During one of my walks down the beach I observed this huge tree trunk that was dumped at an angle right on the beach. The guys raking the beach will not be able to remove it but I am pretty sure the resort will use a tractor or some heavy equipment to remove it pretty soon. So I stopped a moment to chat with my new friend raking the beach.
“So what will you do with that huge tree trunk?” I asked.
“We’ll remove it with a bulldozer,” he politely replied.
“But why? That could be an attraction for the tourists,” I responded.
“Really? I don’t see how,” he said bluntly.
I then proceeded to explain that it could be a tourist attraction. Tourists would love to sit on it and take a photo, especially if you told them the history behind the tree trunk.
“What history?” he asked inquisitively.
“Look, tell them that this tree trunk comes from very far. This trunk has lived for about one hundred years either in Jamaica, Cuba or Grand Cayman all east of us in the Caribbean. It probably fell down or was washed into the sea by some hurricane or tempest and it was brought to our shores by the easterly winds coming from the Caribbean Sea. It must have taken several months, perhaps years to reach our shores.”
My friend was surprised and amused, so I continued. “You know, 25 years ago these tree trunks remained on the beach forever until they rotted or until another storm with rough seas washed them away to another destination. They could not be removed because they weighed about three or five thousand pounds and there was no heavy equipment to move them. But that was good for they remained anchored and helped to build the beach. Sea currents deposited sand behind them and eventually built up the beach. They helped to make our beaches grow a little wider,” I explained in some detail.
And I continued. “If I was in charge of the park today, I would set one or two at the park and carve out some seats in them. This would be unique for the park with interesting trunk seats that came from far away lands. The same thing could be done right here on the beach in front of the hotels. Tourists would find that rather romantic.”
My friend was grateful of my lessons of 25 years ago and I continued my walk happily down the beach trying to reach Banyan Bay where I would stop for a brief chat with Eli at her dive shop.
– by Angel Nuñez, Columnist
