Duck Weed

Soon I hear the sound of a gas generator running and I think I need to tell this person about solar power.

I see a hose running across the road with the house on the ocean side and the sound of the generator coming from the opposite side. I see a field of what I think might be duck weed growing behind the housing on this side of the road, before the rows of mega-farmed coconut and papaya begin and I wonder if it is a contaminated lake.

A man is there, pumping water from the duck weed side onto a huge, lush green mega-lawn, looking so out of place sitting here between tough green and brown plants everywhere else fighting for a hold on the stretches of sand and dirt.

There is a very, very tall platform housing a small room on the top painted fluorescent pinks and greens. It looks temptingly edible. The man is the gardener and caretaker. He tells me with tragic eyes the womon who owns this place has cancer.

He says they only come in May for two weeks. This beautiful fairy land goes empty year round. He is pumping water from the river to feed the luscious lawn. I wonder about the environmental impact of his use of water from this tiny river.

But the river is also terribly compromised by the mega-farming along her banks.

I ask about parking in the empty lot and he tells me most of this side of the beach is owned by a man who doesn’t live here. But he is worried about my safety if I park in such a desolate spot.

He tells me the road is about to end and that there is beautiful beach parking at restaurant at the very end. So I continue down the road.