It’s 7:47 on a a grey and quiet morning. It rained throughout the night and it’s still raining now – a steady, dignified parade of drops crowning the coconut palms, sliding down slick fronds, and painting brown circles on muddy puddles.
Mike has donned a poncho, packed up his work clothes in a plastic bag, and cycled off to the office in shorts and a tee shirt.
The baby is sleeping. (Let’s not dwell on the fact that the reason he is sleeping like an angel at his early hour is because he was up between 2 and 3:30, and then again at 5. No, let’s not dwell on that).
I haven’t written much about my current theme – kindness – lately. I will pick that series up again in earnest eventually. But in the meantime, I was inspired this morning to take note of some of the kindness that’s been directed my way lately. Here’s one. Our good friends who came to visit last week, Hilary and Matt, bought 22 copies of my book with them in their suitcases. It’s a weird thing seeing your book for the first time. It’s even weirder seeing it for the first time after its launch is well underway. Here’s baby #1 meeting baby #2.
In no particular order. Here are some kindnesses that have been lavished upon me lately.
Matt and Hilary coming to visit.
Matt and Hilary carrying 22 books, 2 bottles of wine, a puppet, a toy, 2 kids books, and 2 bags of jolly ranchers all the way to Luang Prabang from California.
Mike getting up to Dominic when I came back to bed at 3AM after an hour of trying to get him down again, just done. with. him. And taking him away at 5:30 so that I could go back to sleep this morning. And bringing me coffee and fruit at 6:30 when I was booting up skype to do an interview.
Friends here in Laos making time in busy schedules to meet me for coffee, or work at our kitchen table while Dominic naps and I crash on the sofa, or drop by to say hi.
My sister taking time to post one of my books to the winner of the first GoodReads giveaway. (Enter the next one by clicking the button on my sidebar).
My parents organizing doctor visits, internal flights, a car seat, and a place to stay in Sydney next week. (Surprise!! I’m going to Australia next week for a couple of weeks. Mike will be out in the field a lot these next three weeks and going to Australia to have some medical issues checked out and hang with my parents seemed preferable to being here in Luang Prabang with Dominic solo. I’ll keep you posted on whether that was a sensible decision or just a crazy one).
My parents for being willing to carry 40 of my books back to Australia with them.
The many friends, and some strangers, who have featured Love At The Speed Of Email on their blogs, hosted me for an interview, or recommended the book to friends during the last couple of weeks.
A talented and affordable masseuse that visits the house twice a week. If you have to have live in the tropics with a chronic disease that is exacerbated by heat, there are far worse treatments to suffer through than regular massage.
Rainy days that bring cool relief. Yes, I know this is not a kindness enacted specifically for me, but I choose to appreciate it as such.
I know there are others that I am temporarily forgetting … a lot of life feels like that at the moment – facts visit and escape me at the oddest moments. I keep remembering things I need to do when I’m changing dirty diapers. That is why I sometimes leave the dirty diaper neatly folded on the end of the change table instead of taking it into the bathroom, cleaning it off, and putting it in the soak bucket. Whenever I do this I always intend to come back and finish the job later, but I don’t always remember. Perhaps it would be a small kindness to Mike if I did. Or perhaps it would just be common courtesy and good hygiene.
I think I’ll stop now before I further incriminate myself. What about you? What kindness has come your way recently?
