On the Carmel beach, a command position
overlooking the great Pacific
is a sea-whitened cypress log.
That ancient log does double duty
by defining graceful aging
and providing seating for serious thinkers.
Today the thoughtful-looking sea-gazer
is a nature boy.
He studies the gentle breaking waves
and bleached sand.
Time and countless grains of sand
provide today’s curriculum.
A graceful Monarch butterfly
landed on the log
and gently fluttered a winged hello.
The sight was a stimulus for Nature Boy
to become a nature teacher.
He addressed a learned lecture
on Chaos Theory.
The Monarch listened as
she was the heroine of lesson.
She was most impressed and said:.
“Really, the fluttering
of a my wings can
change the world!”
Such a challenge!
Then the Monarch flew away
to change the world.
Nature Boy returned to sea-gazing.
At first a slight breeze
that grew and grew.
The ocean screamed and pounded
as great waves
crashed up the beach.
Trees bent and broke.
The beach moved inland and
even the old cypress log moved.
The hurricane roared and roared.
Eventually it passed.
The dark clouds and howling wind passed
as suddenly as they arrived.
A wet and cold Nature Boy
waited the return of the Monarch
who had indeed changed the world.
Just a flutter of wing and
Chaos Theory was indeed proven true
and stood the test
of empirical research.
The winded Monarch returned
but brushed off congratulations.
She said: "Yes, I did it, I did it,
but I had to cheat."
Chaos Theory proved to be very slow
so I flew to the Butterfly Tree
and enlisted several million relatives.
Together we flapped our wings.
Insight and wisdom hit Nature Boy.
If you want a sea change,
get the total community involved .
Doug Minnis April 8, 2010