Aruba’s desert is a desolate place, filled with all the stuff you expect to find in deserts – cactuses, arid land, mysterious culverts that hold water, plants that have adapted to the lack of water, and critters that call the desert home.
One evening, we were sitting on the cottage porch reading when, suddenly, in my peripheral vision, I saw what looked like a small hawk hovering just above the fence of the house next door. But it looked too small to be a hawk and by the time I stood for a closer look, it had flown off and alighted on a cactus on the other side of the road.
The next day, we drove to some of the tourist spots – a donkey rescue farm, a place called Casibari where gigantic stones (origin unknown) create a mysterious park, and an ostrich farm. The farm has 28 ostriches that are like pets for the people who own the place. They supposedly aren’t killed for their meat or oil, but are primarily a tourist attraction. While we were sitting there, a young woman held a bird on her arm. It was a sparrow hawk, chewing away at a piece of ostrich meat.I realized this was the species of bird I had seen that night on the porch.
Megan asked if she could hold it and the bird climbed onto her hand, the bit of meat still in its claws. Rob and I both petted it and the sparrow hawk didn’t flinch or try to bite us.
“Is it a pet?” I asked.
“No, not really,” the young woman said. “It just likes people.” She flashed a quick smile. “And it likes the meat.”
After awhile, the sparrow hawk flew off. It obviously wasn’t a pet in the traditional sense. But the young woman said it would return at dusk, for another piece of meat. What I found curious about this encounter is that the sparrow hawk reflects the people of Aruba.
In esoteric terms, the hawk symbolizes the search for a higher truth and broader perspective, the sparrow is about creativity. Starting in 1953, the island began to sculpt its image as a tourist destination. It capitalized on its strengths – fantastic beaches, the intriguing desert geography, and its location in the Caribbean, a spot outside the hurricane belt. Over the years, the idea of Aruba as “one happy island” took root in the collective consciousness of its people. As one local gentleman put it, “The island is too small to hold grudges.”
Aruba covers 70 square miles, is about 20 miles long and and six miles wide. Four languages are taught in schools – Dutch, English, Spanish, and a local dialect, Papiamento. But Chinese is also spoken here. Most of the supermarkets are owned and run by the Chinese.
There are luxury resorts – the Marriot, the Hyatt – but there are also smaller, family-owned places like the Boardwalk and the North Shore Cottage where we stayed. These places cater to windsurfers, kite boarders, sun worshippers, and tourists seeking respite, fun, and the silence that only deserts and exquisite beaches can provide. Here, you can parasail, skydive, go tubing, horseback ride through the desert and along the beaches. Or you can float in the swimming pool of one of the luxury hotels and sip Margaritas until dawn. You name the activity, someone will provide it.
The people of Aruba are as adaptable and independent as that sparrow hawk that perched on Megan’s hand, allowed us to pet it, photograph it, and then flew off into the afternoon light, following the lure of the wild, its bit of meat still clutched in its claws.
– Trish
This post is a bit lighter than the oil one. Yet, one darker note: The people of Aruba are also worried about the oil spill, hoping it doesn’t come their way. So far they are well out of the range of the spill.
– Rob
It's an interesting island, for sure, Mike.
Lovely post. I hadn't heard of Aruba until a few years back when I started to recieve mail from the island. (I used to publish several mail order magazines). I can remember looking for it on a map and wondering what it was really like – and now I know. Thanks – even if the info did take a few years to arrive!
i loved that descriptive phrase too, about the people of abruba and the hawk – lovely way to describe them –
and trish, you may be right – but my mind is a blank, darn it! – will never forget the stare of the hawk into my eyes, though – he came from nowhere straight to me – incredible!!!
gotta go find that link you mention about the bubbling though – i thought i had checked them all but missed that one –
Wouldn't it be spectacular if all of us could simply move to that little island and absorb its wonderful optimism! What a better world this would be! cjc
The people of Aruba really do seem to be optimists.
"The people of Aruba are as adaptable and independent as that sparrow hawk that perched on Megan's hand." I really like this description. What an optimistic way to be.
The link to a video I put in a comment under yesterday's post shows the water off pensacola beach bubbling. It's disturbing.
This hawk was tame enough to pet – and yet retained its wildness by flying off when it felt like it.
Gypsy – the red tailed hawk story. Wasn't there a synchro involved in that?
Oh Gosh Guys, I wanted to mention my sleeping dream from last night, altho it's not on-topic! In the dream, our youngest son and I were standing outside at night, looking into the sky, and there were TWO moons, but they were half-full, skudding behind white clouds, one was in the northern sky and one was in the southern sky, and all of a sudden we both saw UFOs flying around those moons. I asked my son if he saw them, and he was as awed as I was. We kept watching the UFOs. The feeling we had was almost giddy…it was almost euphoric. And no, I'm not on any meds! But we watched those three UFOs rather slowly encircling those two half-moons for a long time. The crafts were round, with lights on their bottoms, and they were spinning in circles and also traveling laterally. We felt no threat, just awe. A very lucid "dream', which may not have been, because I phoned my son and asked him if he dreamed last night without telling him mine. His dream matched mine exactly!! Amazing. Just amazing. However, my right-side nose is bleeding this morning, so we were impacted in some way, because my nose only bleeds after encounters. Another curious WV: "weektab" cjc
Great story. Love the little sparrow hawk and it's way of getting a bit of meat. But I'm not sure any of us are out of the way of the oil spill. It's ramifications are still unknown. All things are connected.
The Island itself sounds like a little piece of heaven, and obviously the creatures there reflect the "happy" energies and friendliness of its people…a lack of fear or uneasiness. Just relaxed and so comfortable in all its many parts and among all its many inhabitants, human and otherwise. What a lovely, lovely space! For some reason, this WV makes me giggle! "flubtesc" cjc
an incredibly beautiful story – reminded me of not so long ago when the red tailed hawk came to my car, looked me straight in the eye and then flew off, also into the afternoon light – all inside the city here –
i've wondered about all the islands, too, should things shift, worsen, with the spill –
wonderful story of little critters interacting with us – beautiful!