Strange sight on the beach on Tuesday. Coconut Jane bites the dust.. and here's a bonus, I'm going to impart a bit of trivia for Toronto beachcombers.. I know that Lake Ontario is sometimes called an "inland sea" but I also know for a fact there are no coconut-bearing trees in the northeast of N.America. So where are all these coconuts coming from? They're bobbing in the water, they're washed up in the dozens along the beaches. Well, I did a bit of research and came up with a likely explanation. It's to do with a Hindu festival called Raksha Bandan: it's celebrated in some parts of India as a festival to honor the sea god Varuna, where coconuts are offered to the sea. Because of its three eyes, the coconut represents the three eyes of Shiva. There is quite a large Hindu population in Toronto, and this would explain all the flotsam and jetsam of flowers and coconuts. Ta da!