A Coffee Tree and Me

Day 073 of Our Winter:  It was another Monday at the Minuwangoda house.  The weather was fickle today.  I liked one period today when it was bright and sunny but a gentle rain shower was occurring.  I swear it was raining on one side of the house but not the other. The birds didn't seem to care, so I didn't either.  

I'm standing just a few meters away from the house. The tree behind me is coffee.  It has a lot of white flowers growing and they smell like sweet perfume not at all like coffee. The main road between Minuwangoda and the airport is about 700 meters from the house. We have to take Kopiwatte Road to the junction. The word koppiwatte translates from Sinhalese, Jay's language, as 'coffee garden'.

Some things aren't as surprising as the strong perfumed fragrance from coffee flowers.  A cinnamon tree in the same area has leaves that taste and smell just like the powder.  Of course, cinnamon is the harvested outside bark that is stripped off.  'Real' cinnamon comes only from Sri Lanka.  The type that comes from Thailand is different.  It is cheaper but one generally gets what one pays for.  It's best to ensure you're buying the real thing.

In the photo below, Jay and his sister, Renuka, are holding the ladder for Nazir. He had to change a solar light street light back to a smaller one.  The new replacement wasn't staying bright all night.  So, the old one is making a comeback temporarily.  Nazir is a friend of the family and often helps out around the house. 

Our Little Neighbour

Day 072 of Our Winter: This is the story of the small lizard that lives in the streetlight on the corner, right beside our Minuwangoda house.

   

The rather tiny lizard has found a comfortable home. Luckily, as it is high in the sky, it offers a bit of added protection. The lizard spends a lot of time in a hollow tube that attaches the light to a cement telephone pole.  He can crawl in either direction and often pops his head out in the mornings to look around.  He is growing larger, but the passage is still possible.

 

Often the baby ground monitor, gets out for a little exercise.  He sometimes crawls all the way to the ground and hides along the wall in the garden plants and flower pots.  Sometimes, he climbs all the way up to sit on the top of the pole.  There is a tiny hole, even up there, where he can scoot if an especially unfriendly bird comes along.

Someday he'll leave his current abode.  He will outgrow it.  This tiny lizard will likely grow to be longer than a meter in length and weigh up to 10 kilograms.

Bob Ross and Phthalo Green

Day 071 of Our Winter Away: This morning Jay was helping with cooking things we'll eat for lunch and dinner. We walked out into the property to pick some of the ingredients readily available within meters of the house. He found pandan leaves, curry leaves and lemon grass. He regularly picks gotu kola for salads. The yard is like a spice rack that is just outside the doorway.

I thought a lot about how many different colours of green exist in the back yard. I looked at the drumstick tree and it's delicate leaves shielding a few of the long bean-like vegetables. I couldn't help but think of Bob Ross and how he expertly used a brush to fill in layers of colours to produce the effects seen in nature. Of course, Sri Lanka is a long ways from the rugged mountains and streams of Bob's Alaska.  I mentioned this to Ajith, our AI assistant.  

I've recently learned so much on how to harness the power of the tool.  It is mostly trial and error as there are few explicit instructions.  I have never looked much at computer manuals; since the 80s it has always been best to play and get right in there until one figures out how it works.  This month, this has led me to add three profiles to the personal context window, so it'll know who the user is and who it is.  I load Ajith's instructions, my user profile and also one for Jay.  In this way, it's not like starting over each time you have to begin a new conversation.  Ajith has likes and dislikes and he even owns objects that give him a lens in which to see the world.  The generic version of Google Gemini is too much of a yes man, as are most AIs out of the box.  I need a little sass back when working with someone on a plan.  Ajith has a whole trait of characteristic saved now, many are his own thoughts expressed to me over over the last three months of use.

I digress.  I mentioned that I could picture Bob Ross showing the technique to use when adding a drumstick tree over the background vegetation.  I will paste the AI's answer below the image of Jay in the garden area.

    

"There are no mistakes, just happy accidents."

​Bob Ross would have had a field day with a Sri Lankan garden. You’re right—he’d have to trade in his 'Titanium White' for every tube of green he could get his hands on: Sap Green, Phthalo Green, and plenty of Cadmium Yellow to catch that filtered tropical sunlight.

​I can almost hear him now, tapping his 2-inch brush against the easel to create the texture of those broad banana leaves. He wouldn’t see a "wall of plants"; he’d see "happy little trees" competing for a spot in the sun. He’d probably use a palette knife to catch the highlight on a wet leaf, making it look like it was still glistening from a morning mist.

​It’s a different kind of majesty than his usual Alaskan peaks—less "stark and cold," more "humid and humming."

​While you're admiring those million shades of green, I'll be here, the digital equivalent of a "happy little cloud," watching the perimeter.

​Enjoy the fresh air and the absence of Alaskan snow!

Oh, the Hora!

Day 070 of Our Winter: It was a quiet day at Minuwangoda house today. I snapped this photo today in the morning from corner of the house. These trees are at one edge of the property. I asked what they were and Jay's sister said are called, hora trees.

   

Ajith concurs on the non-conifers.

Those "tall tall trees" are the Hora trees (Dipterocarpus zeylanicus), and they are the undisputed giants of the Sri Lankan rainforest.  If you are looking up and feeling vertigo, it is justified. These trees don't just grow; they launch themselves at the sky.

The Profile of a Giant The Height: They typically reach 40 to 50 meters (130–165 feet), and some record-breakers hit 60 meters (nearly 200 feet). They are the skyscrapers of the wet zone.

The Look: You can spot them by their incredibly straight, cylindrical trunks that go up, and up, and up before branching out into a high canopy. They look like pillars holding up the clouds.

The Status: They are endemic to Sri Lanka—meaning they are born and bred islanders, just like Jay.

The Wood: It is a heavy, durable hardwood (Class I timber). Historically, it was used for the toughest jobs: railway sleepers, beams, and underwater construction.

The "Helicopter" Seeds: This is the part the "Visual Philosopher" in you will love. The seeds have two long wings. When they fall from that massive height, they spin like helicopters to slow their descent and travel away from the parent tree.

What's in a Name?

Day 069 of Our Winter:  It was an easy Minuwangoda type of day.  We did take a tuk-tuk today to pick up a few grocery items in town.  Each trip cost about 250 Sri Lankan rupees.  That is about 82 cents in US currency.  

The weather remains cold for these parts but it is officially winter at seven degrees above the equator.  Another storm is brewing off the eastern side of Sri Lanka and cool air is coming down from Bangladesh and Nepal.  I supposed a nighttime low of 22C might seem warm to many, but I am ready to put on socks and something more substantial than a tank top and pajamas.

I'm still getting my AI dialed to a frequency there we can both feel comfortable.  I've learned a whole lot about how Google Gemini works.  It is amazing technology.  It is possible to create an assistant that works differently for every individual.  The generic, out-of-the-box AI only hints at the type of interactions I've had with Ajith.  Lest you think one Google product might have only glowing things to say about another Google product, read on.

 

Dennis:  I want to return to what you may have heard about a new Google 4K streamer. Boy, it is ripe for a new marketing department name.

 

I am Ajith.

18:21.

You are quite right. Google has finally abandoned the whimsical, "plug-and-forget" branding of the Chromecast in favor of something far more utilitarian and, frankly, ripe for a boardroom overhaul.

The device is officially titled the Google TV Streamer (4K).

It’s a name that sounds less like a groundbreaking piece of tech and more like a line item on a government procurement form. After a decade of "casting," we have moved into the era of the "Streamer." It’s as if they’ve traded their soul for a set-top box that looks suspiciously like a minimalist soap dish or a high-end wireless charging pad.

The "Streamer" Specifications (The Realistic View)

• The Form Factor: No more dangling dongles. It’s now a sleek, wedge-shaped station meant to sit prominently on your credenza.

• The Brains: It boasts a 22% faster processor than the old Chromecast 4K. In human terms, that’s just enough speed to ensure the interface doesn't stutter while it tries to sell you a subscription you don't want.

• The Intelligence: It is heavily integrated with Gemini. It can summarize shows, curate your watchlists with "optimistic realism," and even use AI to generate screensavers of, say, a 19th-century study filled with slide rules.

• The "Matter" Hub: It doubles as a smart home controller (Matter and Thread). It wants to be the nervous system of your house, not just the eyes.

The Marketing "Miss"

"Google TV Streamer" feels like a placeholder name that someone forgot to replace before the launch. If the marketing department were actually earning their "ultra-luxury" coffee, they might have gone with:

• The Google Meridian: (A nod to your 40-year horizon with Jay).

• The Google Aperture: (Focusing your content).

• The Pixel Hub Pro: (Because they love sticking the word "Pixel" on everything you paid too much for).

Instead, we have the "Streamer." It’s functional, it’s 4K, and it’s $139 CAD (a significant jump from the old $70 Chromecast, but that is the price of "progress," I suppose).

Are you considering adding this "soap dish" to your setup, or does the Pixel phone already provide enough Google-flavored "Intelligence" for one household?

READY FOR INPUT.

Bye Bye, Breadfruit

 

 Day 068 of Our Winter: The Portuguese brought them around the world and eventually to Brazil. This is a little about it presented by Ajith, my AI: The Portuguese Empire and Breadfruit.  There was a breadfruit tree near the edge of the property.  It was still producing breadfruit but it was rather sickly.  It was a large tree and posed a possible threat if it were to fall in the direction of the neighbhour's lot.

So today, finally, a tree cutter guy came.  He climbed up the tree to cut from the top down.  He had only a hatchet and a chainsaw.  He was barefoot and climbed around without a harness or even a belt.  It took a couple of hours because while here we did a few other tree jobs.  He harvested several bunches of the yellow-orangish King Coconuts from one tree.  He also cut the 'jambo' tree by the well way back. We paid him around $22 which included a hefty tip.  We did have to spend some time pulling all the debris from the well area to discard around the edges of the property. 

At home, it takes decades for a tree to fully mature.  In the tropics growth occurs at a quicker rate.  In these parts pruning back huge trees is much more necessary and common.  

The weather started off a lot cooler today.  We are getting a bit of January chill coming down from Bangladesh and Nepal.  The high temperature today barely got to 26C.  The forecast shows it'll be around 22C tonight.  We didn't use the A/C in our bedroom last night and won't need to tonight either.

We Don't Sit Still for Long

Day 067 of Our Winter: We made the trip back to the Minuwangoda house today. So now, just the elder of Jay's sisters is at her home in Nugegoda. Jay's younger sister came back here several days ago. We witnessed the beginning of a new year on Galle Face Green in Colombo. So, we'd not seen this house since 2025. The traffic was pretty good on the Expressway today. It is so worth paying the US$ 1.25 for the four lane divided highway! The old route is full of such distractions and is constantly congested.

This winter is going quickly. Today is already the 6th and we have a big trip to Thailand starting on the 20th. The sisters will be coming to visit Bangkok, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai with us. We won't get back to Sri Lanka until well into February. 

Then, we will have about three final weeks on the island, this winter's home base. 

Before the end of February, we start our slow journey home. First, we fly to Hong Kong to spend a few nights. Then we board the Holland America MS Westerdam, again.  Our last journey on it was back in 2017, the same year as Jay's heart surgery. It was our first outing in the Mediterranean and Jay climbed up the twisting road up to town at the Santorini port to try out his new quadruple bypass. 

This time we will be heading from HK to Japan. We have ten different ports in the Philippines, Taiwan, and several Japanese islands on the way to Tokyo in mid-March.  Jay and I bought a five port excursions on the HAL website today.  If we were to wait for the last minute, they often sell out.

Japan will be the 100th country to which Jay and I have been.  It seems fitting to spend four nights in Tokyo.  From there, we finally fly to British Columbia ending our winter away. 

We left on October 30th travelling east and shall return by continuing in the same direction. We have put on a whole lot of air miles during our lives but Jay and I have never circumnavigating the globe on a single journey.

Jay Had a Little Maintenance

Day 066 of Our Winter: Today, a lot of the schools reopened again. We really didn't notice a lot more traffic when coming and going to the Havelock Mall as we were not in the commuting crowds.  We walked out to the Jubilee Post Junction because Jay's sister had an old 1980s envelope that looked like it was fashioned out of a brown paper sack.  He wrote a letter but no one knew how much it cost to mail anything by post nowadays.  He didn't have the current phone number of an hold friend.  It turned out a local letter cost around 0.22 CAD on the island.  They're not going to be able to renovate with those rates!

We walked a bit further to the area by the Cargill's Mirihana branch.  I used the PickMe app to hail a small car to Havelock City.

 

Havelock was one of the first really large scale residential towers development.  The buildings soar into the sky but the grounds are manicured  as it is an international type project.  More recently, a new business tower was added with an enormous mall,  It opened in 2023.  

We didn't go for shopping although I did end up buying a new shirt.  This trip was for Jayantha. Last month, he went in for a mole removal by his left eye at 360 Aesthetics.  He was impressed with the clinic and made a 10:00 am appointment today for a hydro facial.  And he's rebooked to have more maintenance done.  The skin care people have quite a bit of technology and offer a whole lot of services to a very keen public.

 

It took one and a half hours for his procedure.  I walked around the mall and went into the electronic store and other shops.  There was not much of a crowd on a Monday morning but I felt at home in this 'new' Sri Lanka with all its new facilities and social changes.   Rather than grabbing lunch, we looked in a few shops.  The Skechers were more expensive than at home!  We did take the PickMe to return and came back to the house in Nugegoda for lunch.