Going (CoCo)NuTs

Well, if you happened to read yesterday’s post, you might  join me in being relieved and happy that Josiah and I (and our side-kick Levi,) are headed to San Clemente on Sunday!  We prayed, the doors opened, and we are super excited!

Josiah will have two days to train at Lower Trestles surf break, and then compete beginning the 22nd (Wednesday.)  The middles (Jonah and Luke,) will be flying to Seattle as planned, except as “unaccompanied minors,” under the loving watch of a dear flight attendant (pray for her.) She will escort them until they are safely in the arms of Grandma Teddi and Papa Monte. (Pray for them too.)

It’s a WIN-WIN deal.

Josiah and I are super stoked that Josiah gets to accomplish his biggest goal of the year (making it to Nationals,) and further just to get away and stay in a hotel with free breakfast every morning. ( If Levi weren’t with me, I might actually feel like I was on vacation…)  The only thing that would make it (MUCH) better is if Dad could be there…Man, his schedule never seems to fall just right for this stuff!

Jonah and Luke are  bouncing off the walls planning their airplane trip WITHOUT Mom or Dad…talking about ordering 10 cokes (better not,) and about calling for the flight attendant every five minutes.  ( Do pray for her.)

As soon as Josiah is finished competing, we’ll catch the next flight to Seattle to meet up with my family.  A new plan, and a good one I think.

Whew.  That was some serious mental gymnastics to coordinate.

Meanwhile, this morning we had our own excitement as our new friend and arborist, Eli, trimmed the two cocounut trees in back.  We liked Eli right away.  He knows a whole lot about trees, grass, goats, plants, cows, farms, chickens, weeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and pretty much agriculture and nature in general.  We think we might need someone like him around here.  I invited him to move in, but he seemed in a hurry to leave after that.  Maybe I was gripping his shirt sleeve a little tight, I didn’t mean to.  I just hope he comes back, and soon.

Here are some photos Josiah took of Eli, doing his coconut tree trim this morning…

See Eli:

Side note:  Even Eli is cool enough to have a HE>i sticker on his truck.  If you don’t know about those, I wrote about them a few months back–(somehow this isn’t linking to it correctly though, sorry.) If you look far enough back, you’ll see the post!

See Eli climb:

(What kid wouldn’t love this stuff?  )
See Eli CHOP coconuts (with a machete!):

See dive-bombing coconuts:

See coconuts:

See  Luke clean up:

See Jonah drink coconut water:

And lastly, a quick coconut tree lesson by Josiah:

This short lesson is not necessarily fact, but merely the observations of my son, combined with fragments of information gathered from his knowledge of other plant life along with some small talk with Eli the arborist… Please do not hold me to any of the information you are about to read.

1.  Here is the “stalk” that grows around the coconuts.  (Only as I type Josiah admits it may not even be called a stalk.  That just “sounded right.”)  Regardless, there are little things inside which if it were a human would be the sperm.  Or maybe the egg.  What he is saying ist hat they accomplish reproduction.  And there are many, many of them.

2.  A quick visual of three stages of these reproductive coconut organs:

A.  First the stalk.

B.  At a later stage–the stalk (after losing its outer layer,) opened up and drying up with tiny coconuts that were beginning to grow,
then as the rest of the pieces fall off,
C.  A simple coconut ripens, and eventually falls to the ground.  (Straw added for effect, not part of the actual coconut.)

The end.
If you’ve been wondering about coconuts reproductive system, Josiah is so glad to be here for you.  We hope this helps in some small way.

If you haven’t figured out already, indeed I have become a bit delirious in the chaos that surrounds me.  (Please pray for me.)

Grommom