Once upon a time, there was a little coconut who dreamed of growing into a tall and elegant coconut tree swaying gracefully in the sea breeze.
The little coconut had spent quite a while hanging around in the top of its tree, and so had had a good long time to watch all that had gone on around and below its perch.
It had some neighbors who, due to the vagaries of architecture, had found a place to rest early on, and were spared the occasional vertigo of a passing windstorm.
Our little coconut started life as part of that sheaf-of-wheat looking thing on the right, then became a plum-size seed. Eventually -- feeding off of water and sun and soil -- it had grown into a plump and happy and full-grown coconut.
During that time, our wise little coconut learned about all the things that coconut palms can do, besides just making coconuts.
They can protect chairs, for example.
They can hold signs.
Or electrical outlets.
Their leaves can offer shade to drinkers or surfers (or drinking surfers), or look very cool at sunset.
All of which are fairly noble aspirations for a little coconut that would someday (maybe) grow up to be a giant and stately palm.
But still it held on. Because there were choices to be made. Some of which were scary.
It didn't go well at all for some. Choices, for coconuts, have consequences.
Apparently, those two-legged creatures wandering around far below -- some of whom were a startling shade of pink -- had plans for certain coconuts.
So the little coconut held on tight. It held on for a very long time, even after most of its brothers and sisters had disappeared in the night.
Until, one day, although it was still holding on as tight as ever it could...
...it felt itself begin to fall.
And it fell...
...and it fell...
...and it fell ever so far!...
...from its comfortable and convenient position way up in the top of its friendly palm...
...all the way (PLOP!) into the dirt far below...
...where it sat for a bit, with dogs and roosters nosing and beaking about in uncomfortably close proximity...
...until it was picked up by a nice fellow named Archi, who brought it to some lady who went into virtual convulsions of joy at its cuteness and coconutosity.
She even took a picture of it.
And then she and Archi went on down to the Eventual Orchard and picked out a perfect place to plant it.
Then Travis went down and took some more pictures of it.
It turned out that there was a mushroom growing nearby that was nearly as tall as the newly-sprouted coconut and that would be excellent company.
(For a couple of days.)
The little coconut, who was now a teensy palm, knew it had found its place. Somewhere, in its little heart of palm, in its palm kernel soul, it was sure it would grow to be a graceful and elegant palm one day. It had left its secure and comfortable home...but it had found its destiny.
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson
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Dee, the grass is from a sod farm/nursery east of Bucerias and came just like it does in the states, in rolls. It is doing very well on the Eventual Orchard level and on the pool level--although I've just added "shade grass seed" to my shopping list for an area near the front gate that gets only an hour or two of morning sun and where the sod seems less happy...
Posted by: Candice | December 04, 2010 at 07:14 AM
Candice, I am admiring your green lawn - I assume that is the large lower level below the pool. Just curious whether you can buy sod in Mexico, or whether all that grass has grown from seed?
Posted by: Dee | December 04, 2010 at 07:04 AM
Very Cool! You're very own planted tree - from a coconut that a friend found. Very nice of Archie to find this gem and give it to you to plant! You'll remember that - and when it's 20 feet tall you'll be saying "that was planted from a volunteer plant of a coconut that my friend Archie gave me" - and look how big it is!!! (My huge gardenia bush started the same way!) - Enjoy!
Posted by: Jeanne | December 03, 2010 at 08:12 PM
Nice!
Posted by: Dee | December 03, 2010 at 10:22 AM
what a powerful, kleenex tale. I hope that little palm tree shows up as often as TG in your blogs so we can see it grow tall and strong. :)
Posted by: Gretchen | December 03, 2010 at 09:46 AM