Bird scratching?  Some tool making accidental contact?  This was on the side of the trunk of one of the palm trees that line our street.  Palms will probably be a rare sight in a generation or two; they require lots of water and provide only a little shade.  They are, however, iconic, and perhaps majestic in a rather whimsical way.

At eye level the trunks are usually brown, with the remnants of stripped/fallen fronds spiraling around.  This acrid green, then, was a surprise, and I find its speckles –freckles? — rather charming.  Then there are the mysterious small vertical marks as well as the calligraphic main one.  In need of revelation or, as I once spoonerized (?), relevation.  Relevate, relevate, dance to the music!