Busy As A...

Out of the entire wild kingdom it seems that the hardest workers are ants, beavers and bees. This is probably because their job is not only to eat and reproduce but a greater goal is to create and maintain a home and fill it will food for hard times. Sure squirrels and many rodents will do the same, but not to the extent of ants, beavers and bees.

I suppose it is the industrious nature of these animals that inspire humans, but somehow I appreciate the browsers and the grazers. Everything they need is provided for them. They are the gypsies, roamers and nomads of the wild.

I recall the last time I went to Hawaii. I paid a small fortune to fly there first class from the East Coast. I paid a small fortune for a suite in the Hawaiian Regent. I felt like one of those industrious animals fortunate enough to squirrel away enough of the abundant money I was making back in those days to provide myself with that life style.

One morning I went out for my early morning walk at 5am and I noticed several people sleeping on the beach tucked up against the sea wall. They covered them self in blankets of newspaper. It was there that I found the grazers. People of wealth paid their money to sleep in hotel rooms close to the ocean, and the people with few resources were sleeping closer to the ocean and getting the full Hawaiian experience. I’m sure they could have gone to shelters, but instead they were fully ensconced in a tropical paradise. Later that morning I sat having breakfast on my balcony and on a bench below I could see several of the guys that live on the beach playing checkers or chess; having coffee and something to eat on benches at street level that overlooked the ocean.