Dec 1 Of sandpiles and Cow races

here cows are tied to a framework of poles and held
until needed for the event. It was a colorful, "lubricated"
mostly-guys event -- not unlike the Ruth Rodeo in many
respects.


We tried but were totally unable to fathom the
mechanics of the contest. It had something to
do with lining up and tying some 10 cows who ran
concentrically around a pole. Only the outside
2 cows were in the contest, the remaining 8 were
something along the line of "spaceholders"

Later that evening, we were invited to the home of
Jid's (the housekeeper) son-in-law where a local
cow race was to be held. Cows were being trucked
from neighboring farms and prepared for the night's
contests. This farmer was especially proud of
his cow and wanted a picture taken.

Here we watch the dredges come to the staging area.
There are several an hour, the sand is dumped into
shallow water and vacuumed hydraulically onto
belts that carry it to the pile.

Yupadee's brother owns some serious sand mining
operations to the north of town.
For many years they have been dredging sand from
the local landscape. There are now huge fresh
water lakes as deep as 14 story houses.
To say they have altered the ecology is an understatement.