The Neighbors

As the sun beats down on my legs it warms my skin to the touch. I try to keep my head under the shade, but as time passes, the earth moves and the sun encroaches upon my face. I get up and immediately feel the burn of the cooking concrete on the pads of my feet. I briskly tip toe to the cool grass lawn where the moisture has been retained in the soil. I look up and hear a shake of the palms that are above and see a crow fly away. Then a few minutes later as I lay on my back with my head facing the cool blue sky, I see the crow return to the opening that it flew away from. It must have a nest inside the thicket of palm leaves. The palms must provide a cool well shaded nesting spot for the crows. As I continue to watch the palm I begin to notice four distinct zones that give the might palm its character. The trimmed band where the palms used to be, the lower dying palms that are of a faint brown color and limp, the middle of the palm tree where the branches are dark green and extent horizontally casting a great uniformed shade zone just like an umbrella would do. The last of the zones is a top of the palm. Here grows the new branches, and they are young and tender extending up in an erect fashion to the sky above. I then notice that there is a pine like tree that stands next to it. This pine towers over the palm, yet their branches extend towards one another like the handshake of a neighbor. These trees share homes to many of natures beautiful creatures, and as the wind picks up the branches of both trees sway in harmony rustling out the bird that live within. The birds swoop down to the grassy knoll where I lay and peck at the ground in a quest for food. A few minutes pass, and birds come and go, yet they eventually will return to their homes of the neighboring trees.