signage to let us know what it was.

Restaurant in Non Sombun

The shopkeeper made us feel welcome and she even spoke a few words of English. After we sat down with our meal, someone came out all excited and took our picture. She said we were the first "Europeans" to eat there. I guess it was a "first" for us to have that kind of honor. And even though we were unusual guests at the restaurant, they didn't make us feel like oddities. (She also used the term "European" instead of "farang," which may also be a first for us.)

Green Curry with Chicken

We were surprised that we had the distinction of being the first Westerners at the restaurant. There are Westerners scattered throughout Isaan, usually foreign men married to Isaan women. It is sometimes had to find a village without at least one "European" living in it. What mattered to us, though, was that the food was good—we had green curry with chicken over rice. Two plates of food and two bottles of water for about $3.50 US. I would put a review of the restaurant on Google Maps, but I wouldn't know what to call it.

After lunch, we continued on our journey, not sure where we would end up or which route might eventually get us back home. But about ten minutes down the road from the restaurant, we saw a sign for another waterfall. We turned off the pavement and down a dirt track to a parking area. Then we followed an unmarked trail, assuming it would take us to the waterfall. This one was called Huai Lao.

Huai Lao Waterfall

This area seemed to be a popular hangout for teenagers.

It took us a few hours to meander home from this last waterfall. We caught some rain and some pretty cloudscapes along the way.

Cloudscapes Along the Way

It was nice to have a day out in the country, something that doesn't seem to happen much in these days of COVID-related travel restrictions. This was actually our first time to go into Mukdahan Province. Even though the driving was a bit tiring, we came back refreshed and happy to have a day to do some exploring around the place we call home.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (ESV)

Not For Us

It was almost nine pm and I had just gone downstairs. As I approached the kitchen I was pleasantly surprised by the scent of the orange jasmine bush wafting in the window. I had noticed the same fragrance in the wee hours of the morning as well. It seems that the scent is strongest when the sun isn't shining.

The orange jasmine, known locally as Dok Kaeo, is one of the first plants I learned a Thai name for because there was a plant on the campus of the language school we attended. That bush was blooming soon after we arrived in the country. Orange jasmine is not related to jasmine, but it is in the same plant family as orange trees. It gets its English name from the nature of the fragrance that emanates from its blossoms.

Orange Jasmine
Shows off to the eyes in the daytime
and to the nose at night

 

There are several species of plants that bloom at night including many types of cactus.  One of the more famous night bearing cacti in Thailand is the dragonfruit, which is planted for it's large, edible fruits.

Dragonfruit Blossom

Dragonfruit

When we lived in northern Thailand, we had several cornstalk dracaena plants in our yard. At first, I wasn't sure why they were planted, as they weren't spectacular to look at. Then, one night as we came home in the dark, we were overcome by the scent of a powerful floral bouquet. It was the cornstalk dracaena plants blooming.

Cornstalk Dracaena Blossom

Because we aren't often out after dark, we don't always get to appreciate these kinds of flowers. It seems odd that God designed these flowers in such a way that we can't appreciate their beauty so much because they show off after dark. Apparently, God designed them not for us humans, but for those creatures who pollinate them that are active at night. God and loves us humans, but He also cares about the other creatures he has made.

Jesus said:

²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:26-30 (NIV)

And again:

²⁸Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. ³⁰And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. ³¹So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Matthew 10:28-31 (NLT)

If God so cares for all these things that He has made, then we ought to as well. God made all of creation, including the animals, before He made the humans. First God made Eden, then He placed the people he made in in the garden to look after it. But when Adam and Eve got a little too proud, God kicked them out of His garden.

So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.Genesis 3:23 (NIV)

Mankind's relationship with the rest of Creation has been not the greatest ever since then. Not content to be part of Creation, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit because they wanted to be Lord of the Garden as well. And that pride continues to this day. Humans have done some amazing things with the resources that God has given us. But sometimes we act like we are Lords of the earth, rather than acting like fellow creatures who have been gifted with all these things by God. The fragrant flowers of the night show us that not everything was made just for us.