Golden slumbers fill your eyes

I spent all of Saturday at the windsurfing school. The wind disappeared that morning, and as we approached the school the last of the kayaks were rowing out into the gulf for some nefarious purpose or another. Autumn and I paddled out on a windsurf board and basked in the glorious sun.

When we returned to the beach, the afternoon was warm and drowsy. It took so much energy to contemplate whether a nap on the beach was a good idea that I made the decision just before I wouldn't have had the energy to lay out my sarong. The sun was low enough in the sky that I didn't need to hide from it. As it set the sun dazzled the sky with what I thought was the last glorious ray before sunset, until the next set of colors which really was the sunset. I drifted away...

And the bugs came out.

When I awoke I saw them in clouds, silhouetted against the dying light of day. More quietly, though, the sand fleas nibbled on my feet. The price for a beautiful nap on the beach looks like some sort of pox. I feel a little dirty taking clandestine scratches here and there, letting my flip-flop fall off and then sliding it back on again... over and over.

But there was a better reason to awaken: dinner. The windsurf school has a steady population on weekends, and communal meals are usually a part of this. I accompanied a couple of folks on a trip to the market for ingredients. This was the spread:



The table is a windsurf board propped on two chairs. The gentleman is Khun Mai, the proprietor. Our main dishes were french fries, onion rings and sashimi with various dipping sauces. Traditional Thai food, I tell you what.

Khun Mai ate his first strawberry that evening. He liked it. The rest ended up in this spicy lemongrassy fish soup.



The soup looks like a terrible idea, but was actually tasty. The strawberries maintain their flavor without sharing with the rest of the pot, so your spicy Tom Yum-like flavor is just punctuated with sweet strawberriness. You'll just have to try it sometime.