Leaving the Island

The dreaded day has arrived when I must head back to the hive. My island stay has come and gone much too quickly. I leave with a big smile, blonder hair, and skin that has been loved by the sun. I love coming to the island because no matter what is going on in my life, the minute I step off the plane and breath in the subtle smells of mold and warm air, I feel nothing except that which is in the now. My life becomes the moment in which I am living. Maybe it is just being so removed from the other 48 states, maybe just being in a place where there is nothing but deep blue water from every point you look out from. Who knows? All I know is that I love it here, and yes...I could move here. I could live in a little tropical hut, spending my days surfing and hanging on the beach, eating poki (raw tuna, ginger, spices) and drinking cold beer. Yes, I know I would need to work, but they pay SLP's about a 100K a year, so I think I would be okay.

When my husband took the orders here they warned him to be careful. "The island can take you in," one of his co-workers said. One of the guys Larry knows came here for the same 6 months of orders that Larry is on......16 years ago! Larry has already extended until September and they have asked him for more.

It isn't perfect here. Just like any urban area in America, O'ahu has its flaws, some more striking than others. There are a lot of people living on the island, most of whom are fairly poor, especially the Hawaiian people. There is a lot of crime and vandalism, and there isn't much of an economic base except to tourism and the military. The west side beaches are covered in squatter huts, where the homeless have set up permanent tent homes on the pubic beaches. So far the government here has taken no action to remove them, even though it is illegal. It is also a major health and environmental hazard to have them living there. Yes, I can't help but think about social issues, even while in paradise. But still, even with the imperfections, it is still such a beautiful and mystical place. I love the Mauna (mountains). They are spectacular from every angle.

I love how everyone is making their pilgrimage to see the whales this time of year. It is a family event to sit for hours and stare at the water in the hope of seeing a fin or fluke, maybe a splash or two. I also love how every night as the sun begins to descend below the horizon, all eyes are on the setting sun. It is as if we all still believed in the "Sun God" and are paying our last respects as he leaves us for the night.

Yesterday, I realized how much I enjoyed this Hawaiian living when I was driving along and decided it was nice enough to put the top down. I pulled over into a parking lot, put the top down, put my sunglasses on and a baseball hat. Just as I was getting back on the road, Bob Marley came on the radio with "Stir it up." I had to crank it up, of course. Amazingly, no one around me thought that was weird. That song is pretty much the beat of life around here. It just fits. In Utah, people would look at me like I was the Antichrist, expecting me to be puffing away on a big doobie and saying "duuuuude" every other word.

A little trivia: the "Shaka" symbol that many of us learned as "Hang Loose" by the surfing crowd was actually started by a sugarcane worker that had his three middle fingers cut off in some machinery. As he would walk around town, he would wave "hello" by using that hand, which only had the thumb and pinky fingers. That is how the "Shaka" symbol all began. It is a very common way to say "hello" and "take care."


Aloha