Mangroves

The sounds of the bay had all but vanished by the time I realized I had found myself lost in a forest of mangroves.  Well..Perhaps "slightly lost" is a better way of putting it.  After all, I knew the island was no more than a mile or two deep both ways.  But the web of trails I had been following for well over an hour couldn't have been any wider than paddle's length at it's broadest point.  It would have been difficult to turn an inflatable raft around let alone a 16 ft kayak.  Moving forward at a drifters pace any precautions I felt were immediately consumed by the excitement of not knowing whether to go left or right at the fork.  There was no notion as to what was around the corner.  Taking a break, I climbed up the mangrove bank to a natural trail that prompted a hike.    Finding the crumbling foundation of an old homestead made me think of the lost sailors that took refuge here from the sea.  As I rested with my back against what was left of an old brick fireplace I imagined the home in it's former glory.  He had built it with his own two hands.  I'm sure it took years.  He and his wife and daughter lived on the island for decades in the 1800s.  He was a merchant and had made a name for himself and his island as a place of refuge for those weary of the sea.  I could imagine a roaring fire and a home full of  traders and merchants enjoying the famous home cooked meals his wife was known for.  The stories that must have been told in the living room.  The characters that must have passed through.  All part of this pile of rubble I was taking a break on.  All that is left of his life serves as a rest stop for hikers.  A broken slab of concrete cluttered with rusted tools used in trades of the past was all that remained of his life's work.  I wondered that if he knew what would become of his legacy all those years ago if he would have done it all differently... But then again, even Solomon has nothing left to show of his great temple.  Perhaps our legacy is not what we leave on this earth, but instead how we change the lives of those beside us while we're here.