………….which means “it’s been grand!” as my mother used to say when she had a good day.   There’s been no sign of Easter bunnies or Chocolate Easter eggs or Easter Egg hunts…………..but there’s been loads of sun and the surf has been the highest we’ve seen since we’ve got here.   That, of course, meant another great day at the beach body-surfing and relaxing and people-watching.   Marilyn and I were chatting the other day about how we “stand out” here…………you know when you’re at the beach with nothing to do the strangest conversations come up and we’ve had quite a few………Jim somtimes wonders what the hell we’re talking about or how we got there.

First of all we don’t stand out because we’re short………..Asians are typically small people and there’s many of them at the beach so that’s no different.  And it’s also not because we’re white(and sometimes red) because there’s lots of people our color who are attempting to be another color by basking in the sun.

There are four reasons we stand out and the first is because we’re Canadian?  Since we’ve been at Kata Beach we have not met one Canadian  although we heard there are two in a hotel up the road.  The second reason we stand out is because we speak English………almost everyone we come across at the pool/beach is from Sweden, Germany, Russia, France, Japan, Thailand and whenever I hear anyone speak English (which is rare) I quickly turn my head thinking they’re talking to me but fortunately I come to my senses before I open my mouth.  The third reason is because neither of us has a tattoo………and almost everyone at the beach does, with the exception of many children.  We have seen so many tattoos on so many body parts small and large (both the tattoos and body parts) that we’ve realized that we are in the minority in that department and have fully accepted our status……..meaning no one is booking an appointment at the tattoo parlours that are so plentiful.  The fourth and last reason that comes to mind why we stand out on the beach is relevant only to Marilyn and I and that’s because we are wearing a one-piece bathing suit!!!   Other than the two of us I have only see one much younger woman wearing a one-piece suit and we looked at each other knowing we belonged to a very different club/culture.   There are hundreds of women on the beach daily of all shapes, sizes and ages and there are only three of us wearing a one piece suit……..well that’s not exactly true as there are others wearing a one piece which just covers their bottoms, meaning they’re topless.   Anyway that realization also led to a few interesting conversations as well.

All in all Easter Sunday was great and was really the calm after the storm as we had a ferocious thunder and lighting storm last night followed by heavy rains.  During the night I woke up several times thinking please don’t let the rainy season start this early and just hold off a few more days until we go…….so far so good!   Hope you have a wonderful and joyous Easter Sunday.