Yoron's Yawns (1).

Islanders,  like denizens of small islands everywhere it seems, don't easily get roused to a state of excitement. Similarly, their sense of humour is an elusive quality. These traits may be due to heredity, but more likely to hangovers, which are almost generic on this island, at least among my local friends.

Many times has my own overzealous spirit been frustrated by their apathetic response.

I was once having a lone round of golf and, while teeing up on the cliff top of the 4th tee,  a whale blew less than a three-iron shot away. The great beast was so close I could hear the bubbly gush of its exhalation. It then dived with a mighty swish of its tail. It was a heart-stopping sight. 

Once over my stupefaction, and like most people who have just undergone an awe-inspiring experience, I looked around for someone with whom to share the moment. The course was deserted except for three locals approaching the 7th down in the little valley. I leaped over to them,  yelling "Kojira! Kojira! (whale! whale!).  

They looked up from their balls on the green, looked at each other, then looked back at their balls. Not a flicker of interest. 

I walked back to the 4th feeling like an idiot. 

I was rewarded, however.  It turned out to be not a single whale but a whole family - two parents and a cub - and for the next five minutes they gamboled and gushed before me in a private showing of their grace and beauty. 

A moment to last a lifetime.