Woman with a Parrot

Let's take a walk together near the ocean shore,

hand in hand you and I.

Let's cherish ev'ry moment we have been given

for time is passing by.

Kool And The Gang

Time here in Key West is passing too quickly.  We have done so many things, gone to differing sites, and visited with friends, but there are still destinations to be met.  There is so much more I am wanting to experience here, and yet a balance must be kept.

There are experiences I have yet to share and insights left unreported.  Some are incidental meetings while others have been synchronistic. And what can be said for increasingly complicated dreaming I have yet to figure out.  Understanding the many layers to this time being spent here, one must also account for the bombardment of emotions or energy accompanying each person and place as the abrasive vibrations are mixed in with those I hold dear. 

I was wandering down a beautiful Old Town street, canopied with trees and yards over flowing with flowers.  I heard a bird and immediately turned my head as I knew it would make a noise again.  And so it did.  I scanned the branches and the fences, but I saw nothing of a bird even though the noise grew louder.  I never stopped walking so I was curious as to how this bird was becoming louder instead of fading away.  I quit searching as I was approaching an elderly woman in front of me walking at such a slow pace.  As I began to pass her, a parrot sitting on her shoulder screeched at me.  The woman offered her arthritic old hand and the parrot climbed aboard.  The bird squawked at me again enjoying the fine act of startling me.  I stopped to admire the bird tethered to the woman by a very filthy string. The one end of the string was attached to the old woman's wrist and the other end was wrapped around the parrot's right foot.  She stooped over to loving set the bird on the sidewalk and then stood to face me.  I was already delivering my tourist response to her having a parrot on her shoulder, but immediately shut my mouth as soon as her eyes locked with  mine.  My first impression of a sweet older woman with her parrot companion swiftly changed to a gnarly old woman filled with bitterness and torment.  She never said a word, orally that is, but her eyes spoke volumes.  The energy she was generating towards me was not good.  It was heavy and chaotic.  She knew I would back away and back away I did.

As in all places, there are both happy folks and sad.  There are the homeless, but some with wealth just as sad.  Money does strange things to people  just as poverty can be debilitating.  There are some souls living alone in loneliness while others even though surrounded by others are trapped in a void of their own.  To all of them, I extend love, energy and light.

As time in Key West is flying by, I embrace with compassion all I am blessed to see ... all children of the Universe ... and not for me to speculate, judge or remedy.  I will cherish all of my experiences as each and every one reflects a reality not normally caught in the perception of my own little world.  In spite of our appearances, underneath, we really are all struggling to embrace the challenges we face.