As the 10 foot waves form a perfect curl on their way to the southern Bali shore, I realize the season has changed. March through May is my favorite time of year in Bali – the breezy season.
It came a little late. Our previous guests still saw some heavy gray and serious rains. But sometime last weekend, there was a shift. The days became sunnier for longer. We had our first day without any rain. Since then, it rains 20 minutes a day at most with glorious sunshine most of the time.
Today, sitting at Ku De Ta with Jacob and Diana, enjoying fine food, great music, comfortable lounge chairs and the splendor of the Seminyak beach, I am also enjoying a distinctly Balinese breeze (great name for a cocktail if anyone wants to steal that one).
Balinese breezes are gentle. They come in and caress you. They move the air to break up the heat and dissipate the humidity. Best of all, they lift Balinese kites high into the sky.
Of all the various arts and crafts in Bali, kites are perhaps the most practical. Beautiful, large winged birds of many bright colors soar in the sky. As the winds pick up and the rains subside, kites fill Balinese airspace because they help with rice farming – they’re scarecrows.
Birds fear the large “birds of prey” above and leave the sprouting rice grains alone. When the harvesting squads work the ripened fields, the beautiful, ornate, multicolored kites give them relief. They have less clapping and yelling to keep their precious harvest safe.
While it’s hard to imagine Bali being more colorful than it is normally, the kites fill the skies with new levels of brightness. They are like flags, raised to announce and celebrate the season.
So it is that in this most glorious time of the Balinese year, with our fun and enjoyable guests, we’re celebrating a breezy Balinese Friday with lunch and lounging at my favorite restaurant and lifestyle experience in Bali – followed by a sunset Kecak and Fire dance at the Ulu Watu temple and a seafood dinner on the beach of Jimbaran Bay.
Balinese weeks are grueling. Our lives are hard. We have to do something to live it up….
Besides, a Balinese breeze is not something to be wasted. I have to go take a dip in the pool now….
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