Why Kaua’i?

Just over a year ago my husband and I came to this beautiful island of gardens and rainbows. Captivated right away as the island cradled us in warm tropical breezes; the local community charmed our hectic lifestyle. They were warm and leisurely when offering helpful options for adventure, and even a construction worker at the post office “talked story” with us for 45 minutes! The enormity of the beauty that surrounded us verged on sensory overload. We just couldn’t keep our eyes off the titanic splendor that surrounded us from mountain to ocean, both just a head turn away.

We spent all of a week on Kaua’i and went home to pack our bags, compelled to move to the island as soon as possible. We made a second trip to Maui just to make sure Kaua’i was the right place after deciding the Big Island was a remarkable place to retire and Oahu was for young folks who enjoy the city life. Kaua’i is small town and we like small town. 

I am truly blessed by the colorful people with wide smiles and generous spirit. The colossal, emerald green craggy peaks shrouded in misty clouds and graced with double rainbows, briny turquoise waters lined with over 50 miles of pristine white sand beaches, trade winds playing with Coconut Palms, lush gardens and the ever present sunshine.

I am thrilled that Kaua’i is our home, after all it just got voted by Travel and Leisure Magazine second best island in the world, behind the Galapagos. In the late 1700‘s King Kamehameha tried without success to conquer her. Pride in being “The Unconquered Island” and isolation of this remote archipelago infuse the locals with a lot character. The rugged island has steadfastly remained undeveloped; mom and pop stores are the norm as is taking time to properly say hello. If you pass someone you know, instead of rushing by, you stop. After the appropriate hug and kiss you say, “Aloha, how are you?” and listen, not just with your mind but with your heart. That’s small town aloha!

Mom and Dad

Thank you.

Thank you for letting us stay with you our last few days here.

Thank you for all the wonderful meals made with love.

Thank you for your graceful acceptance of our choice.

Thank you for your support, despite how you feel about it.

Thank you for your curiosity about our new lives.

Thank you for the easy conversations.

Thank you for doing what you can to help us be on our way.

Thank you for taking such good care of us and the dogs.

Thank you for your warm and thoughtful love.

We appreciate you.

Another Early Morning

4:44am. Everyone is dead asleep except me. Dan is all snuggled up in the down comforter, Baxter and Lucy, along my right side, take up half the bed. I sit up and Dan rolls over and looks at me, looks at the clock and rolls back over to sleep. I get out of bed, get my things and pad downstairs. It snowed a lot over night, looks like 4 inches or so. I will not miss the snow.

Brian added some color to the logos so I'll put them up again. I like #2 now.



This week started out kinda rough. The anxiety of selling the house and quitting our jobs really affected me physically, plus, I was beginning to wonder if we were crazy. I was still sick Tuesday morning but I didn't want to call in and have my co workers think I was slacking because I was a short timer. Rich thought I should go home anyway but as the day wore on I started feeling better. By the end of yesterday I was literally buzzing with excitement. The Kauai vibe is getting stronger and its a lot of fun riding it! As of last night I felt like it couldn't be any other way. People keep saying what we are doing takes a lot of courage, and, I agreed Tuesday but now it just feels right. Not extraordinary, not courageous, just right. Some people are right along with us, getting wrapped up in the excitement of it all and then it just increases.

The editors are jostling for our shifts. They make comments like "I told management I want off my shift". Some have been there a long time, over 10 years, working split shifts or weekends. The assistant editors and Seth our excellent tape op are hoping something happens for them. It's fun knowing that by our leaving, some people will get what they want. New blood will flow through those hardened arteries! Or not. Our director came to my edit bay yesterday. He told me it was bittersweet for him. He'll miss me and my "extensive knowledge" but moving to Kauai, wow! He said he'd counter offer if he thought he could compete with paradise. There was a pregnant pause and I said yea, you can't compete with paradise! It seems we are appreciated!

We are starting to sell some of our stuff. The tower computers are gone, Bryan wants to buy my Cerwin Vega speakers and our Dennon 7 disk CD changer. I found a lady on Craigslist who wants to buy our temperpedic pillows, Dan found someone who wants to buy ALL of our CD's, DVD's and books, there must be 4000 in all! Vendria, that cute little mother to be, is buying my office chair. Kelly, the new marketing producer, may buy our book shelves. My brother not only offered storage room but is going to come by and see if him and his wife want to buy anything. Porter is interested in our big screen. The car still hasn't sold yet. Dan has been talking about web design, he knows someone who does it and is turning away work. He told Dan if he can get up to speed, he'll give him some work. It's all coming together like Dyanne said!

Goodbye Beloved Trail

Leaving Colorado is in our sights and I am reminded of the things that I will probably never do again. This morning I walked the dogs. I have walked this 4 mile loop of the Cherry Creek bike path hundreds of times in the last 8 years. The dogs know it well. This is the last walk I will be able to enjoy the colors of fall. There is yet time for sunrises and big sky.

My IPhone can't quite capture the way the golden light plays off the trees or Baxter's brown velvet coat. I am reminded of a time I walked the dogs in the fall. It was a classic beautiful Colorado fall day. Baby blue sky, a coolness to the air; crisp yet warmed but the sun. Passing by a clump of golden cottonwoods a breeze came and blew the leaves off the trees. Their golden faces reflecting the sunlight and making everything sparkle. I was struck by the beauty and had to stop and watch. I found myself raising my arms to the sky, tilting my face up as well; feeling the warmth of the sun and twirling with my eyes closed! It was fantastic!

I go out the gate that Dan put into the back split rail fence.

Walk down the well worn path that Dan keeps mowed for me.

Pass the iron bridge that goes over Cherry Creek.

I have met many people on this path.

The nice lady whose walking stick has indian totems running its length. The older lady who stopped me on the trail, sung me a poem about Jesus she wrote and gave me the paper she had written it on. The overweight grumpy couple who rode their bikes and got tweaked because the dogs were off leash. The older guy who reminds me of Steve Small walking his 2 dogs that bully mine. Tom and his golden Chloe, we always stop and chat for 10 or 15 minutes while Baxter runs around barking at me to move on. The old guy, who had diabetes and rode on his roller blades every day to keep it at bay. This is ranch country and we walk on a working ranch. One spring day while Dan was walking the dogs, a mother cow walked up behind him and shoved him in the back with her nose, protecting her calf I guess. The "doinking" deer, who, alone at sunrise would bounce around radiating joy because he was alive. The rattlesnakes. One morning, we were walking the dogs and the sun was coming up, lighting up everything. We looked across and there were hundreds of spider webs forming a lacy patchwork throughout the cattails. This morning as I was rounding my favorite bend, lined with trees and wild flowers I saw 2 deer loping out of the brush and a coyote lumbering after them. All the dogs, animals and people enrich our walks.

Baxter and Lucy love getting into the creek. They drink greedily on hot days (their shots are current) Lucy slowly walking and drinking letting the current guide her. Baxter running as fast as he can up and down the creek bed, splashing and generally having a great time. One time, the creek was really full from a lot of rain. Lucy was hot and thirsty and went down in a place that was unusual for her. She got caught up in the current and started to float down stream. I thought I was going to have to go in but I walked along beside her until she came upon a bank and got out. We get home, I rinse them off and give them a towel dry which for some reason, they both love!

Lucy loves the towel dry, she hates getting her picture taken!

So many times I have walked this trail. In joy, sorrow, love, anger, through tears, running it to burn some calories, listening to the birdsong, the rustle of the leaves, the hum of insects. Rain and hail pouring down (Dan came and rescued me with an umbrella), impossible wind, sun relentlessly pounding down. Snowshoeing when we got dumped on, Lucy walking in my tracks, Baxter sinking to his chest trying to make his own. I have felt deep gratitude for this trail and will always be grateful for its presence and the gifts it has brought me.

A Note to My Husband

Hey baby,
I'm worried about you. We both know the house can't sell soon enough. We each have our seperate reasons.

I see you on the weekends so light and happy. Plugged in, conversational, upbeat. I really appreciate all the things you do around the house. Laying tile, painting, yard work, picking up dog poop, keeping the cars clean and maintained, posting things on the Internet for us to sell, doing bills, taking out the trash, fixing things, doing laundry, fixing my computer, installing new programs, helping me figure something out (you have the patience for that) helping make dinner, washing dishes (wash/dry/put), taking the dogs to get groomed or to the vet, and countless other things. I don't have to ask, you never complain. All of these things I see as tokens of love. On the weekends you are a happy man. It takes you a good couple of hours to relax into it, but once you are there, you are patient, kind, gentle, and loving to me and the dogs. You are funny and fun to be around. You have a smile on your face when you talk. Singing silly songs while we walk, you jut your elbow out wanting me to hook my wagon to yours.

Then Tuesday morning rolls around. You are irratable, short with me and the dogs. Quick to find fault. Impatient, grumpy. As the day wears on you complain about everything. The smallest thing will annoy you and you will vent about it until the next irratation comes along. It only gets worse as the week wears on. I take no offence. I know where this is coming from. I know it's not personal. Still, it's no fun to be around. I know you feel underappreciated, and you are. You are brilliant at whatever you do but editing brings your A game out. You know that box as well as you know me. You are creative and capable of understanding technical specs better than I or most editors ever could. It's in your DNA. That's why you are in more demand than any other editor there. That and because the status quo just won't do for you, you have to put your "signature" on everything you edit. Even if that means trying something new, learning, pushing yourself. You love to figure things out. Challenge yourself. Everyone knows this, even management. They take advantage of it instead of encouraging it. You are a natural leader, they won't let you lead. They want to have the knowledge that you spend hours researching but don't want to reward you for it. You are under pressure working on originals and marketing. Both demand a lot of approvals from various levels of management and as a result loads of revisions. You remember which graphic is current and where to find it, do you use a copyright or registration mark? The producer doesn't know but you do. You've asked for a break, you can do one or the other but not both, it's too much. They hear you but only offer more of the same. You have no power but everyone, including management, seeks out your expertise. The producers have come to rely on you. Dropping their work off, they know you'll get it done and get it done right with that Dan Lane signature they all clamour for. I know it's wearing you out, I see it crush your spirit every day that you are there.

It's time for us to go, try something new. Get to know eachother even better, fall in love a little more. I hope it happens sooner than later, for your sake, for my sake, for our sake.

I love you sweetheart...




-- Posted from my iPhone