This past week, inter-district travel within Sri Lanka was reinstated and the lockdown of Colombo lifted. Though we still are not able to travel off the island for having no way to return, we are now able to travel within a strictly defined parameter in the Western and Southern Provinces.
There was much needed beach time, swimming in the turbulent surf of Jungle Beach, and time spent reading and exploring the pool and grounds of the villa. We were attended to by two polite gentlemen who hadn’t see city folk for several months, Kumare and Kumal, who prepared beautiful meals for us, including a whole grilled fish.
The highlight of this particular trip to the beach was Sam’s persistence in wanting to try his hand at fishing. What was most interesting was watching the evolution — in both the boy and in the his thought process. He started fashioning a pole by taking a tree branch and stripping it of its leaves. He then (using the small knife on the end of a wine key) cut the wiry tendrils from a long vine. By drilling a small hole at the end of the branch (again, using the wine key), he thread the vine like through the head of a needle; the vine became his fishing line. Now, all he needed was a hook. When I offhandedly mentioned using the tab off the top of a beer can, I soon found all three cans of Lion lager in the fridge without tabs (later, I would have to use a kitchen knife to slice the cans open for consumption). He somehow cut the beer tab into the shape of a hook and tied it to the end of the vine.
Clementine found a worm in the grass, and the boy tried his luck in the surf until the sun went down and it was time for supper.
We immediately booked a seaside villa near Weligama. We would be the first guests the villa had since March and the lockdown of the country.
There was much needed beach time, swimming in the turbulent surf of Jungle Beach, and time spent reading and exploring the pool and grounds of the villa. We were attended to by two polite gentlemen who hadn’t see city folk for several months, Kumare and Kumal, who prepared beautiful meals for us, including a whole grilled fish.
The highlight of this particular trip to the beach was Sam’s persistence in wanting to try his hand at fishing. What was most interesting was watching the evolution — in both the boy and in the his thought process. He started fashioning a pole by taking a tree branch and stripping it of its leaves. He then (using the small knife on the end of a wine key) cut the wiry tendrils from a long vine. By drilling a small hole at the end of the branch (again, using the wine key), he thread the vine like through the head of a needle; the vine became his fishing line. Now, all he needed was a hook. When I offhandedly mentioned using the tab off the top of a beer can, I soon found all three cans of Lion lager in the fridge without tabs (later, I would have to use a kitchen knife to slice the cans open for consumption). He somehow cut the beer tab into the shape of a hook and tied it to the end of the vine.
Clementine found a worm in the grass, and the boy tried his luck in the surf until the sun went down and it was time for supper.
The next morning, early, he was back at it. With local fishermen perched on stilts above the surf in the background, Sam waded into the foam. Some of this same local fishermen, perhaps with a mix of admiration and Pitt, offered same a real fishing line for his pole, a hook not crafted from the tab on a beer can, and real bait.
1 comment:
Very cool! Always fun to look at your postings and see what your family is up to. Joyce
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