Biscuits at Colombo

We anchored off Colombo before dawn and berthed after breakfast. The change from open water to the presence of a port gave the morning a welcome sense of definition. There were actual things to look towards rather than the general idea of a horizon. I appreciated this, though my principal ambitions ashore were admittedly narrower than the setting deserved.

My shore time was short but sufficient for the important work. I returned with ginger biscuits, coconut biscuits and a packet whose label I cannot read but whose illustration suggests confidence. It takes a certain boldness to promise so much through a picture. I decided that confidence of this order should be encouraged, particularly when it came in a portable packet.

The purchases made a satisfying weight in the bag. After the diminished circumstances of the biscuit drawer, the dry rustle of unopened wrappers sounded almost luxurious. I had not solved any significant problem facing the world, but I had improved the immediate prospects of tea in my cabin. There is value in choosing objectives that can actually be completed.

Priya inspected the haul and took one ginger biscuit as a customs fee. The inspection was efficient, the fee collected without hesitation. I permitted this because relations between departments matter, and because her expression made clear that an appeal would be both lengthy and unsuccessful. She managed to make confiscating a biscuit look faintly affectionate. I am learning that aboard this ship a successful resupply operation may include losses that are not really losses.