Visits

Friday, June 15, 2018

The Unruly Sun

Once a week or so, I go out to a mall in Denpasar, not very far from my house, because there is a Hypermart there, which is a good place to buy my groceries for the week. In years past, one had to choose between Hardy's in Sanur or the Hypermart in Kuta, the latter of which is rather far away. Hardy's was closer, but more expensive, being in the middle of a tourist area. Now, however, there are any number of groceries nearby and shopping has become much easier. 

I choose the mall in Denpasar because the Hypermart store has reasonable prices, and there is a Starbucks and a Gramedia book store in the mall. 

But there's a curious thing about this Starbucks in the mall; for although I have never been good at compass directions, often getting them wrong when I write in this blog, I can say that at this particular Starbucks, the sun is permanently fixed over the outdoor patio area. Whether morning or evening, there it is, beating down on the tables, and trashing the laws of astronomy at the same time. According to my observations, in this strange zone of the cosmos the sun rises in the west, climbs nearly to the top of the sky, and then gradually slides back down, ultimately setting upon the same horizon from which it rose. 

How this can be, I don't know. What I do know is that the only pleasant time to have a coffee at this Starbucks is in the evening, when the sun, by not shining at all, has resumed an obedience to the laws of nature.  

No comments: