Today is a red-letter day here in Indonesia. No, actually
tomorrow is the red-letter day, but school is closed for a full week and a
half. The Balinese Hindu holidays of Galungan and Kuningan happen twice a year.
Galungan always falls on a Wednesday with Kuningan coming ten days later.
The school year started in mid-July, but didn’t really get
going until after Indonesian Independence Day on August 17. That
was a Friday this year. Kids went back to school on Saturday. Then they were
off for a Muslim holiday on the following Monday. Back to school for exactly
one week. Now, they are off for a week and a half again. No wonder they have to
start school so early with so many holidays interrupting the school year.
This means that Rachel is home for ten days straight. I
love having her around. However, I can’t take the same extended holiday that
school kids get to take. I still have to get some work done.
As she is my only child, unless one of her friends comes over
to play, or she goes to her friend’s house, Rachel is kind of at loose ends
when it comes to keeping herself occupied.
I will joyously celebrate the day that she becomes proficient enough at
reading that a book can absorb her interest for part of her day.
But that day is not yet. We had spent much of the morning
sorting through her toys, choosing some to give away, throwing away the toys
that were broken beyond repair, and generally putting things back to rights.
I then sat down at my computer to get some work done. Rachel
moved some of her playthings into my office to be near me. No problem to me as
long as she is quiet. She took a familiar song and put new words to it … a
habit she has picked up from me. At one point, I tuned in to what she was
singing. It went something like this.
