Birthday Coconut

After meeting today, I went to get some tea and then for a walk with a friend and his sons.

Let's get a coconut! My friend's 11 year old son said to his dad.

Okay, let's get a coconut.

Thus began our downtown IC hunting trip to find a coconut. With only two grocers in walking distance of downtown, we tried our luck at the least likely market to find a coconut. To our surprise, they had shrink wrapped coconuts. Perfect. However, icepicks and mallets are not usually toted in ones bag. So, after purchasing the coconut, we went to the deli counter to ask for assistance, handed over the coconut and asked the fit young man to help us out. He looked at the coconut like, well... we had just asked him to crack a coconut. Not sure where to begin he pulled out various sharp knives and began stabbing and drilling into the coconut. Interesting thing about coconuts is that one being cracked draws attention. Everyone wants to be a part of the experience. Before long four men formed a train and followed each other through the kitchen offering suggestions, wanting to be part of the action. After about 10 minutes, we exited the market with one cup of coconut milk and three chunks of ice white coconut. We sat outside and snacked on fresh coconut.

The serendipity of children's suggestions is inspiring. The experience in and of itself was a fabulous birthday present.