rice barn house built of

rice barn house built of 

bamboo, wood, sago palm and

many memories

After an exhausting afternoon following the girls around Ubud shopping, we return to find a worried Robin, back from the printer's shop hours earlier. She shows us sample books with beautiful handmade paper, for the poetry books she and I are both publishing here. She says the printer will give us price quotes tomorrow. I wonder if "tomorrow" is a relative a term, meaning anywhere from tomorrow to two morrows to many morrows.
          Robin takes us to their family house in a compound up the road from where we're staying in Nyuh Kuning. It is absolutely gorgeous, built in the style of a Lumbung, a traditional rice barn, with a wide ladder to the first floor. It's made with all natural materials -- bamboo, wood, sago palm thatched roof -- though the carved and gilded doors would not be found in a real rice barn. The kitchen is in a separate two-story building and the bathroom in another one-story structure. They are renting the house to an Italian woman who has a boyfriend living with her, so we can't stay there. It sure would be nice, but not sure it would be good for Robin anyway, with the witch next door. We peak in the storage shed and Robin picks through the piles of stuff, filled with memories.
          I take a cold water bucket bath and meditate before supper. Then we take Robin back to the Thai restaurant where we had lunch. Baby Z crashes before the food is served. D's long-haired male friend from Sai-Sai Bar shows up and the three girls go off to another bar. I carry baby Z halfway to C's car parked down by Monkey Forest and she carries her the other half. That kid is heavy when she's out! 
          Robin wakes me up after midnight, crying out, "Who's there?" Then she goes out to chat with the girls when they come in at 1. I manage to sleep until 3, despite the sounds of laughter outside the door, dogs barking, cicadas chirping, frogs croaking and one confused rooster crowing long before dawn. I wonder how long it will take for my circadian rhythm to adjust to this equatorial, other-side-of-the-world cycle.