Clack! Clack! Clack!

Clack! Clack! Clack! The wind pushes a cluster of bamboo logs against one another. Grrr! A tall log resists the wind. Bamboo is known for its structural soundness and its relaxing sounds. I sit with my partner next to a bush of common bamboo—the bambusa vulgaris, native to Indochina and the province of Yunnan, China¹—in what feels like a humid piece of jungle. But we're far from the jungle. We're in Málaga's La Conception Botanical Gardens, our hometown. The pandemic forced us to stay during our vacation and trade the expensive flight and accommodation fees for a calm week of rest and light local tourism. The admission ticket is five euros and is free on Sunday afternoons. In minutes, we walked by exotic plants brought from remote parts of China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Africa. As a curiosity, April is the month of erythrina caffra. People mark wood logs and cactuses with love messages and graffiti signatures as a memorandum of their time on earth. The trash can by the historical gazebo—signed with a multi-color marker—reads, Imon Boy ❤️.