Picture of the day - March 27, 2008

"Coconut Tree"

Most places around the world have their own species of indigenous trees that help "shape" the landscape in the minds of the children who grow up there. For example, as a very young child living in rural Amelia County, Virginia, I was surrounded by jack pines and pin oaks. A few years later we moved "back home" to the hills and hollers of southwestern Virginia where I played in the woods which were populated primarily with poplar, ash, hickory and maple. Even today, when I think of "the woods", those are the trees that immediately spring to mind. But for people who grew up in other parts of the world, the trees that made up their "woods" were altogether different. Back in my Army days I was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and one of the NCO's in my platoon had been born and raised in the Philippines. SSG Ancog loved to tell stories about how he grew up "in the jungle", and one of my favorites described the way he and his brothers used to shinny up the ubiquitous coconut trees to harvest the delectable fruits. They would grasp the trunk with both hands and feet and "walk" up the tree until they reached the top where they would carefully toss the coconuts to the ground. One day one of SSG Ancog's brothers was doing the tossing when his aim went slightly awry. The heavy, hard coconut struck him in the head and knocked him out, and it took quite a while before he finally woke up to find his mother fanning him with a palm leaf. From that day forward, SSG Ancog always insisted on being the one to climb the tree and toss the coconuts! Personally, I have never climbed a coconut tree or been knocked to the ground by one of their fruits, but through the vivid memories of a wonderful man who grew up half a world away I have experienced it nonetheless. I have no idea where SSG Ancog is today, but I can tell you that in his heart and mind he is just as proud to be an American citizen as I am, yet he treasures those memories of working and playing in the "woods" as a young boy - as do I.   Click here to comment on this picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!                                 Place the "Picture of the Day" on your website, for free! Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"