Thereon

But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him: pouring drink-offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon: and calling the name of that place Bethel.

"16" reminds me of the 16 Basic Rules of Esperanto Grammar, as today is the 16th of April of 2025. Esperanto is more popular in places like Brazil, China, Indonesia, Korea, Congo-Kinshasa, and others. Around 6 in the morning, I brought my lime green sack with a green lizard illustrated thereon. Therein, I usually carry my Esperanto book, Tra Lando de Indianoj, by Tibor Sekelj, about life in Native Indian territory in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. I read it in the cafés. Firstly, I was at Tim Hortons café here on Lulu Island to drink Earl Grey tea with oat milk and eat a sausage English muffin. Gurpreet the Punjabi woman was my vendor. Then I walked to Starbucks café to drink steamed oat milk in a white ceramic mug. Jam the Filipino was my barista, and Jessica the petite Vietnamese was my vendor. For early lunch at home, I ate chicken and fried spring rolls with noodles and drank hot lime water on my sunny verandah. Later, after 11 in the morning, it was my second walk of the day. I was then at Tim Hortons café to drink another Earl Grey with oat milk. Rajvinder the Punjabi lady who has a similar profile to my cousin Myra in the Philippines was my vendor. Gary the Cantonese fan of Vietnam was in the hall. It was sunny outside, with blue sky, but with a bit of chilly wind.

Before 17:00, at Tim Hortons café, I was enjoying an Iced Coffee with oat milk. At the café, sitting at the long table with a drawing of an ice hockey rink thereon, were three mulattoes and one Asian, all of varying stockiness and handsomeness. Homebound, I noticed the abundant horsetails in the alleyway. At home, I listen to Zouk music in French Creole on my tablet, as well as Gringo Pop from the 1970s to the 1990s. I watch, in Tagalog, Jezelle's Vlog about native Philippine life on Mount Tralala. The later afternoon had clearer skies, here on Lulu Island. It's the 14th of May of 2025.

Around 15:00, my walking led me to Tim Hortons café, there to enjoy a Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade Quencher and a Lemon Poppyseed Muffin, as I sat sunning myself by the long table with a drawing of an ice hockey rink thereon. Homebound, in the alleyway, I saw dragonflies. In my mind, I say "tutubí" in Tagalog and "tombo" in Japanese. Sometimes, I chat with the anxious carpenters near the alleyway. It's the 24th of May of 2025.

It's the 18th of May of 2025. Around noontime, I walked to Tim Hortons café to enjoy an Iced Coffee with oat milk. On the way, I saw my neighbour friend Rod washing his big camper, as he and his Ukrainian-descent star-savvy wife Joanne intend to camp in Okanagan. The café was really crowded, this Sunday. The long table with an ice hockey rink drawn thereon was full of Orientals: Two Japanese, one in black and one in beige, and the rest were Cantonese. The sky was clearing, with more blue, and the temperature was rising.

It's the 18th of May of 2025. After 20:00, I headed walking to Tim Hortons café to enjoy an Orange Pekoe Tea with oat milk. In my lime green sack with a green lizard image thereon, I brought two books to the café to read, one Esperanto, one Interlingua: Tra Lando de Indianoj, by Tibor Sekelj, and Contos in Interlingua, by Sven Frank. Green and Blue, they are. The Esperanto book is a tale about life in the jungles of Red Indians in Brazil. The Interlingua book is a collection of children's tales. It was still before sunset. Arriving home, I saw that family Filipino friends Perlita and Glenn were talking to Mama in the dining room. They brought a fruit tray that includes red watermelon chunks, grape bunches, orange slices, etc. They brought also Philippine spaghetti and Philippine pancit noodles. We talked about rich chains like Tim Hortons, 7-Eleven, A&W, etc. and how so high the rental is for retail stores on Lulu Island, so that two 7-Eleven stores have closed in our neighbourhood; they stood for over 40 years!

It's sunny today, the 2nd of June of 2025. I'm wearing my hooded red, grey, and black cardigan. I carry a lime green sack with a lizard drawing thereon. I wear a green touque. (I'm a long-time Esperantist.) In the morning and in the afternoon, I went walking to Tim Hortons café to have some varied drinks and a Crispy Chicken Craveable Sandwich. Sometimes, I crave absent things like baklava, cannoli, barfi, halva, and others too sweet and exotic. In the morning also was my 24th visit this spring to the Roman Catholic church on St. Albans Road. 'Twas practically empty in the worship hall. There are many Filipinos in this parish. The grand Empress Tree, called "Kiri" by Japanese, near Bowcock Road, has lost most of its purple blooming glory by now. The species originates in East Asia, and is here on Lulu Island. It looks like the Jacaranda, also purple-bloomed, in South America. Incidentally, as a linguistic note, maybe for many, Japanese Katakana would suffice for their linguistic curiosity, as it does really satisfy the graphic dimension of language learning. Katakana words are like "eye candy."

This morning of the 14th of June of 2025, here on Lulu Island, is quite cloudy and chilly for a near-summer morning. I walked to Tim Hortons café at about 5 o'clock. There, I enjoyed an iced coffee with oat milk and scrambled eggs with sausage bits and potatoes. Yesterday was probably my 42nd visit this year to the St. Albans Road's Roman Catholic church, which I call "Clam Temple" because of its shape. "42" is jokingly famous for some people: In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the number 42 is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, as the supercomputer Deep Thought calculated after 7.5 million years. Yesterday, at the café, Michael from Guǎngzhōu was wearing a black Louis Vuitton shirt with an orange-coloured blossom insignia thereon and grey jogging pants. I was wearing a hooded red, grey, and black cardigan over a military green mesh net vest over a red T-shirt, as well as a green touque, green striped Indian pyjama pants, and mauve garden clogs. We talked about lots of things, including that "socialism" might have a big comeback because of the effects of Artificial Intelligence and robotics in the future. These things could also affect warfare, we were thinking.

Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.