Gede and his family walked by with their offerings on their way to the shrine a few doors from us.  On the return walk, they stopped to visit with us.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

After the rain, Tom’s sunset photo.

With a slew of ideas for future posts while in Bali, we’ve yet to begin chipping away at the list we created before our arrival. It seems that each day brings a plethora of new photos and stories we can’t help but give top priority.

What a lovely family in their colorful holiday clothing!

Whether or not our recent posts are of interest to our readers, remains somewhat of a mystery, but we can only observe the of number hits in the stats to determine how many people around the world are stopping by. We continue to be astounded by our visitors after posting for 4 ½  years.  Thank you, people!

The offerings are placed at the shrine.

Yesterday morning, as we peered out at the sea from the cabana, we were pleasantly surprised when Gede, his wife and two adorable children walked by in exquisite colorful clothing on their way to the temple two doors from us.

It was beautiful for us to witness the family’s Hindu tradition.

The holiday they are celebrating is as follows with additional information here:
“Galungan is the most important feast for Balinese Hindus, a celebration to honor the creator of the universe (Ida Sang Hyang Widi) and the spirits of the honored ancestors.

The festival symbolizes the victory of good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma), and encourages the Balinese to show their gratitude to the creator and sainted ancestors.”

Two sweet little girls.

Gede’s lovely wife is seven months pregnant and was truly a sight to behold in her festive holiday garb.The two precious little girls were dressed in equally colorful and adorable attire. Gede looked handsome in his special sari all of which is shown in today’s photo. (We asked their permission for the photos).

This particular holiday, as in the case of most Hindu holidays, consists of colorful flower and food offerings again as shown in today’s photos. Yesterday, our own household staff placed flowers and offerings and burning incense both indoors and out.

Seated on the edge of the cabana, we chatted with Gede. His wife, Ayu suriani and two daughters, Kadek siska (younger) and Putu saskia speak no English so it was through facial expressions we were able to express our gratitude for their visit.

Whether the offerings were placed here for us or for them while they worked in the villa, we were honored to partake in the beauty and of course, the intoxicating smell. These are special people, gentle, kind, graceful and peaceful. We love and appreciate all of them.

Even as we lounge on the veranda or the cabana, passersby on the beach including children often yell “halo” while vigorously waving their arms. Where in the world have we discovered such warmth and welcoming?

Look at that adorable face on Kadek siska!

Today is Sunday. The staff is off and we’re on our own. We have a complete meal ready for the microwave and will only need to toss the salad with dressing at dinner time.

Today, its hotter and more humid than it’s been these past over two weeks since our arrival. We’re still in the bedroom in air conditioned comfort, showered and in our swimsuits, waiting for the morning humidity to lessen a little before we tackle the outdoors for the remainder of the day.

Gede’s older daughter, Putu saskia. Stunning!

With rain each day over the past week, the flies have been on a rampage anxious to nibble on human flesh influencing our desire to be outside right now. They seem to reduce in numbers as the day wears on. With a 90% chance of thunderstorms again today, its currently sunny. After each rain storm, the number of flies increases.

Some have asked if there’s a lot of insects here and there are, although most are relatively harmless except scorpions (we’ve only had one in the villa so far) and occasional visits by scary looking spiders. Otherwise, it’s mostly mozzies, flies and ants, lots of ants; huge amounts of ants; a gross amount of ants.

Gede explained that different colors are used during various part of the Hindu ceremony.

Ants in Bali are generally only bothersome around food and prep areas. At any given moment they are all over the kitchen regardless of how clean it is kept. Over these past years of living with ants, we’ve come to just flick them away, even if a few are crawling on our plates of food which is often the case. 

The Ketuks place this beautiful display of offerings in the villa containing food and flowers. Some of the flowers are edible and are consumed during the ceremonies.

Soon, we’ll head back outside for another glorious day in this outstanding villa in Malaya Beach, Sumbersari, Bali. How did we get so lucky to find this fabulous location where we’ll be spending another 38 nights plus an additional four nights at the hotel in Lovina (beginning in eight days)?  Safari luck?

In our old lives we’d never have imagined it would be possible or affordable to be spending 42 nights in Bali under these blissful circumstances.  Yet, here we are, lapping it up, in awe and with tremendous gratitude for every single moment.

May your day be blissful!

Photo from one year ago today, September 18, 2015:

In Fiji, one year ago, Badal, the neighbor Sewak’s dog, bounded up the steep hill with ease as we rode in Sewak’s truck.   It was the steepest road either of us had ever experienced in a vehicle. Badal came to visit every evening around dinner time hoping for a few scraps which we always provided. We’d asked Sewak if we could give Badal meat, since his beliefs surrounded vegetarianism.  But, Sewak didn’t mind if Badal ate meat.   For more photos, please click here.