Eyrealm: Butur, Biking, Blessings and a Baby Blessing

Taking advantage of every minute we had together, we enjoyed the fabulous food of Bali after our fun day on the previous post, and in the morning, we scheduled a company to take us up to the base of a spectacular volcano with the beautiful Lake Batur nestled at its base.

This remarkable tree which shot up past the second story balcony was only made more beautiful by two of our favorite people in front of it!

That is one healthy tree!

From this heavenly place we were transported to where everyone picked up their bikes and they were off for a downhill ride through the real world of Balinese village life.

Kristi and Aja and Ezra and I were in a car with Dana (our private car driver) and we watched the countryside go by in perfect air-conditioned comfort although Aja rode Jonah’s back during the second half of the ride and almost 8 months pregnant Kristi was only allowed outside the car to take pictures!

We stopped at a family home on the way down the mountain and were instructed about the amazing life of a typical Balinese family. We learned that the grandmother of the household prepares about 70 offerings each day which is an amazing time and money consumer. And the Mother in the compound spends a lot of time each day cooking in this bleak kitchen. No ventilation over that fire:

Fascinating information!

It just happened that this was a very special day in Bali. It was a day to be grateful for and celebrate and honor everything made of metal. People were out everywhere washing their cars and their motorbikes and decorating them in anticipation of the arrival of the local priest who would soon arrive to give them a blessing. That includes everything from the kitchen knives to their cars. Here is one of the cars that has just been blessed:

That may sound like a crazy idea but it inspired us all to be more grateful for the metal in our lives and some of the “kids” even declared that March 21 (the first day of spring for us in the US) was going to henceforth be a day when they honor their cars (by cleaning them and being grateful for them). Not a bad idea! Everywhere we looked on the ride, we saw families preparing their metal things to be blessed!

Part of the celebration includes a ceremonial march to the temple with a little band of musicians and women carrying offerings on their heads to present to the gods in gratitude for their metal belongings. What a country!

Our bikers had the good luck of being able to pass right by the ceremony to the temple in one of the villages. Here comes Saydi, blending ? into the parade:

Thanks for that photo Kristi!

It just happened that this was also a day for a very special blessing in our own family which was one of our favorite memories of the trip. We were all lucky enough to witness Jonah giving a Father’s blessing to his little son. He picked out a beautiful rice field where he gave his little baby son Ezra, his official name and a Father’s blessing. This only happens once in a lifetime. All the men gathered around that little sweet baby and Jonah gave him an inspired blessing of love and devotion which Ezra will carry with him for the rest of his life.