I've finally achieved a little Zen. Friday's dawn brought with it a true sense of finally being here. The knowledge that we plan on staying three months also promises to make this visit feel less constrained.
It felt fine letting things unfold at a snail's pace. I've said before that one aspect I like about life here is the shifting of my priorities. All the things that usually consume my attention and could prompt fret have little consequence on this side of the globe.
Somehow, we've make the concept of errands into dirty, little deeds to be rushed. When, in fact, it is errands which are the stuff of living. Every human needs to eat, but as the term fast food indicates, many of us have squeezed the pleasure out of the pursuit. We have made the act of sustenance into just another task to be accomplished. We often know more about the gadgets we purchase than the contents and preparation of what goes into our bodies.
Today we spent about half the day preparing the things we ate and things we will eat. I can laugh at the oft-improbably pledge that some North Americans make towards a hundred mile diet.
As the house is on an acre or so of jungle, we picked an immense number of foods and spices within a hundred feet! I want to create a listing of some of the eatable items growing in the backyard. If we know the English name, I'll use it; otherwise, I will probably misspell the Sinhalese name in English letters.
Okay, here goes, in no particular order, fruits first: ambrella, bellifruit, wood apple, jackfruit, veriloo, mango, banana, jambo, rambutan, oranges, papaya, breadfruit, and tangerines. Let's try vegetable-like leaves: vine spinach, gotukola, panithora, gira-pala, polpala, valpenara, hatawariya, katuru-murunga, tebu, kohila, japan-batu, and angnukola. The next group, we'll say is the for-curry group: turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, curry leaves, pandan-leaves, sour fruit, cinnamon, and pepper. Lastly, are the things that don't easily fit elsewhere: coffee, and of course, coconuts.
It felt fine letting things unfold at a snail's pace. I've said before that one aspect I like about life here is the shifting of my priorities. All the things that usually consume my attention and could prompt fret have little consequence on this side of the globe.
Somehow, we've make the concept of errands into dirty, little deeds to be rushed. When, in fact, it is errands which are the stuff of living. Every human needs to eat, but as the term fast food indicates, many of us have squeezed the pleasure out of the pursuit. We have made the act of sustenance into just another task to be accomplished. We often know more about the gadgets we purchase than the contents and preparation of what goes into our bodies.
Today we spent about half the day preparing the things we ate and things we will eat. I can laugh at the oft-improbably pledge that some North Americans make towards a hundred mile diet.
As the house is on an acre or so of jungle, we picked an immense number of foods and spices within a hundred feet! I want to create a listing of some of the eatable items growing in the backyard. If we know the English name, I'll use it; otherwise, I will probably misspell the Sinhalese name in English letters.
Okay, here goes, in no particular order, fruits first: ambrella, bellifruit, wood apple, jackfruit, veriloo, mango, banana, jambo, rambutan, oranges, papaya, breadfruit, and tangerines. Let's try vegetable-like leaves: vine spinach, gotukola, panithora, gira-pala, polpala, valpenara, hatawariya, katuru-murunga, tebu, kohila, japan-batu, and angnukola. The next group, we'll say is the for-curry group: turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, curry leaves, pandan-leaves, sour fruit, cinnamon, and pepper. Lastly, are the things that don't easily fit elsewhere: coffee, and of course, coconuts.