view from the hammock

So there I was, swinging in the hammock at the end of the day, wondering what I would take my next picture of. . .

pictures of paradise

a stretch of beach-front, a palm tree and a handful of colorful kayaks

Life in paradise, at least for me and most of my friends, is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But it is in no way an inoculation against "real world" horsesh*t.

I guess I've got the "real world" up my ass as much as
anyone else. . .
Death and taxes, angry ex-wives, workplace issues and maybe the occasional run-in with the sheriff's department.

When that stuff happens, I deal with it as best I can and try not to take any of it all that seriously. Then I'll retreat to a quiet corner of Cayo Hueso, catch my breath and remember that in spite of it all, life is good.

All it takes is a stretch of beach-front, a palm tree and a handful of colorful kayaks.

sweaty palms

lord, the air smells good. . .

Walking downtown to do my "Monday thing" at the newspaper office this morning, the breeze was cool and crisp; the air smelled fresh and clean. It brought a smile to my face and this short work from Rumi to my mind. . .

Lord, the air smells good today,
straight from the mysteries within the inner courts of God.

A grace like new clothes thrown across the garden,
free medicine for everybody.
The trees in their prayer, the birds in praise,
the first blue violets kneeling.

Whatever came from Being is caught up in being,
drunkenly forgetting the way back.

peculiar palm

"It is good to know the truth, but it is better to speak of palm trees." - Arab Proverb
I spotted this tall boy on one of those recent rainy mornings we've been have lately. Excuse me, did I say tall? There are a lot of tall palms around town but this guy was really up there (I'm talkin' nosebleed seats!) and set off all by himself so I couldn't really be sure where that long thin trunk was planted.

What caught my eye were the orange coconuts looking very dayglo set against that vague, grey daylight. The coconut caught my eye, but the fronds got my interest. I've never seen anything like them. They look like a Southern Palm and Northern Oak hybrid.

Then, as I was setting to take the picture, I noticed how low the nuts are hung. Not just below the vegetation, as on other coconut palms, but another foot or so (I reckoned) down the tree's trunk.

If anyone knows what species of coconut palm this might be, please share. I'd like to know too.
A very peculiar palm.

tropical storm fay - VIDEO

Between all our sun filled days and clear summer nights, there are ocassional storm front "interludes", like we experienced yesterday. For my money, it's a small price to pay for living in paradise.


click the arrow to start video. run time 2:37

just barely morning

Only good things will happen today.

got milk?

Coconuts are interesting things but, as with everything else in this world, the interest indulged in depends on a given point of view. From the point of view of coconut consciousness, you're a seed. Your job is to grow, ripen and fall from your tree to the soft sand below. With any luck wind and rain see to it you're fed and protected long enough to let you sprout and be re-born as another palm tree and the gene pool continues. From the point of view of humans living in tropical climates, coconuts are a nutritious form of sustenance. The nutritional values of coconut water, coconut meat and coconut milk all answer in direct proportion to the needs of the humans living under the searing heat of the tropical sun and coconut butter helps you get a wonderful tan. But from the point of view of an insurance salesman, coconuts are a liability. I have a friend who had a coconut palm in front of her house. One day a tourist walked past that tree at just the same moment that a coconut decided it was time to fall from it's lofty height to make a new tree. So, instead of landing on the soft sand, it landed on the tourist's head and my dear friend was promptly sued for medical costs and damages. Now, with as many coconut palms as we have on our little island, your chances of getting beaned by a falling coconut are pretty good and it's more a question of the unlucky individual's karma than a malicious intent. The insurance adjuster knew all that, but still declined to pay on the claim unless, out of her own pocket, my unfortunate friend removed the perpetrator palm from where it had been living happily for at least 20 years. So out came the chainsaw and down came the tree. The tourist went home a few thousand dollars richer and the insurance company raised my friend's homeowner rates. But, at the end of the day, the marketing slogan on the side of the tree service truck said it all. . . "We're making America safer, one tree at a time!"