Bump Speed and Other Observations on the Way to Bos Kralanh Village

DATELINE: July 25, 2013
PATRICIA E LYON

As the Toyota slowly moves across the wet red sand, we are met by a truck with giant Asian teeth. I cannot tell if the grill is smiling at us or growling. It up tips slightly to the left and then down again. Its wide tires mush one end of a dirt pile that was dropped off to create a "speed bump" for a nearby school. Everyone should slow down and watch for children. Mony grins, "The driver makes the bump speed better now for us to cross." By tomorrow, the bump speed will be almost flat. Perhaps someone will bring more sand for the bump speed.

At the edge of town, we are in a sort of industrial area. We drive by open buildings with green corrugated tin roofs covering lumber, furniture, cement and industrial things. These are mixed in with tailors, snack stands, and wobbly tables holding petrol in recycled soda bottles. The splashed Toyota weaves around trucks, makeshift wagons and carts, moto bikes, bicycles, and many dogs. I see a little boy, smaller than one of my grandsons, wearing an oversized sweatshirt and baggy pants. His head is nearly covered by a holely straw hat. He is the commander in charge of a troupe of ambling scrawny white cows. I don't know how he and the cows can make it through the traffic. This will be how he spends the entire day. My grandsons will be playing at the pool, being read stories or reading stories, taking naps, eating when they are hungry, doing assigned short-term chores, and if they are good, using a tablet like me or having other "screen time". I wonder how God thinks about when he sees all the children.

After class, I see a large gray water buffalo (which I love) sitting next to a small black dog. Their backs are to me. They are sitting up, as though in chairs. They look like a scene from Madagascar or Ice Age. They appear to 1) be very good friends, and 2) both be very curious about something. What do they see? I continue to wonder.