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Brushes with Nature in Bangkok

Posted by Stuart at 11:47 PM on October 12, 2006

For one of the first times after moving to Bangkok, I have a growing feeling that I am a part of nature. On my small balcony I have a bunch of potted plants, and now, I have not one but two bird nests in the plants. I don't know what kind of birds they are, other than being small and brown. And they fly. Fast.

The nests are located in the top branches of some dead bamboo stalks that have been covered in vines. The nests are quite amazing structures: they are not just the normal bowl shape, but an actual sphere with a small hole in the front. I don't even know if I could build something as intricate as that, and I have opposable thumbs!

Speaking of the vines, they are supposed to be covered in colorful blooms, but they have been here for months and I have yet to see anything but leaves. Until today, that is. And the first bloom is an impressive one, with several other buds on the way. Why they decided to come out now I have no idea.

In other nature news, here in Bangkok we are waiting for the floods to arrive. They are saying that the Chao Phraya River is flowing fuller and faster than it has in years. Most of the provinces upstream are submerged, which means that there's a good chance that the Chao Phraya will overflow its banks in a couple of days as well. It has been raining hard almost every evening, and so every night we wonder if tomorrow will be the day we can't leave the house.

I am loving the birds and the flowers outside my window. And although the floods might not be much fun (if and when they do arrive) at least my brushes with nature are not quite like having snakes in my bed.