A long time gone

It's a rare Wamena evening. The stars are out in number twinkling brightly across the sky.  A wisp of cloud, whether from a near by fire or the remains for an attempt at an evening rain, passes quickly by. It rains most nights in Wamena starting in the shortly after sundown and continues till sunrise. But tonight is a rare night.  No dogs fighting or pigs squealing. No music blaring from the neighbors or babies crying.  Here I am, sitting in the middle of my lawn watching the stars, Orion almost directly over head, listening to the crickets chirp and the trees rustling. Peaceful. Quiet. Calm.

The trip back was a long one but thankfully an uneventful one- 9 days long. No delays of any kind and the luggage arrived the same time I did.  I spent 3 days in Bali as there were no tickets available. then 3 more days in Sentani getting my book keeping work back and going over what had and had not been done in my absence.  then one last short flight to Wamena.

The house was quiet and had an unused feel to it, like the air inside was stale from lack of movement or use.  My roommate had moved out a week or so prior to my return. I did a quick survey of the house.  The guest rooms had been used and needed clean linens.  The tub in the bathroom had spiders already making themselves at home.  The kitchen looked like it couldn't decide if people still used it or not.  The cupboards half empty of food but eggs, garlic and onions still sat on the counter.  The dish drainer was full of washed dishes except for a few remaining cups sitting here and there that had escaped the last washing.  Half used rolls of toilet paper and boxes of tissues (both of which are used in place of napkins) scattered around the kitchen.

The fridge though mostly empty still had food which was growing enough mold it would soon be able to walk out of the fridge by itself, along with bottles of condiments that everyone uses but no one takes with them of course here that also includes 3 or 4 different kinds of hot sauce, soy sauce both sweet and salty, and some sort of fish sauce along with all of the usual kinds.  And some how or another 10 open jars of jelly! Where they all came from I have no idea.
~ Note to self, clean fridge later~

Enough of the inside... time to check the outside.   In the garden cabbage, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries and basil all growing nicely and well taken care of.  Almost half of the animals had died or been stolen. I always expect, while I am gone, to lose a few animals but half seems like a lot.  There is a new gardener as the other was fired due to some disagreement with my roommate.

Now here I sit in the cool of the evening, stars glittering overhead, reflecting on the day and making a mental to do list for the next few days to come. There will be much to do in the next few days.  Breathing a relaxing breath that there is no more traveling for a while and I am glad to finally home.