I See Brown People
Feeling at Home from Far Away
This week, I find myself thousands of miles away from my sweet home in the woods of Tennessee. I hopped on a plane last Friday to do a big, important favor for my best friend because that is what friends do for each other. My stay in this distant location has been fraught with lots of activity. It has been far from a vacation, but I have not neglected my self-care needs. I drink lots of water, rest well, and walk at least a couple of miles in the early morning before seemingly insurmountable work gets going. There has been so much to do that there has been no time for anything else. I fly back home in a couple of days, hoping that someday I can return and have a more relaxed stay.
One glaring difference that I noticed since I stepped off the plane was that there are brown-skinned people literally EVERYWHERE! For someone who is surrounded by white people roughly 95% of my life, this was such a noticeable change, and every place I have gone in this incredible corner of the world, I have heard my native tongue of Tagalog being spoken. This is bananas, and I did not know how much I needed to roam and exist in these kinds of places. It is a comfort and a joy. (Do not get me started on the food.)
I fly back home in a couple of days. Since this has been such a hectic trip, the best I can do for this week’s issue of WPR is to show you photos of the local plants and blooms I have come across on my walks.
So, please enjoy this magnificent splendor. My face is still melting from it all.
The sprawling canopy of monkeypod trees.
I do not know what this is, but it made me smile.
Yellow is my favorite color for a good reason.
If I could come back in another life as a flower, I might choose to be this one.
As innovative as humans have been, we cannot hold a candle to nature’s ongoing evolution. Take this next photo as a case in point. I made a new friend on this trip, and he knows how beautiful he is. (I suppose we all should.)
Apparently, a flower is also a buffet.
The trees here seem to have some sort of magic.
When I was a boy, my family would go to the beach just about every week on the island where I grew up. With a few friends, my parents roasted chicken on a grill and spread out a picnic while I pretended to be a mermaid in the mighty Pacific Ocean.
This week, I felt like a kid again. We snuck out for a very brief sunset dip.
In two days’ time, I fly across thousands of miles to head back home and leave the land of brown-skinned people behind.
I wonder if my heart is big enough to leave a piece of it here.
Art and Photos by Roqué Marcelo.
PS: So many of you have watched my Vampire music video, and I am SOOOO grateful!
I have put a TON of energy into this song and music video. It would mean the world to me if you can share it with friends and on social media.
You can hear my new song, Vampire, on every major streaming platform including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Tidal.
Give it a listen, share it, and add it to a playlist if you want. Search for Roqué Marcelo or visit any of the following links:
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This past week, I had less of an artist date and more of a surprise (and blissfully delightful) encounter. Many of you may not know that I LOVE trees. I have a small list of them I hope to touch and stand in front of someday. (There’s a reason why I live in a house that is completely surrounded by them.) Banyan trees are my favorite. I hope to see the redwoods at some point in my life. Then, there is the magnificent baobab tree, which is native to Africa and Madagascar. With their large trunks and small branches, they look like trees straight out of a fairy tale. Indigenous tribes hold great reverence for them. I certainly do, too. (If an elephant could be a tree, it would be a baobab.)
Imagine my surprise when I came across a small grove of them during my stay in this magical corner of the world. I thought I had to travel across several continents just to see one. I was insanely happy to find them so unexpectedly. Sigh.
This photo shows me geeking out.
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