Saturday, September 19, 2009

This is Vacation!

I cannot help but think of what a more natural way of existence this is.  One gets up with the sun and after the birds.  Being so close to the equator the days are always about 12 hours long.  It gets light at 6 am and darkness comes around 6 or 7 pm.

After one gets up, while waiting for tea, it’s nice to step to the outside well to brush and wash rather than using the bathroom.  One needs to wash a shirt or some clothes nearly every day, so why not just wash in a tub as it’s less of a chore than filling the washing machine.  The ground water is warm as is the rain.  I associate showers with cool Vancouver weather, but a rain here is an entirely different situation.  It may be a downpour but it’s seldom cool.  All this water and an abundance of sunshine is what gives the tropics such an explosion of life.

When tea finally is ready, I sit by the back door and watch the feeding station for all types of birds.  Parrots seem the most intelligent of the lot but tend to argue with differing clans.  Somewhat like people, that is.

Photo: Red rice string hoppers for breakfast, Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka

The morning rushes by quickly just walking around the grounds picking all sorts of leaves that will become a part of lunch.  Or fruits which will be eaten or made into a drink.  I thought things such as cloves simply came in a bottle.  I would be hard pressed to verify exactly what is growing.  The “smell the leaves” test is somewhat helpful though.  Who’d image that a mango leave would smell like cutting into a mango.  This doesn’t exactly work in all cases as the coffee tree leaves hardly have any identifiable fragrance.

If the guys are around, it’s probably time to pull back a few drinks before lunch.  Lunch is leisurely, and the afternoon spent in laughter and gossip.  Oh, and perhaps a nap is in order.

The evening involves skipping around the various channels complaining about various Sri Lankan tele-dramas or reality show-type music contests.  Why does this family spend so much time laughing but folks in the nightly dramas never so much as crack a smile?

Bed can be whenever one is sleepy.  I want to retire NOW (from work … not simply for the night).


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