feeling the contrast and the magic

Hello on this 05-06-07 magical day...I like consecutive numbers this year...last year it was all about double digits...I was 33...this year I'm 34 and aparently this day is a good one for me.

Anyhoo, the last couple days have been interesting. I'll give you the update. I started my first day of work at Kona Boys (www.konaboys.com) and they hooked me up by taking me out on a guided kayak trip with a Fromme's Guidebook writer and her boyfriend. Yes! This is what I want to do. It was so fun and beautiful. Frank, one of the owners of Kona Boys, is a super sweet guy with a lot of aloha spirit, very helpful and relaxed. They launch their kayaks from a private launch in Kealekekua Bay on property that was given to Kai by Hawaiian royalty. It's very special that we get to launch out of there and he shows his respect in every way possible. We paddled across the bay and he told the stories of the Bay, how when royalty would die the bones would be carried down the mountain by a man tethered to a line where he would put the bones in the caves and then pile rocks in front of the cave, once he was done he would either cut himself from the rope or be cut off from above and drop to his death as a sacrafice to the gods. He also told us the story of Capt. Cook and his demise after wearing out his welcome. We then swam with dolphins but the girl got cold very quickly and we soon returned to the kayaks. Then we headed to the monument where we pulled out our kayaks and warmed up on the rocks. Afterwards, we headed to the monument where he took us inside the monument and suddenly we were transfered to England! That little plot of land is owned by England. We were wisked off back to Hawaii and jumped into the most beautiful reef I've seen yet. Wow, it blew me away. At that point the underwater landscape goes from 2 feet to 250 feet within about a 50 feet. We ate lunch out on the point of traditional Bento box of rice, fish, egg, and...delicious...spam...just kidding about the delicious part. But apparently he got it from the oldest Japanese restaurant on the island. All in all it was a fun day and my arms weren't even that tired afterward.

That afternoon I was hanging out at the house and met up with a bunch of different people. I met a poet, a baby who had just had open heart surgery, and some older friends. The poet had written a beatiful poem about the old almond tree at the end of Ho'okena beach. Then later I met Fred a guy that is a fixture at the beach. He and a crew sit out there and drink beer and smoke weed all day. They are a bit sketchy but good to know. They gave me dinner and some wild boar, a pineapple, and some tortillas since I was the only one with a refrigerator. Later, the poet ended up coming back over to write out his poem in calligraphy because he wanted to laminate it and put it on the tree. It may work out that we will laminate some of my collages too. Though he ended up staying until 10:30pm and I had to get up at 5am.

Frank, from Kona Boys, invited me to volunteer at a swimming race up the road the next morning so I got up at 5am to meet him back up at the shop. We got to the race at 7am, it started at 8, done by 9 and they were serving burritos and beer by 10:30am. I had already felt like I'd lived a whole day by the time we got back to the shop at noon. We acted as water safety for the swimmers and took surfboards out to keep the swimmers on track and make sure everybody made it. There were some top athletes there so that was pretty exciting. I got a t-shirt, a pint glass, and a gekko keychain bottle opener and a burrito. It was pretty fun.

On the way back Frank and Hannah stopped at the SPCA to pick out their new kitty. Then we were off back up to the shop. I went and had lunch with Meg, took a nap and then we were off to a party at Asolaria's house. It turned out to be the most etherial party I've ever been to...there was an ET representative (yes, that does mean extraterrestrial), a Quan Yin channel, other channels, and some other meditations that were not so out there. All that stuff certainly is interesting, though I have a hard time with so much of it at one time. They are all very sweet people and the potluck and music was very nice.

Last night was interesting in that I came home to Cinco de Mayo celebrations at my neighbors house. Luckily the loud music only lasted until 10pm but then at 4am apparently some Hawaiians had gone out fishing in their outriggers and came home to party on the beach...with loud music and general merriment. Then about 4:30am my water heater started going off and overflowing. Gees...I'm not sure I can live down at Ho'okena for very long. As much as I love it there, I think I might just want to visit it so I don't get too annoyed with it.

This morning I woke up with the intention of going to yard sales with Meg to find a few items but instead we swam with the Dolphins, talked to friends made last night, and got serenaded by Michael the flirty old Irishman with his tin whistle. When Meg and I finally started driving around looking for sales we couldn't find a single one, but whe did find an open house sign. We went to check it out and it was a beautiful place on Napoopoo Road overlooking the bay. I think it would be a great place for mom and Jon, the perfect mix of luxury and nature, close to the water (5 minutes) yet in the cooler part of the mountain. Just a few houses down from Meg and probably 8 minutes to the grocery. Plus it had mangos! Just a few days ago Jason asked me if I could only have one type of tree on my land what would it be and I choose mangos...this peice of property has 30 mango trees which they put there because there aren't very many mangos on this side of the island and they thought it would be perfect for selling instead of coffee plants. Wow, pretty cool.

That's it for now...until next time...much love to you

PS Leave comments, I love to read them.

Incommunicato

So I'm a bit out of touch lately, and hoping to get back in touch soon.

I have times of feeling inspired to write beautifully worded blogs describing my new house, the beautiful irridescent termite wings, the dolphins spinning in the bay right outside my house, but once I'm here in front of the computer I am too tired and less inspired to write.

Unfortunately, I don't have internet access at my home, much less cell phone access. Let's see, lately I've been going to the Burning Man party in Pahoa...paled in comparison to the real thing. Swimming in the Champaign Ponds, trying to get my life in Hawaii settled, seeing Jason off to Mass, getting a job at Kona Boys kayak, surf, and dive shop. I'll be going on a kayak tour tomorrow for my first day. My adventure career has started. Horray.

That's it for now...sorry.