There don’t seem to be a whole lot of plastic shopping bags around here.—which is kind of amazing and refreshing compared to how many there are everywhere you look in the US. When you go into a store and buy something, it is packaged away for you in a little cloth sack. They are usually very thin and very pink.
Carrots
Carrots here are a striking red color; the color of persimmons; the color of sockeye salmon; a color that is somewhere between a tomato and the inside of a watermelon. They are gorgeous and as sweet as can be. I truly have never seen anything like them. Our chef makes this dish of carrots and freshly shelled peas that is absolutely delicious.
Laundry
All of our laundry line dries-- and it is quite impressive how little time it takes. Maybe it is especially dry here; maybe the sun is extra bright; maybe the wind blows just in the right direction. All I know is that the laundry I wash in the morning is usually dry by the afternoon. I wish this could work in Seattle.
Color
I feel extraordinarily drab here. Grey pants; brown sweater; black coat. The women here wear such gorgeous clothes in the most beautiful vibrant colors. Possibly a shopping trip is in my future.
Outlets
We have at least three different kinds of outlets in our house. There is the large three round-pronged ones (we only have two of these, and this is what our heater needs, so we haven’t had much of a choice as to where we can have the heater going). Then there is the small three round-pronged ones—most things go into these. Then there are these very modern ones that function either as the small three round-pronged ones or also can work as American style outlets with more rectangular shaped holes. It is very clever. Also, all of the outlets have on and off switches, so if you aren’t using an appliance you can turn the switch off and it saves a great amount of energy.
Birds
I hope, eventually, to find a little time to really dedicate myself to this topic. But just in the last few weeks I have noticed a wonderful variety of birds here. First, there is the common crow, that is very much different than the crows we have back home. These crows are almost blue, but then have beautiful silver necks, and these little hooked bills. They are lean and quite handsome. Then, there are these fat, stout, very round brown birds that seem to be everywhere. They remind me of the robins we have back home—a bit girthy with a huge amount of attitude. The first time I saw one I was struck by how funny its expression was-- it almost looks as though is has these downturned eyebrowns—as if he’s not quite pleased with any situation at any given time.
Then, there are these speckled smallish black birds that have bright yellow beaks and markings around their eyes. When they fly you can see these beautiful white under-feathers.. They are about the same size as the brown birds, but not quite as round.
Of course, there are also these gorgeous green parrots that I keep mentioning. I don’t think I have ever really seen a parrot fly, and let me tell you, it is brilliant. They have these long narrow tail feathers that follow them, and they seem to be able to fly straight up and then nose dive. They chirp a lot, and hang out in large groups. If I don’t see any more wildlife in India-- no tigers, elephants, crocodiles--- seeing these wild parrots alone will have made my trip.
A few others to note—there are these small brown birds with black pointy heads. They very much look like cardinals, but aren’t red. Also, there are these teeny tiny itsy bitsy birds that live in all the shrubs. And these gorgeous little yellow birds that look a bit like warblers that hang out in the trees by Violet’s school.
Also, there are pigeons, which seem to look identical no matter where in the world you go. And mourning doves with slightly pink heads, one of which somehow got briefly stuck in our sun room the other day…
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