POYA DAY

It's POYA DAY here in Sri Lanka today. That means it's a Full Moon and a holy day and I have the day off of work. POYA DAYs are quiet days. Little traffic, people go to temple in the evenings and since we have a view of a temple from our terrace, I expect I'll see lots of flickering candles, smell incense, and hear chanting through the thick evening air. Evening is the time of bats and orange sky and heavy air, the sun sinks, the air heavy under its weight.

I'm on duty for work this week so I do have to go in briefly today but most of the day has been mine. I slept in, made coffee which I drank in bed reading THE SHIPPING NEWS, a book I highly recommend to fiction lovers who are into funky rich character development. Around noon, I made myself some eggs and toast and read another few chapters. At the moment, I am drinking a frosty mug of beer and eating a cold sweet potato from the fridge. Sometimes I remind myself of my mom...drinking a frosty beer and eating cold leftover chicken from the fridge...well for this vegetarian daughter, it's a sweet potato. :)

Soon I'll take a shower and walk to work for a peek around, to make sure everything is ok and come back. I am about a 15-20 minute walk from work. A walk will do me good...and I'll probably need another shower when I get back. It's getting pretty hot here. In the room I'm in now, it's 88 degrees with 60% humidity. The picture above is of our "office" where our laptop is and where all the emails and vlogging and blogging happen.

At work I share an office with a frenchman and an northern irishwoman who have both lived in Sri Lanka for close to 20 years. The frenchman practices and teaches Yoga and he has begun leading classes on Monday nights on the roof-terrace of my work building. Last night was such a night. I feel myself becoming accustomed to this new environment. Breathing deep breaths on the roof, pulling heavy air in with eyes closed I hear crows squawking and horns honking close by but they have become watered down sounds. I'm learning...what to filter out and what to draw in. Green fluttering palm fronds in, piles of garbage out, incense curry garlic onions sandlewood in, exhaust fumes out, the silence of this heavy sunset in, the loud jarring horns of commuter traffic fades into the distance.

Erik and Leo have been fishing in Thailand (the giant catfish spot), toured ancient ruins in Cambodia, and are now swinging in hammocks on a Thai island scheming their next adventure. Leo returns to Sri Lanka on March 30th. Erik is still deciding what to do next.

Miss those dudes, Leo and Erik. I think everybody does....neighbors say, "Where's husband? Where's brother?" Counting the days until March 30th at the same time excited for the adventures and new joys unfolding before them each day. This journey will make for good stories for years to come :)

Whispering a prayer for them and their excellent adventure~

Sending warm blessings to all of you in cold places, hoping spring peeks her nose out at you soon pushing up green crocus tips into sunny breezy mornings dripping away the grey cold.


Love Sara