Death by coconut ~ the urban legend

Why did Honolulu put up this sign, you may wonder.

First, let me explain why this interests me. When we were passing the central park today, I saw a worker cut down an open flower about 3' (1 metre) long from a tall tree ...

... as well as two unfurled ones, both of which dropped with a real thud, so I presume they were heavy.

The tree then looked groomed, but not as attractive as before because it now lacked character.

As I stood watching, wondering out loud to Greg why they did this, a couple came by. She explained they do this so the coconuts don't develop, and the man then added that "150 people a year are killed by falling coconuts". When I came home I had to look into the accuracy of his statement.

Based on Wikipedia and its 68 references on the topic, death by coconut is an urban legend. I found the background fascinating, and I went on to read far more trivia on the topic. It seems Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones didn't get his head injury and surgery because of a coconut falling out of a tree, but rather from him falling out of a tree trying to reach a coconut. I wonder how many people knew he had a brain injury ... or could even tell?

But I digress; back to the central park. I also noticed another variety of palm tree.

It had interesting fruit, but this time only the size of perhaps a plum. Undoubtedly not deadly if it fell, but I don't know if it's edible.

We returned to the park later in the afternoon for a fundraiser event put on by the "Friends of Lo de Marcos". This is an organization of people who winter here and want to help and give back to the community. They take on projects to make improvements to the town, and volunteer their time at various activities. It was this group that Greg and I volunteered with this past week, but more about that in a later post.

There was a rummage sale, with various tables set up with clothing for men, women, and children. There was a countdown to 4 pm, when it starts, as this is a very popular part of the activities. The people rushed towards the tables.

Although there were some great bargains to be had, the table with the blue jeans was perhaps the most popular. For 50 pesos (less than $3 U.S.) people were getting a real bargain.

The sign over this area said "lotería méxicana", which we presumed was a lottery vendor. However, it was similar to bingo, but the caller worked with a deck of cards, and the players with a sheet with nine images and the Spanish meaning. The players had beans for markers (you can see a pile above the lady's card) and they marked off the pictures as the words were called. A novel way to learn the Spanish language.

There was also a silent auction and a "peso" raffle. For some reason, this item struck me as funny. I wondered what Mexicans would think of an "American" electric quesadilla maker. Just my sense of humour, I guess.

There was a good variety of food vendors, as well as drinks. We ate delicious pork quesadillas from this lady, and drank "amigoritas", which were very good. 

It was a good way to socialize with others for a good cause. Greg also bought tickets for the 50/50 draw, but was not "el ganador".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Location: Lo de Marcos, Nayarit, Mexico
Weather: High of 77ºF (25ºC), low of 69ºF (21ºC)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~