Greetings from Isaan (7)

And there it was, the rain. After eighteen weeks of drought a relief, a celebration. The soil thirstily sucked up the moisture, all dust was washed away. It seemed as if the air was being cleaned, a smell of ozone wafted around. Moreover, it did not cool down too much, pleasant temperature during the day so that you feel like spring.

 
It was announced, but De Inquisitor knows from experience that it can differ a lot locally. You could already read on social media where it got wet, even close to home, but it stayed dry here for now. A few gray clouds disturbed the sunshine, but that was all. Yet that gray matter grew, creeping slowly, but the heat still kept it dry. And then, towards evening, it started. Lightning flashes in the distance, barely audible thunder. A rising wind pushed the clouds closer. Around half past five the first drops fell.

Signal for measures because it looked like heavy showers would fall. The electricity, would they have finally tackled the annual phenomenon of outages during thunderstorms? Not much chance here in the village.
Liefje-sweet immediately closes her shop, knowing that people will not come anymore, the first rains always paralyze the villagers, they do not want to go through. Bearing in mind the lessons of the past, measures are also being taken at home.
So immediately plug the rechargeable flashlight into the socket. Filling the beautiful stone vessel in the bathroom with water, The Inquisitor can no longer be caught by temporary waterlessness. Then eat a little earlier than usual, previously prepared food had been removed from the freezer and now quickly in the microwave.

Meanwhile the rain has become much heavier, black clouds hang low. If the air conditioning goes on in the bedroom, it is normally used sparingly here, but it can already cool down a bit. The sweet is also alert and calls for a shower now that the water pump and hot water boiler are still working. The Inquisitor, however, first wants to check in and around the house, the wind has started to pick up, actually it is still too early for the traditional heavy spring storms, but you never know, so it is better to fasten everything that is loose or lying loose.

And yes, by the time the man of the house is in the shower, the time has come. The light starts flashing, on off, on off and then it's completely off, just when it's all soaped up. Laughing, the sweet can cut ice-cold water from the barrel on its body ... . A little later when The Inquisitor flees to the bedroom shuddering, there is electricity again, god damn it.

The next morning it is still gray. The rains don't give up. To the surprise of The Inquisitor, the three dogs voluntarily went to sleep in their pen and now they still don't want to get out. It turns out that a lot of rain fell last night, in Sakon Nakhon, a hundred kilometers away, even with a storm. Roofs ripped off, trees and walls blown down, … . We escaped that here. Except for the large pond at the back of the garden. An old tree has fallen and is now half over the water. Can De Inquisitor get to work with the lover's brother to remove him, Piak is there like chickens to confiscate the wood, raw material for his charcoal making. But then The Inquisitor is a bit bored waiting for the rains to stop. A few hours of wetness is nice, a whole day is nothing.

Salvation comes when some villagers set up a joint fishing trip in a nearby river. They arrive in their carts and other mobile equipment, loaded with traps, nets and cooking utensils. And first buy the necessary drink from the lover because this is always a pleasant event. The Inquisitor who was sitting there doing nothing because of little clientele naturally comes along. Apparently no one is bothered by the rain this time, ah no, the men immediately go into the water with their casting nets, the women go to work on the side with landing nets. A few older ladies set up traps.

The Inquisitor is well aware that he has no knowledge at all of this activity compared to the natives, but he still wonders. It is a gently flowing river, about five meters wide and about one and a half meters at its deepest. Without exception everyone starts fishing in the same place, between two bends, but they don't dam anything, don't stretch a net from one bank to the other. Surely those fish will soon be gone, De Inquisitor thinks?

And yes, they hardly catch anything. Only in the beginning, the swimmers were surprised of course, but after ten minutes it's over. But no one who worries about that, no one who thinks about moving. Literally and figuratively they muddle along, on their knees through the water, meanwhile tossing with their hands in the hope of catching a moustache. In total they catch three, there were ten of them scratching….
It remains just a diversion for them, Wan has been cutting herbs and vegetables in the adjacent forest, the large kettle with water is already boiling on a wood fire. Everything they have in terms of fish is cleaned in the Isaan way and goes into the pot together with the herbs and vegetables, so they have enough for everyone. Even De Inquisitor, although he wisely stayed aside, he has not yet forgotten that he was 'hit' in the finger by such a catfish, a very painful affair. And so De Inquisitor's first full rainy day of this year went quite pleasantly.

Still raining the next morning. Boy, but luckily there is something to do. Purchasing, for shop and home. Immediately a late breakfast with an Englishman, who himself is on his island, but his wife runs the place. Just as a precaution, going shopping hungry is too dangerous for impulse buying. The market, always cozy and exotic. The somewhat larger Lotus, as often there are many items on The Inquisitor's list are not. No bread, no potatoes. Even worse, no ground coffee. The Inquisitor recently pulled out an old percolator, he was a little tired of the famous three-in-one. Coffee brought from the Makro in Sakon Nakhon and hoopla, good old fashioned coffee. But as always, bought too little and now without.

 
Then visit a few specialty stores, the sweet will prepare milkshakes in the shop and must buy a whole set of equipment for this. Finally to the wholesaler for goods in the shop. The short drive home is detrimental to the cardboard boxes containing the Leo beer, the rains have turned them into pulp. The Inquisitor takes care of the tick-infested dogs for the remaining hours of the day. A plague at the moment and so extravagant expenses have been made at the vet. Medicines, one tablet of seven hundred and fifty baht for each of the three dogs. A liquid for the fur, four hundred baht. Special shampoo, two hundred baht. Well, the four-legged friends are part of the Inquisitor's house and deserve good care.

And now, the third day in a row, rain. Yesterday De Inquisitor had checked the weather forecast and it looked good. Full sun, only a ten percent chance of a shower. That ten percent is probably here. Nature enjoys it. You will see young green appear on those few days. New leaves on the trees, grass starting to sprout again. A kind of aquatic plant in the pond has suddenly grown beautiful, elongated yellow-red flowers. All nice, but The Inquisitor has had enough. Those muddy feet, the dirty floors on the terraces. Wet dogs that get a smell, that can't be washed because once they've had their shower they can't resist rolling in the mud. Chores in and around the house, a pleasant activity for De Inquisitor, are not possible, too wet.

Well, according to the internet it has to stop today. It should have already been done.
No, rain - a blessing for a few hours, a plague for the rest, according to The Inquisitor.