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The Pandanus Parable
In the few weeks
that I have been away
our corner of the state
has received its entire annual rainfall
and more...
the dams are full
and the trees and plants
are leaping greenly...
when I walked
into the National Park
this morning
I saw lush green
but it is not lush
that I am going
to tell you about today,
that is the content
of a future post
Today
I want to tell you
the Pandanus Parable
When I first moved to Noosa
many moons ago
if you had told me that
pineapples grew on trees
I would have believed you
not knowing that they grow
in straight rows
on the ground
like cabbages
but these fruit aren't pineapple
they are the fruit
of the Pandanus tree
A few years ago
a terrible blight,
a virus,
spread down the Sunshine Coast
attacking all the Pandanus trees
and many
like the one above
lost their limbs
and their multiple heads
And it appeared as if
the entire population of Pandanus
was doomed
the Pandanus
is a gorgeous tree
with a deeply textured
chicken poxed trunk
and sweeping sculptural limbs
that arc out over the ocean
and the blue skies
in striking architectural form
it grows along the walking track
in the rocks
precariously clings
to rocky escarpments
and has an amazing root system
the tree throws out
aerial roots
for support
and ballast
to brace itself
against the prevailing wind
or to hold the trunk upright
on a sloping gradient
the pineapple like fruit
are found way out
on the end of a limb
from where the seeds
are dropped by munching birds
like the cockatoo
or nibbled on
by the marauding brush turkey,
when the fruit has fallen
to the ground
and a new plant
will spring up
over time
today I noticed
that the forest
was full
of healthy pandanus trees
the trees had regenerated
from their ordeal
after a period of endurance
and recovery
the trees are once again flourishing
the Pandanus parable
is a story of persistence
in the face of great odds
of tenacity and resilience
of stoicism and faith
of toughing it out
and never giving up
It is a story
of regeneration
regrowth
and new life...
It is a triumph
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