Something Old. Something New

Rusted tin roofs
atop crumbling coral-stone houses.
But of course
boasting a dish antenna
and inside,
the newest design of flat screen TV.

Feathered Friends

wanting a ride on a motorcycle

hurrying its chicks to safety

staying still by the roadside

watching the traffic go past

balanced on a rock in the sea

soaring in the sky

taking its own time to cross the road

Going Fishing

We didn't go in a boat like this,
but we shared the fishing grounds with these fishermen.

Nope.
These are not the fish we caught.

A little after an hour
of sitting with a line in the water
waiting for the fish to bite
this is boring...where are all the fish?

calling out to the fish to
come hurry up
'cos we gotta go home before dark

this little fella was caught.

***
A little later,
there was a bigger fish at the end of the line
thrashing and pulling
not wanting to be caught on a hook and pulled off the sea.
It was a shark.
Under three feet in length,
but still a shark.

Hero was terrified it may come and "eat" him
and didn't want it on the boat.
By this time it was dark and we were all tired
after a long day
so we let the shark go.
And only then did I realise that I didn't take a photo.
Oh well... I guess
we will just need to go find another shark
to smile for the camera.

Robinson Crusoe For the Day

spending the day here,
~ an island in the middle of nowhere
devoid of any other humans ~
just the four of us.

swimming to our hearts' content;
endless beach games
and playing tag in the water;

eating mudikaashi;

cooking on the beach
then,
sitting cross legged on the sand
to eat
cockles
and noodles served on leaves.

Bliss.

Wanna Be Queen of This Castle?

So lovingly built

and decorated with dried young coconuts

flowers, shells and coral.

Won't you come in, please?

***

See the castle builders at work here too.

Mosaic Monday: Cockles for Lunch

Finding cockles on the beach
Cooking them in an open fire
For lunch.

More mosaics at Mary's.

This Broke My Heart

On an otherwise quiet day,
the sleepy island was suddenly jolted into life at lunch time.
Two whales had found themselves stranded
on the shallow waters by the shore,
it was heard.
The news spread like wildfire
and everyone rushed to the beach to see the giant creatures.
Children left their playing,
the women abandoned their kitchens amid lunch preparations,
the men rode on their motorcycles and bicycles.
They all hurried to the beach.
So did we.

When we got there,
we found that the two "whales"
were really two very large dolphins.
By that time
they had both landed on shore and were dead.
And the worst part was
that before the creature had actually died,
some people had cut open the belly of one,
wanting to get the ambergris out,
not knowing that this was not a whale;
and even when we got there
- some two hours after they landed on shore -
the sea was reddish with the overflowing blood
and there were people standing/sitting on top of the poor creatures
posing for pictures.

It made me want to throw up.
How horribly cruel some people can be...