Our house sits at the bottom of a steep driveway. After opening the gate, we drive into the yard where a sprawling raintree provides an umbrella of shade for the house. Beyond the tree is the valley below which opens to the Mataniko River and the sea. Across Iron Bottom Sound, Savo Island almost seems to float on the horizon. When we come through the gate and see that tree, I relax and feel grateful to be home again.

Over the years, I have collected wild orchid plants. Sometimes I have purchased them in the market or they have been gifted to me in our travels around the country. These delightful low maintenance plants have taken root in the bark of the tree and continued to grow and spread. They aren’t always in flower, but there are several in bloom at the moment. The branch on which most of them sit can be viewed from our bedroom window – an added bonus.