Monday

Before I start, I'm wishing Bless a very Happy Birthday. I hope you have a lovely day, Bless.

Of course, my photo session in Bradford on Avon didn't happen as planned. I delayed going until after lunch because I remembered what day it was and didn't want to get caught up with the Remembrance Day parades. There were still a lot of people about but once I'd found a parking space I started my walk by wandering around the town bridge area. This is where the heron and kingfisher can usually be found but there was no sign of them today so that'll have to be a return visit. The river is high and running fast, and the components which form the flood barrier for the Bullring (the area behind the white railing in the the first photo) are there ready to be assembled, presumably over the next few days.

I walked through the public gardens and on to the town bridge, ending up in the area on the right of the photo above, by the pink posters hanging on the railings. It's the place where you can sometimes see ducks or swans, but today I saw this instead ...

There was a small group of Thai women holding these flower offerings and they explained that they were celebrating Loi Krathong, a Bhuddhist festival to offer thanks to the water spirits. They were extremely welcoming and invited myself and another woman to join them, which we did. They provided the krathong (the flower offering) and we followed them to another part of the river and took it in turns to light the candles and incense sticks, then descend the steps to the river and set the krathong on its way, making a wish as we did so. 

They were all very excited and were running alongside the river to watch their krathongs floating along. That excitement was infectious and it was a delight to share their enjoyment. I didn't take any more photos after their invite to join them as I thought it would be rude and I didn't want to offend anyone.

Afterwards, I was invited back to share the celebration meal which was a huge buffet of all different sorts of Thai food. The women I'd met helped me choose what to eat and I was also given some to bring home with me.

I had a long chat with a couple of them. Apparently I'd missed the blessing by the monks as that happened first thing - I didn't quite understand the explanation but I think I'm correct in saying that the monks aren't based at their tiny temple but always attend to support them when necessary. We had a long chat about living in the present (I mentioned your blog post Bless) and they started explaining a lot about Buddhism, too much to take in but interesting nonetheless. They invited me to attend one of their meditation classes but they are on a Monday and would clash with my teaching and with the choir so at the moment is not an option. It's something to consider for the future though.

It was a fantastic day, all the more so because it was unexpected. They said that they usually wait until dark before floating the krathongs which must be an amazing sight and I'll look out for it next year.