I Open at the Close

We landed last, last Saturday night and I almost threw up on the car ride home because we were not getting on a plane again next month to go back; good thing I hadn't eaten more than a package of Delta cookies and half of a Starbuck's blueberry scone that day. It has been a year since we were here last -- much has and much has refused to change. But let's reminisce on our last days spent on little O'ahu for the sake of... the sake (ref. not Professor X).

We should have taken it for a sign that we were supposed to leave when they hacked off another one of our coconut trees. Such a tragedy. It was hollow inside and could have caused severe injury if they hadn't, but it still seemed harsh. We're not there anymore so someone else can deal with burning the place to the ground for their misdeeds whatevs.

Gunstock ranch is some serious beauty. They have just got it going on -- especially at sunset. It's weird that our drive home won't have this view anymore.
We used to say that the country really isn't country anymore even though everyone says that about the North Shore still. And in reality, it isn't, just like we used to say... but the longer you live there, the more you feel like it is country. I mean, compared to town, it's crazy country for sure. Compared to actual country sides though, it isn't. It's this beautiful medium where you have to go an hour away for regularly priced (for HI) groceries and still have neighbors to laugh with/at while you walk up to your door. You get scenes like this one every day, but you can still circle island in a couple hours (traffic pending). We'll miss that.

Our last outing in our car was to the Billabong Pipe Masters; good choice, huh? The parking was horrendous, but the walk is beautiful anyway.

Even though we've seen this structure and others like it a billion times, I don't think it's possible to actually realize they build these things annually. Honestly, a three-story building for just a week or two of standing and then tear down? And then there's a completely different one that gets built a mile over for the next competition. Impossible.

Oh yeah, and these too.

On the way to the car, a hen and her wee chickadees were scavenging excitedly. Glen and I squatted down and drew the chicks nearer by tapping the ground (they naively think you've stumbled upon a heap of food so they come nearer; ha). The one in front was a brave little fella with almost no basic animal survival skills built in. It will learn quickly or will not get the chance to if you catch what I'm getting at. It'll die.

One of Glen's professors (Dr. Gold) is a beekeeper -- which means Glen is now intrigued with the idea that beekeeping can be a thing for us later... yeah, no. I'm fine if the bees are kept in a place far away from my place (wherever my place is at any one time). This was in Kahuku at some farms who've allowed the bee boxes of private owners.

He told us to wear things that make you look like dead plants; white being the least aggressive color to them. I wore my whitest cardigan and best running shoes. I stood on the edge of the truck bed to be as close to jumping down and running as possible because I wasn't chancing anything. I'm not specifically lucky in these types of situations. As it happens, I didn't get bee stings, but the mosquitoes took every opportunity on my ankles. Someday payback is coming to them and I hope I get to invoke it.

Staying far wasn't safe forever with Glen around. He brought one in the cab so enthusiastically I wasn't sure if he understood the beating coming to him or not. The bee (thankfully) turned out to be one of the queen's sex slaves, so it didn't have the ability to sting me. No, really; this guy's only purpose in life is to inseminate the queen. And there are more too. They get too big to fly for any meaningful distance so they literally can't get away. I'm not saying they want to, but who's to say? Glen was very happy about this whole experience; especially the part where we got a big jar of honey from Dr. Gold's house. Needless to say, it is an ongoing battle of the bees in our relationship. Thankfully, his mom is on my side.

So, to sum up... we love HI and HI can't do a thing about it. We're grateful to be in CA with family and friends again though! Christmas is tomorrow and I haven't been able to feel my toes in a week and a half. I think I'll survive 'til summer...

No bees.

Aloha Christmas Eve Wednesday and a happy birthday to Ashley McIntosh!!! Hope your birthday nap is filled with dreams of unicorns and platypi hugs.

Hulina Lani: The Simmons' Family

This adorable family will always be a fun memory for me! I babysat/taught these two little ones for the past year. You might remember I went to Jaxon's dominating break through into the soccer world (see here) a couple Saturdays ago. The only weird thing about this photo shoot was the amount of clothing and lack of food crumbs on the children.

Love them and how these pictures turned out!

Ending a year of friendship and just enough children-time to keep me off Glen's back about my empty oven (haha) was both sad and really fun. Seriously so grateful for this family and being able to teach and learn with their children. Hope I didn't ruin them too much(;

Aloha Friday

High Five for Friday: Sick

Glen and I have been battling this stupid sickness for months now. We would always get just the right amount of rest every night to keep it in submission, but we have succumbed in the past couple of days. And if we get sick again from going home next week like we usually do I am going to lose it! I don't know what I'm going to lose at this point, but I like to throw things away when I find myself alone for long periods of time. There's usually something important that comes up "lost" later and I remember my throw away party I had so much fun at. Pray for me.

Besides being sick and hating it, there were some really awesome things from this week and here are five:

1. On Saturday, it was Jaxon's (I have been babysitting him and his little sister since February) first soccer game! He's three-almost-four and loves soccer with his life half the time. Kids are weird that way. This day though, he was killing that soccer life. I mean, compared to me he's got nothing on soccer because he has such tiny legs he can't keep up. When compared to his three year old peers though! Man, this kid rocked their butts! Honestly, it almost felt disgusting to keep cheering for him -- although I managed to continue quite easily. The other two members of his team were shy and couldn't play because of the tear fest they really needed to get to on the sideline, so for the last half of the game (the whole of it lasted 20 minutes, tops) it was 1 against 2/3 and Jaxon the blue team won 4--1.

2. I had promised Jaxon I would go to his game if I was still around and I'm super glad it worked out. He was so stoked when he saw that I was there and the game was so hilarious! Every time he'd score a goal, he would come running up and ask to see the picture I took of him. Oh yeah, and he's really into taking pictures with weird faces right now, which really works for me.

3. After the game, Glen and I went Small Business Saturday shopping because American Express has this really cool deal where you get $10 back if you spend at least $10 with your card (just at three stores). And the Waiahole Poi Factory was listed on their website as a participant! Oh snap, we were excited!

Everyone's poi tastes are different, I understand that very clearly. This poi is very good tasting, but the thickness just wasn't for me that day. I like my poi pretty thick and this was on the watery side for me. For reference, I like when the poi can be picked up with a toothpick and this one was definitely spoon-necessary. The laulau was perfect though. Perfect.

 4. We went over to Waialua the other day and had fun exploring farmlands. We only got locked in once, but that was enough to send us packing for the day haha.

5. Glen is officially done with his undergraduate life now. Ha. He had to present his senior research before that could happen and he did it yesterday evening. There was delicious pizza accompanying a subject I know little about, so that was nice.

Hope I get off of the sick wagon soon. I'm banking on the off chance that serving in the temple tonight will bless me with health again. It's dang cold in there most nights though. So, probably not.

Aloha Friday.

Hulina Lani: Leeward

A couple weekends ago, we went Leeward and it was magical. They have seen more rain this summer season making the hills and mountains filled with green grasses. These mountains are usually dry brush all over, so it was such an awesome experience to see it lush and living; made us want to frolic with the mosquitoes and mongooses.

Coming from La'ie area is probably the longest distance from the Leeward side. The main road (Kamehameha Hwy.) circles the island, but the western mountain range (Wai'anae Range) cuts the entire West side off. So, we have to snake North of the Ko'olau Range and then all the way South to get beyond both ranges. It's a beautiful drive, but time consuming and you never know if there will be an accident that makes you turn back around because it's a two-lane road.

On this particular Saturday, the Reef Pro was going on in Hale'iwa and we stopped off there on our way to watch some of the competition. It wasn't very exciting... at least not when you're comparing competitions; I think it's main hype comes because it kind of kicks off the competitions on the North Shore. Maybe I'm just being too picky, but if you're going to choose only one to go to, my suggestion would not be this one.

When we got back on the road, we drove all the way to the end of the road up the Leeward coast. We got out and played around on the rocky shore taking pictures and saving animals #nbd

The wave action was fun; I love crashing waves on rocks. It's so exciting! You can watch it build and build and build and then BOOM. So cool. South shore was better the time we went to Makapu'u here.

We may have definitely saved this little guy's life that day. We found it sitting on a dried up portion of the rocks with a little of the shielding crushed. I didn't have any of my many shield urchin fixing tools in my satchel, but we put it in a good spot with plenty of water filtration. I felt good about it. Even if death was imminent, I'm happy to give at least a more comfortable death bed. That got unexpectedly sad; let's move on.

We got back in the car and drove down to Makua Beach for some fun, but we kind of just took pictures and skidded away. Other than already feeling a little apprehensive going Leeward, there were some seedy folks there (one just started peeing right in front of us as we were walking onto the beach). So, we took a few pictures and left them to theirs.

We went back up the road to Yokohama Bay (Keawa'ula Bay) to finish our day and it was an awesome time. So much beauty and the water was so nice too.

As I was taking the above shot, this guy hopped over to me with his camera in hand and spunky smile. Meet Lee:

He was very good at speaking, not in English really, but just speaking to people haha. He had seen me from a little ways away and decided I was getting a better angle, so he needed to use my position. We were laughing and talking like good friends, but I'm not sure we were having the same conversation. I just wasn't sure if I could understand him or he could understand me... then he just started taking pictures of me, which I thought was interesting. I would protest, but he would just shoo me back into his shot and yell at me, "Beauty and more beauty! STAYstaystay!"

 He also kept encouraging me to change the settings on my camera to pump up the colors and exposure. At the end of the day, he insisted on getting my email so he could send the pictures he took to me when he got home that night. And he actually did haha. 

The sun is seriously not even above the horizon in this picture; I had to edit them to look less Lisa Frank-ish haha. Gotta love those rainbow dolphins, Lisa.

Glen had taken the camera from me at this point and was taking pictures of me with the sunset, but Lee kept hopping straight in front of Glen yelling all the while. It was hilarious and people were starting to stare, which made it even better.

The sunset was magnificent and the drive home was filled with tired giggles over our new friend Lee.

And now, I'm going to Pipe because the waves are out of this world right now. OhyeahyeahyeahYEAH! See ya.

Aloha Monday.