Day 25 - In Defence of Sloth

After reviewing some of my comments of the past few weeks, I've become keenly aware I seem to be promoting laziness.  In a nutshell, I guess that is true.  Or at least I'm suggesting downtime might be  a very positive experience for me at the moment.  I do realize there are times for energetic dedication but moderation in all thing seems a wise approach.  I'm not saying one should constantly just "bang on the drum all day".  A little, though, might lend a bit necessary perspective to some people's lives.

I've been quite surprised how, during this vacation, I have been able to sleep a solid 8.5 hour per night.  (Sometimes, in New Westminster I wake up two or three times a night.)  Then, after a late lunch, I have been having no trouble taking an extra hour and a half nap.  I know I'm lucky to be in the circumstances to take such rest.  I am aware that others, even if they wished, could not due to circumstances. 

Our circumstances will change tomorrow.  We decided to head off tomorrow for a yet undetermined number of days on our first real island journey of this stay.  The first step will be catching an afternoon train heading to Vavuniya.  That city is an excellent jumping off point for travel to most of Sri Lanka's north.  I will miss my afternoon nap period, but travel always involves sacrifices.  I must have picked this idea up from Jay who must believe that making things slightly difficult builds merit.  He'll walk two miles in the hot sun rather than spending 150 rupees on a tuk-tuk taxi.  Yet, then, in other ways, such as in gift.giving, he can be quite extravagant.  What this means is that tomorrow I would expect we'll be going third class on the train from Gampaha.  Interestingly, the cost of going first class on the six hour journey would only be around $US 5 bucks.