December 20, 2009
Rural vibrancy’s soulmate/shadow must be urban vibrancy. There is a whole urban universe below this third floor balcony where my son, Daniel, and his wife, Kristin, live in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On my first full day here, I am intrigued by the household across the way. Noon is a siesta kind of hour here – so after watching the morning practices – washing and hanging out clothes, eating on the porch, watering plants by tossing water from a bowl over all the leaves, brushing hair, sweeping – now I look out at noon and see no humans at all for a quiet stretch. There are also no vendors on the street after a constant stream beginning at dawn. There have been every kind of cart, identified by its own unique squeaker or recorded message. They pick up recycling, sell roasted eggs or whole coconuts, vegetables or bread.
But then the HELLO cart comes down the street for a ten minute mini-party below. I have to ask Daniel what white material is being scooped by the gloved hands of the vendor (hidden by the umbrella). It is clearly a small child magnet. Snow cone I think we would call it.
This little mid-street community, shelter by HELLO, seems a vibrant seed and vine of this neighborhood – as lovely as the purple orchid that hangs blooming from the balcony below me.
I take my siesta this Sunday to read, photograph, pray – to delight in this new place with its sights and sounds. And I write this to you.
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