164
distance between us. Then I caught my first glimpse through the trees, amongst the
brush, crawling out of the creek was not a dinosaur or rhinoceros (or Godzilla) but
what I identified (erroneously as it turned out) as a giant Komodo Dragon about
~8 ft. (2.5 m) long and heavily built (I so wish I had a picture but I wasn’t going to
pause to look through my backpack for my camera to capture this potentially lifeending moment).
I think at this point it is important to note what my internal dialogue was telling
me and the physical stance I took during this thought process – Komodo Dragons
kill people all the time (not true), it is hunting me (it was likely just as surprised as
I was), it’s him or me (it could have been a lady dragon and yes, I went to a dark
place pretty quickly). I assumed the stance – in yoga it is referred to as the ‘warrior
pose’. The dominant arm is raised and bent at 90° by the side of the head. In my
hand was a ~ 6 ft. (2 m) long leveling staff, held like a javelin, pointy end facing
forward, the other arm is straight out in front (as one does when taking aim with a
javelin), front leg bent at 90° and back leg straight…warrior pose…it’s him or me.
When I tell this story, I describe it as going all ‘Lord of the Flies’. I also imagine that
if this was secretly filmed it would be an extremely popular YouTube video and
hilarious to watch. I cannot tell you how long we stood still. To me it felt like hours,
in sweat dripping humidity, trying to breath quietly, evaluating a plan (attack, run,
remain still, yell, throw the staff, etc.), eyes darting side to side hoping for the rest
of the team to join me. Eventually, I drew up enough courage to own it (as my dad
would say, ‘Put on your big kid pants’). I decided the dragon and I could get through
this amicably with only a few, small, emotional scars. We both pivoted. I took steps
Fig. 10.13 View from coast near Langkawi, Malaysia, looking into planted palms backed by
dense coastal forest. The boat was broken and transported a few hundred meters from the shore to
this location by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. (Image by A.D. Hawkes)
A. D. Hawkes
distance between us. Then I caught my first glimpse through the trees, amongst the
brush, crawling out of the creek was not a dinosaur or rhinoceros (or Godzilla) but
what I identified (erroneously as it turned out) as a giant Komodo Dragon about
~8 ft. (2.5 m) long and heavily built (I so wish I had a picture but I wasn’t going to
pause to look through my backpack for my camera to capture this potentially lifeending moment).
I think at this point it is important to note what my internal dialogue was telling
me and the physical stance I took during this thought process – Komodo Dragons
kill people all the time (not true), it is hunting me (it was likely just as surprised as
I was), it’s him or me (it could have been a lady dragon and yes, I went to a dark
place pretty quickly). I assumed the stance – in yoga it is referred to as the ‘warrior
pose’. The dominant arm is raised and bent at 90° by the side of the head. In my
hand was a ~ 6 ft. (2 m) long leveling staff, held like a javelin, pointy end facing
forward, the other arm is straight out in front (as one does when taking aim with a
javelin), front leg bent at 90° and back leg straight…warrior pose…it’s him or me.
When I tell this story, I describe it as going all ‘Lord of the Flies’. I also imagine that
if this was secretly filmed it would be an extremely popular YouTube video and
hilarious to watch. I cannot tell you how long we stood still. To me it felt like hours,
in sweat dripping humidity, trying to breath quietly, evaluating a plan (attack, run,
remain still, yell, throw the staff, etc.), eyes darting side to side hoping for the rest
of the team to join me. Eventually, I drew up enough courage to own it (as my dad
would say, ‘Put on your big kid pants’). I decided the dragon and I could get through
this amicably with only a few, small, emotional scars. We both pivoted. I took steps
Fig. 10.13 View from coast near Langkawi, Malaysia, looking into planted palms backed by
dense coastal forest. The boat was broken and transported a few hundred meters from the shore to
this location by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. (Image by A.D. Hawkes)
A. D. Hawkes