The Basket Case, Lanikai Loop, Lanikai, HI, June 2020, iPhone 11 Pro © Steven Crisp
Look what I stumbled on today, while coming back from my morning beach walk. Waiting to cross the street, I glimpsed something in my peripheral vision. Light flickering in the breeze. And then I was hooked.
The interlaced palm fronds, weaving together with the sunlight, blue sky, and white puffy clouds. The shadows dancing, playing peekaboo with the dazzling morning star. And the breeze, don't forget the breeze. Sometimes strong, sometimes calm, and sometimes dangerous -- always changing day to day, hour to hour, really moment by moment.
All of it, plus what you don't see. The soil in which the Acacia Palms are planted. All the insects and microbes that keep the earth alive. The periodic rain showers and occasional tropical deluges that water them all. The landscaper (or homeowner) that planted them, and who prunes off dead or dying fronds to make room for the new growth that just magically appears.
And what about the Nursery owner who's livelihood comes from raising and selling these palms. With only some land and a little business acumen (and capital) to raise them. Possibly, the land where these were raised has been in their family for quite some time. Perhaps the son or grand-daughter is now the proprietor. So much owed to the family, the upbringing, the hard work plus good fortune.
And where did that breeze come from? Heating of the air from the rising sun, trade winds that brought missionaries and Polynesian ancestors, or the chaotic flap of a butterfly's wings? No matter. Nature does not keep score.
It moves only in the present moment. And in this moment, it has woven you a basket of earthly delights. May you lighten your load into this basket, and skip more easily as you go about your day. With love and Namaste.
