A week of rainy season in Isaan (Sunday and closing)

The sun has given up again, clouds are our part at the start of the day. Yet the thermometer shows thirty degrees, it is eight o'clock in the morning. And The Inquisitor is lazy. Actually, the grass in the front yard should be mowed, but he doesn't feel like it at all. Fortunately, this is Isaan, not a rooster that crows about it. Slouching in his chair on the upper terrace, De Inquisitor contemplates his world.

A diligent lover who organizes the shop. A Piak bouncing back and forth on the moped, apparently he doesn't have much work ethic today either. An exuberant stepdaughter with a lot of noise, who still enjoys the dinner yesterday, because at a certain moment she and The Inquisitor got the giggles during the drive back, it is still in her head because she bursts into laughter every time she look up for a moment. The dogs are in their pen, last night they created a new escape option, which must be restored. The fish in the pond enjoy the now almost crystal-clear and oxygen-rich water. The two cats seek companionship close to The Inquisitor, outdoing each other. Cat Toulouse has recovered mentally from the dog attack a few days ago because he is getting the upper hand.

People come and go on the street, apparently people have a lot to do today. With tractors of all sizes, the villagers head towards the fields, including hand-pushed ones. Farmer Janus comes with his ' caravan' past, looking for a grazing spot. The yard of neighbor Pao Sid is already overcrowded, the lao kao enthusiasts are on their way, they are stretched out in the bamboo hammocks. Sister-in-law Taai comes back from the market in the town, loves it (noodles filled with pork and seasoned with spices), she knows that The Inquisitor thinks that's a delicacy.

Despite the fact that it is Sunday, the suppliers for the shop are ready. The truck with ice cubes is the first, it comes daily. Cheerful man, always friendly and eager to work. Next is another truck. The beer stinger. In the meantime he has become a good comrade, and his sidekick is now also beginning to appreciate the strange humor of The Inquisitor. The Inquisitor sees that twelve cartons of beer Chang are being unloaded again, which means that there was good sales this week.

The Red Bull men arrive a little later. That is their main product, the energy drink and the coffee of that brand. But these people are commercially trained and instructed. Often that's funny: they come in, equally dressed in some kind of uniform, and start to warble a short song. And then bow deeply with one , and then put a folder with the 'offers of the week' on the counter. Their insistence is sometimes exaggerated, De Inquisitor suspects that they have to supplement their wages with those offers, that they get a percentage on that. But The Inquisitor is hardened in those matters by his old professional life and has passed on that hardness to sweetheart. Let them do their thing, and if something interesting, ask the cost price. Cheaper than we pay now OK, if equal or more expensive, negotiate and decline if they don't budge.

The egg man also comes on Sunday. On its sidecar with shelter. On which lies an impossibly high pile of eggs, how they do not break during his rides on those roads with deep potholes is a mystery to The Inquisitor. Sweetheart deliberately buys eggs from him, and she is right, despite the fact that a large company, with a refrigerated truck, regularly visits in the hope of being able to take over that sale. Our man is someone from the village, well, from the periphery. He keeps his chickens organically, they look sturdy and healthy, have plenty of room to walk and are fed naturally because industrial feed is too expensive for him. He runs that chicken farm with his family, four sons and his wife. They do that well, occasionally De Inquisitor comes by and he knows that everything is kept really neat. No, leave that industrial stuff here.

Shortly after noon, the sun is out again, our Belgian friend came by after all. And behold, it does not turn out to be a success this time, the Duvel stock of De Inquisitor remains untouched. A little chat and after an hour or two he goes back home. Signal for love to drum up The Inquisitor for something fun. The ornamental plant that was dug up yesterday needs to be put in a pot, but we don't have one anymore. Get out of here, dear daughter takes over the shop.

Always fun to visit those primitive-cosy plant shops, countless are enticingly located next to the main connecting road to Kham Taklaa. You have to be patient and search in the heaps that have been piled up. They all have more or less the same assortment, especially those brown decorative pots in all sizes, but we are looking for the hidden treasures. Nice shape, nice color, we need something original. We find two, can't make a choice between the two and then take them both with us. Then it is gardening together, because according to eega it is necessary to put a few well-grown pot plants in the ground. It's nice to work and discuss things together, and to see results quickly afterwards.

In recent weeks, no one has shown up in the shop for the Sunday Muy-Thai on television. Someone in the village has put a device on his terrace, somewhere in a house that is well hidden in the back and they go there to have a look. Can they bet heavily without danger, in our shop that was prevented by De Inquisitor, betting up to a maximum of twenty baht was the rule and that is too little for them. But De Inquisitor does not want a lot of money to be bet, after all, the shop is located on a connecting road and you never know if the police will pass by. So we can also close early this Sunday, sweet has had enough, and we close at six o'clock.

Cozy home with the three of us eating spaghetti, a favorite dish of the daughter. The coexistence of The Inquisitor with the teenage daughter has improved enormously in recent weeks. She is no longer bothered by the fact that she has to share her mother with someone else after ten years of absence to earn the necessary finances elsewhere. She also notices that it is a stable relationship, moreover, she begins to understand The Inquisitor's parenting method. She understands that she too has to contribute to family life. Now she automatically cleans her bedroom and bathroom, regularly does the dishes, and occasionally goes to the shop without complaining. That makes the atmosphere in the Inquisitor house even better.

And that feeling, that atmosphere, De Inquisitor wants to improve even more. Until now his principle has been: 'when we go out for a few days, I will only do it with sweetheart', because 'I want privacy, I want to spend time alone with her'. Now he realizes that this is wrong. You can't always apply that, her daughter is simply part of the relationship, The Inquisitor knew in advance that she was there. And so next weekend, instead of going to Bangkok or Pattaya with the love for a few days, he decides to go to Nong Kai with the three of us for three days. Sweetie-sweet and daughter start to shine once the news is known. And The Inquisitor even happier.

Rainy season in Isaan, it's not too bad. Like anywhere else in the world, it's much nicer when the sun is out, but what are those three to four weeks of slightly heavier wetness compared to the rest of the year?

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