2017 Life Logs, Day 47: View from the Front Porch
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2017
Weather: Sunny Day; Daytime 80’s, Nighttime 70’s F
Location: At Home with JJZ&C, Finca Maravilla, Aguada, PR
Today was supposed to be a trip to San Juan to IKEA, but that plan was abandoned and instead it was a laid-back day. Jo had to take dogs to the vet and Justin had to work, so after Ziggy left for school, I played with Coco and continued the never-ending loads of laundry from the old house. I now have six large plastic bags of washed and dried clothes that need to go to the laundromat for a high heat dry to make sure no trace of ticks make it into this house. But there are still more loads of laundry to be done. Not sure I’m going to get it all done, but I have certainly made a dent in the task. Coco decided she wanted to wash her doll house furniture and dollies, so I helped her with that task. We were washer women with a mission. After lunch, we decided to head to the beach, but before that happened I spent some time just sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch admiring the view. And it is absolutely amazing what you can see from Justin and Jo’s front porch. Directly in front is a very tall cananga tree (Cananga odorata), more commonly called ylang-ylang.
Today there was a huge iguana climbing to the top of the tree and that led to the view of the flowers of the tree that are known the world over for their wonderful smell.
It is actually the flowers that are properly referred to as ylang-ylang (EE-lang EE-lang), but as the tree spread from Indonesia around the world, people just started calling the tree by that name as well. Turning to the left from the ylang-ylang tree, you see breadfruit trees (Artocarpus altilis). This is a tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae) originating in the South Pacific and brought to the Caribbean islands in the late 1700’s. The leaves of the breadfruit tree are ginormous
and as I looked carefully today, I saw a flower . . . soon to be breadfruit.
Now, turn to the right and you are looking at banana trees. The one immediately to the right of the porch is hanging heavy with a bunch of green bananas with the inflorescence hanging below.
Inflorescence is simply the flower of the tree. And I know if I looked further, there would be many other varieties of trees that can be seen just from the front porch. In addition, Coco has discovered a huge flower pot under these trees that is home to a whole family of coqui, Puerto Rico’s adorable little frogs. Fabulous.
Coco and I headed to Marina Beach but it was high tide with huge waves rolling in . . . making it a bit too rough for our taste. We spent some time in the water, but then decided to just play in the sand. We drove to Steps Beach just a little further down the road, but it was also too rough for going in the water. But we had a great time playing on the beach and just sitting together looking at the powerful waves rolling ashore.
Tomorrow is a school day for Jo, Ziggy, and Coco, so I’ll do a little work at the old house in the morning. But due to parent-teacher conferences, everyone will come home at noon. We don’t have a plan, but I’m sure one will emerge.
