Maninjau

Tranquility... it’s that space you get to when all is quiet- within you... 

October, 2009 Sumatra, Indonesia

It was a tiny fishing village, half awake, on the shore of a caldera (crater) lake in western Sumatra. The clouds clung especially low, to the bordering mountains beyond. Coloring between clouds and water painted a perfect reflection, barely indistinguishable to its own. A desaturated gray/ blue, and yet the water was lush- full of ancient, volcanic nutrient. A light drizzle fell, dampening everything, even my scarf hoodie. 
A small Indonesian man, sun-ripened, and well aged, farmed his late morning catch. His tiny, indigenous canoe, a jukung, was nothing more than a hollowed out tree trunk, forming upward curving ends. It waded in the shallow water, navigated by his long bamboo stick. The beginning of Ramadan had just began. There was an imperceptible edginess in the air. I took cover from the light rain, from the townspeople’s dispirited mood, leaning on a thick tree. I watched Lake Maninjau. Me and the trees. In Bahasa Indonesa, maninjau, means “observation”. Observation lake. How fitting in this setting.