Chopping Palms

 

.  Disclaimer: Views presented in this blog are those of Roger German.  They do not represent the views or opinions of the U.S. Peace Corps or the Government of the United States.

            I got the chance to get out in the bush Friday, and I jumped at it.

            Councilor Marcos Kotch asked if I’d help cut palms Friday morning for the Palm Sunday service at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, so I was ready to go at 6:30 a.m.  We loaded a pickup with about 9 of us and headed out 8 or 10 miles on the Hydro road where his uncle owns some property.

            I would have missed the crease in the bush alongside the road that indicated the path, but Marcos knew where he was going, and we unloaded the machetes, some provisions and hiked in about 15 or 20 minutes.

            There are several types of palm trees in the bush, and the one we needed has fronds that splay out like a fan.  Down south they call it a Bay Leaf Palm and they use it to thatch their houses.  They also use the Cohune Palm for thatch, but it only lasts about 20 years, while the Bay Leaf Palm roof lasts about 30.  Made me think of how many homes I built early on with 15-year shingles, then 20-year shingles.  The Cohune fronds are enormous, as you can see by the picture, while the Bay fronds are smaller and require a different weave for thatching.

Marcos Kotch cutting a Bay Leaf Palm frond

Note the man at the base of the Cohune Palm, fronds arching above him

            But up here in Benque, Marcos calls the palm that we were harvesting Cohune.  So, I’m confused, but that’s normal.  It’s easy to tell them apart, but seems to be some regional variation on the name. 

            Anyhow, we needed about 150 of the fronds before they fan out, so they could be stripped out and used for Palm Sunday, and woven into crosses and other designs.  So we had to cover a lot of bush…these palms are few and far between.  There were about 14 of us, and we broke down into smaller groups and then into a buddy system of pairs.  As we unloaded from the truck, Marcos dug in his pocket and handed me a garlic clove.  Said his mother had given some to him, to keep away snakes.  I put it in my pocket.

            I was thinking vipers as we hiked in, then I got a text from my good friend the mayor, telling me to watch out for the Anacondas.  Now, my grasp on geography and fauna pretty much limits Anacondas to the Amazon Basin, and I’m sure it was a joke, but I did check my pocket for the garlic.  I wasn’t sure whether I was to throw it at the approaching snake, or feed it to him, but I wanted to keep my options open.  Didn’t see a snake all day, so I guess it worked.  Will have to pass that on to the Boy Scouts.

Marcos and I with some of the fronds we cut

            The hills here are steep, and covered with loose rock, which is in turn covered by layers of slippery leave, all protected by a reasonably dense tangle of vines, trees and shrubs.  Which meant that I spent a fair amount of time with my feet spun out from under me, reaching for something to limit my travel down the slope.  Which wasn’t always a good idea.

            Most of the plants here are very capable of defending themselves with spines, thorns and the occasional poisonous sap, so I tried to survey my options quickly as my feet slid.  I figured to grab a rock, then thought of the snakes, and tried to opt for a smooth-barked, non-poisonous tree.  Most of the time.  Some of the time.

Spine-covered tree

Beautiful, soft ferns, armed to the teeth

            All this was complicated by the fact that bush we were chopping through was tough stuff.  And if a vine wrapped around your foot, you were not going to merely break yourself free.  You either needed to back up and unwrap, hack it with your machete or see if you could get a room for the night.  I have to admit I did try the break free option; I’m quite sure it looked like a badly choreographed fight scene from a low budget kung-fu movie, and the bush won.

Me, pointing into the bush...glad it was dry season and the bush wasn't as lush

            But I did get my share of the palm fronds; not what Marcos and his cronies came up with, but not bad for a first timer.  We rode the back of the pickup to town in a billowing cloud of fine dust which kind of evened out the color barrier.  I checked on the two projects underway at work, then headed for home, for a cold shower and a nap.  Yup, a nap.  Didn’t even mind that it was mid-afternoon and the temperature in my house was in the mid-nineties. The bush flat wore me out.

            ....so I was able to upload some  pix...think if it works I'll throw a couple into the last blog too...might calm the nattering nabobs

Comments

[Natty Na Bob]

Well, I believe GJG, that last comment refers to me, but l must say that the quality of your photography really puts some bite into this blog entry. Who knew fronds were so vicious. Excellently related event, bet it set the guitar playing back for a week.
And garlic, who would have thought it?
One wonders, in this situation, how exactly does one watch out for the stray anaconda hyphen as one is sliding into the thorny tree?

[GJG]

Doubtless in this together, the two of us are. Nattering nabobs. Done to deserve such labeling, such a small thing we have. yeesssssss.

[Natty]

Well. I am sorta" green" at this tormenting of RJG, but you seem, GJG to have quite the grasp of it, perhaps through years of cultivated experience. In addition, do I detect just a hint of sarcasm?

[Roger German]

...spoze that's what I get for stealing a line from a crook who worked for a crook who said he was not a crook.

[GJG]

Aww, don't go tainting the nabob craze with Spiro T speechwriters nattering.. :-) I'm thinking Dave Barry would believe that would be an excellent name for a rock band! Or, at the very least, Mr. Natty/Natty Na Bob (formally known as 'C') and I could be charter members in the Natty Nabobs Association/North American Chapter. King Nat, currently residing in Central America, could be in charge of that chapter, and perhaps his offspring could be convinced to continue the truly international flavor of a soon to be auspicious organization by starting the South American Chapter of NNB's. We may be poised on the springboard of truly GREAT nattering!!

[Natty]

I thought we were discussing Nat King C. and an Anaconda! There's the Nabob!

[tricky]

I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed
to be untrue."

[Scode]

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