Salubrious Thailand

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I’ve found Thailand rather salubrious this week. To begin with, I went botanizing in the Gulf of Thailand.

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I botanized by the seashore, and on the hillsides, and on the roadsides, exploring the cracks and crevices of the rocks for the particular species of grass that can survive in such an hostile environment. 

I also took a close look at the calcareous sands of multiple beaches this week, taxing my mind with thoughts of chemical equilibria in such soils, pondering cation exchange capacity of sand rootzones, and perhaps most importantly, evaluating the beaches for a possible return when friends and family come to visit.

Global irradiance has never been far from my mind over the past year, because of my interest in the effect of climate on turfgrass performance, and I was thrilled to look up one afternoon to see an optical phenomenon I hadn’t noticed before – this spectacular solar halo. Apparently they are quite common. I should look up more often.

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All the botanizing and sand and irradiance are hard work indeed. You may be wondering, what is so salubrious about such arduousness? Let’s move on then.

This was a momentous week for my athletic career. The trophies I’ve won in the past had been awarded for my fine play at golf. But how about this new trophy adorning my desk, the massive trophy with the Singha lion engraved atop it? That I won this morning for a second place finish in a 10 km race in Bangkok. I’ll add this trophy to all the medals I’ve won in previous races.

No place is truly salubrious without good food, and Thailand has that in spades. I’ve recently been frequenting an excellent noodle shop. How about บะหมี่หมูแดง with เกี๊ยวกุ้ง and a large dollop of ปู? It’s delicious, and helps to keep me in the 95 kg category of runners, among which I am, as far as I can tell, the second fastest man in Bangkok.

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