Colors of the garden

Autumnl is definitely here in Hawai'i. As the temperatures fall to the 60s at night, the morning coolness and crispness is welcoming to the continued mid 80 degree temperatures of the afternoons.

Our coffee berries have been quietly attacked by an invisible invader. Opening the coffee beans reveals a black area, sometimes the entire bean being blackened. The Kona coffee beetle is in our very own yard. We had heard it was on the island last year. It is affecting so many coffee trees on our island, that we all worry about how to control it. So we will purchase our coffee again this year.

The papayas are ripening more quickly, so we gave some to the mail delivery people yesterday, and still have some for ourselves.

The macademia nut is one of the hardest shells I have ever experienced trying to open. We need a hammer and a cement or asphalt base, then must use the right amount of force to open the shell without crushing the delicate nut inside.

Well, yesterday I picked a few macademia nuts while waiting for a postal delivery and found, despite the extreme hardness of the shell, what vigorous growers these trees are. One nut had fallen onto the street, landed on top of a bit of dirt. In just that tiny bit of dirt, the nut opened up and sent down the main root with tiny sprouts on the side of the main root. Amazing. I picked it up, placed the root in a bit of water and hope to grow it into a tree.

That is how our giant avocado tree started out a few years ago. We ate an avocado, and from the pit, a massive tree grew, which now, blesses us with extremely large, buttery sweet, avocados.

I love to feed the different color finches and even doves that come to our feeder on the lanai. But walking beneath the lanai, I find small plants growing from these tiny seeds. I don't water the seeds or give them any special attention. They just ... grow!

If we slow down and take the time to really observe life around us, we see miraculous activities all around us. Breathe, exhale, listen, observe, and get read to be amazed.