I went back to Vichy, France during the winter break to visit my grandparents. They live in the center of France in the countryside, and have some land with a garden, and lots of plants.

After getting off the plane, and the excruciating 3 hour drive from Lyon to Vichy with my grandfather, who should have his licence revoked (he never fails to make me throw up after a ride), we arrived to my grandparents’ place. I remembered my childhood memories, playing with sticks in the garden, creating imaginary stories, breathing in the fresh air. I was hoping to escape from my digital lifestyle and to get back with nature.

And I did, we made fires in the fireplace every evening, following the patronising instructions from my grandfather, adding wood to the fire as it was burning out, giving it nudges with a poker to ensure it was getting enough air, feeling the fire rise up to my hand and burning me slightly. Finally, feeling snug next to the fire. I learned how yo make a fire, and a good one at that. I also learned how to save a fire that was badly set up (by me), and appreciate the effort put into it when it finally takes off and burns with less effort.

Of course, the wood for the fireplace wasn’t infinite, we had to go to our little forest (our property) and collect fallen branches to bring back to dry. This was fine for smaller pieces of wood, which were used to start the fire, but for larger ones that would burn with the fire, this was not a good method. For those, we had to cut wood, with and axe, an old-school seesaw, and bent knees.

My grandfather has cherry and other fruit bearing trees on his property, which last a lot of years, but after a while, pass away. Wether from the recent drought in the region, or the harsh weather, a cherry tree died in the summer, was derooted and had a replacement planted in its place. and was waiting on the property to be turned into firewood. We cut that tree together, among other deerooted ones, in order to get the thicker wood, and to allow space for smaller trees to grow. It was a surprisingly fun activity, hitting a large piece of wood over and over again with a blunt axe. Maybe it was the slow but steady sense of progress as a small piece of wood came off with each strike, but I was hooked.

After spending the whole break cutting wood, I had gotten used to the proper posture, the only thing that was still difficult to adjust to was the weight of the axe. My favorite activity overall was taking care of living things during the break. My Great-Granmother’s American cactuses needed tending, to be placed In larger pots to allow for more growth. I ended up really enjoying taking care of cactuses, and ended up bringing back a bud to plant in my indoor garden, hopefully it adjusts well to the new climate.

The best thing was going on walks with my grandmother and feeding these two sheep that were near the path. They would walk up to us every walk and demand to be fed. We obliged and became their humble servants, who would be rewarded by getting to pat their heads and fluffy coats.

I returned back to Sri Lanka with new plants to take care of, and new memories to cherish. I took my time diligently adding my cactus into my pot, so it could coexist with my previous ones. I’m looking forward to getting new pots and dirt in order to have it in its own pot with it’s own decoration. I’m hoping to integrate this nature into my life, and benefit from the added responsibilities.

• Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • I challenged myself with making fireplaces, and in the process improved my determination, as one of the fires was starting really badly, but I kept assisting it until it could sustain itself.
  • Overall, this trip had a lot of responsibilities towards taking care of other things. Such as the fires, the sheep, the plants, I challenged myself with properly taking care of these living things, and in the process, came out more responsible, as one foul step with the fire could cause it to crumble, and more caring/nurturing, with me dedication towards making a comfortable place for my plants.
  • Overall, I am hoping to utilise these new skills to improve my daily life. Taking care of the plants should help me developed a new routine, and keep me more focused on managing them while helping me grow my responsibility. Finally, it will help me replace bad habits and disconnect me from my digital devices.