A Whale of a Great Week

This week started out with several interviews with Kona coffee farmers. I am writing an article based on the 10% Hawaii blending law that will run next month. A deceptive law that allows coffee sellers to prominently display the Kona name if the coffee has at least 10% Kona coffee beans. It's an example of consumer fraud and a perfect case for truth in labeling. How something that is 1/16th real Kona coffee can be called Kona is beyond me. Farmers have been fighting this war for 19 years, their cries falling on deaf State ears. I have an in with the new Governor of Hawaii, given to me by the president of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association, we'll see if they want to talk!  Right now, Kona is dealing with a crop devastating pest and this month, I have written an update here.

I got to do two fun restaurant reviews. One was for a Tapas place in Poipu and the other was a favorite place of mine because you can dine ocean side. For some reason, MidWeek keeps making the photos really yellow. I've added some shots of Josseline's that Dan sent in with his original color work so you can compare the shots. It's ridiculous, he's about ready to tell them not to print his name!

Other than writing, I have been reading about writing or reading the New Yorker magazine. They have excellent writers so I'm hoping to learn from the experts! I'm getting closer to spreading my wings and will look for more writing work soon. I plan on submitting articles to Yoga Journal, Islands Magazine, and several coffee magazines. Tomorrow, I am submitting sample articles the editor at MidWeek for a new column I want to do, wish me luck!

Dan is still plugging away at Papayas and hoping to transition out of there sooner than later. It was raining this morning so I dropped him off at work and went to do laundry. When I picked him up, he shared his dramatic morning. A lady collapsed in the peaking lot and an ambulance came to pick her up, he doesn't know if she was alive or not. Later, a homeless guy came wandering in one hour before they were open. He wanted to buy some things using EBT (electronic food stamps) but Dan told him they were closed. The guy got angry, started cussing and Dan asked him to leave. He refused so Dan had to physically escort him out.

The highlight of our week was a whale watching trip. In October, we took mom and dad on a sunset dinner cruise of the Na Pali. They have excellent food on the cruise and I got to do a review on them! I am still amazed that I get paid to eat well (and for free) and write about it. In my wildest dreams I would have never dreamed this!

On the fun side, I have walked the dogs twice this week at the beach and once at the dog park by our house and I get my yoga in most mornings. The coffee farmer I write for bought Dan and I tickets (45 bucks each) to the Poipu Rotary Club Fundraiser. A wine tasting with food from 12 island restaurants and live music. The event took place at the Kilohana Plantation. They do train ride tours of the farm, have a restaurant that only cooks from their garden (well they buy meat) so the menu is never the same and the Koloa Rum Company is there. The room was open air and about 200 people showed up. Dan and I had a great time trying the different wines and sampling the food, we even knew several people there! 

Dan had fun playing with his new lens and taking shots of Baxter and Lucy. 

Mom and dad mailed our down comforter about 4 weeks ago. When we finally got it, Lucy had to cuddle up in it!

This looks way better than the one on the web site. 36 Hour Braised Pork Belly-Yum! It just looks like something I want to eat, the one in the article doesn't. In fact, I can't even tell what it is in the article!

The sangria is awesome! I had the lychee - on the left. Dan had the Pom on the right. They serve it in huge glasses. One glass lasted us all night. These guys were posing for the shot. Chef puts the Deconstructed Ahi roll on top of dry ice, you can see the smoke.

The chef, Jean Marie Josselin, in front of his Kiawe wood oven.

 Deconstructed Ahi Roll

 Another shot with our models and the steamy Ahi

 

Steamed dumplings made with Kaua`i shrimp

An anole, or mo`o at the botanic gardens in Kilauea

Our sunset dinner cruise. The Na Pali looks splendid due to the rains we have been getting.

 Gorgeous!

Unbelievable! We saw between 50 and 60 whales. Dan lucked out and got a great shot of this breach.

and tail. They even put a hydrophone in the water so we could hear them.

He's having a little Photoshop fun here!

Blue Dolphin Charters  uses Grinds Cafe in Ele`ele to make their food. These chewy chocolate chip cookies are made exclusively for them and totally addicting!

Fresh pineapple

Kalua pork, Yum!! They also served teriyaki chicken, poi, steamed rice and a caesar salad. Plus, all the beer, wine and Mai Tais you can drink! Excellent!

It's Been One Year

We are excited to have made it on Kauai for a year! When we first got here everyone said if we make it past six months, we'll be golden. Look's like we made it! No regrets, we joyfully look forward and are grateful for every amazing day we get to spend here.

I was just looking over my blog posts from our first week here. So full of hope, change and drive. In our first week I realized lessons I am still trying to incorporate into my life. The big one is patience. I have managed to settle down a little; the island is shaping my shaper edges smooth like a river rock.

We have come a long way in the short year that has passed by like a photographer's flash.  We are still in the tree house. We were used to our own space, so at first, the cramped quarters frustrated us. Now, we have learned to live gracefully within our tiny space. Timing our movements so we both aren't in the bathroom getting ready or washing dishes while a meal is being made, we dance a now familiar dance. Our separate rhythms have synched; when one wakes, so does the other. There is no frustration around it now, it is what it is. We plan on staying here another six months to a year; until we build our savings back up, buy some more photography gear and a motorcycle for Dan. He's over the slow moped.

Dan is still at Papaya's developing wonderful relationships with about 70 farmers all over the island. He just finished designing a simple website for a lady we met when my folks were here. Two weeks ago we went to Hanapepe town where Dan took photographs and I interviewed the shop owner. Last week he edited the pictures, designed the site and I wrote the type. The website for MoonBow Magic is here.

Our landlord who is also a realtor suggested that Dan do virtual photo tours. After some discussion, we made the investment and bought the equipment he needs. Now that the website is off his plate, he will start pursuing the virtual tours. He can use the equipment to shoot beauty shots, his real love. Although he did use it for the contact page on the website. It's a panoramic of the shop. He takes the shots for my articles as well.

I spend my days writing, reading, walking the beach and doing yoga. I have three regular clients and am responsible for writing ten articles a month. I also write a newsletter every quarter and have written text for two websites. It's a nice, slow start that enables me to learn and adapt this new career into my life. Dan is really supportive. When I start doubting myself he passionately bolsters my ego.

Baxter and Lucy are great, he is nine and she is eight. Lucy's hip has been making popping noises when she gets up. Like my knees and shoulders. This time last year, they didn't like the beach. Now, they are enthusiastic beach goers. Joyfully playing fetch or digging for Kukui nuts, their unbridled passion puts a smile on the faces of passersby.

I apologize for the infrequency of my posts. Life has swept me up in her current and I didn't think folks wanted to read about the mundane events of our lives. Friends and family have missed my posts, so I am back. I will put up a new post every Sunday but I won't have it show up on Facebook. So, have a great week and I'll see ya next Sunday!

Baxter loves fruit and veggies. I start cutting a Papaya and he's right at the counter!

Our friends treated us to a Willie K Christmas concert.

A cocktail from my one of my restaurant reviews. You can see what a beautiful shot Dan took. If you go to the website you'll see the publication's tendency to add a lot of yellow to his shots. And, the contrast (black levels from my video days) is way too high. I don't know why they do it, I have told them about it. It's too bad that his beautiful shots end up looking bad.

He took this one of our purple Ti plant downstairs. I use it for my business card.

This is a shot of some rambutans he took.

The other day I got up early to do yoga when it was still dark. Dan gathered his new gear, went to the beach and took this pano shot of the sunrise. 

Kalalau Trail

This mornings rainbow, Mount Wai'ale'ale barely visible. This was taken with my iPhone so the quality isn't that great.

It was cold and rainy yesterday and it looks like more of the same today. Well, as cold as it gets here. Yesterday was 68 degrees today looks like 69. I know, I know...but still, a person acclimates to these things. This is what I now happily call cold!

Again, take with my phone – the cookies aren't greenish!

Yesterday I was craving some cookies so I made plain oatmeal ones. No raisins, no nuts just plain oatmeal, butter and sugar. Maybe because they're so buttery and delicious, maybe because I quit smoking last Monday but I just couldn't stop eating them. Well, Dan couldn't either so maybe it's because they're so good! We ate one after the other watching Mad Men. Then I went out for a run!

Thanksgiving was fantastic. With no familial relations here I appreciated the phone calls and texts from family and dear friends. No matter how much distance is between us, the bond is never lessened and it's nice to fall back into a 20 year conversation with a good friend.

Which reminds me, 15 years ago tomorrow, I met Dan. He was skiing alone at Copper Mountain, I was snowboarding with 5 guy friends. Thanks to our good friend Bill (one of my guys friends) we got to meet. Since he and Dan are inclined to good cheer and meeting people they struck up a conversation at the bottom of a run. The rest is herstory =)

Dad and I used to celebrate the first snow of the season by cross-country skiing Vail pass, an 11-mile run into Minturn. We'd have Navaho fry bread smothered in green chili and a beer once we got to Minturn, 6 hours later. We did it every year on Veteran's Day.

Cross Country skiing Mayflower Gulch near Copper Mountain Colorado

Snowshoeing at Kenosha Pass

Baxter loved it

Lucy needed a ride home

While still in Colorado, Dan and I would go to Kenosha Pass every Fall. My soul sister Julie and I used to do it when she lived with me. I would miss her on those hikes. I fondly remembered her hip adjustments. We'd have to stop every now and then so she could lay down, I'd grab a hold of her foot and pull until her leg softly slipped back into it's socket. She didn't care as long as she was hiking in those beautiful Colorado mountains with Fall splashed all over it. Kenosha Pass has the largest Aspen grove that we knew of, running for miles, and in the Fall it was something to see! The hills were on fire with gold, and red. 

Kenosha Pass

Some years later we did a girls trip to Jackson, WY and Yellowstone National Park. A full week of hiking and camping. Bliss! I love the beauty of Mother Nature's rugged mountains, I feel at home in them. A sense of joy and peace transcends my worries and I feel completely alive.

Julie and I at the summit of Avalanche Peak in Yellowstone, 1800 feet in 2.5 miles

Girlfriends on day hikes

Why am I mentioning all this? Well, I haven't really been able to hike the mountains of Kauai because I smoked. My lungs just wouldn't let me. But on turkey day – me being smoke-free for 4 days – Dan and I started a new family tradition. We hiked the Kalalau trail. Well, 2 miles of it's 11 rugged miles. Something I have been fantasizing about since we came here for a visit 17 months ago. It is easily...well maybe not so easily, but definitely the most beautiful hike we've ever done.

Carved into the cliffside the narrow trail follows the Na Pali coastline. Beautiful views and a lot of vertical assent, well...I'll just let Dan's beautiful photographs tell the story!

Hiking through steep jungle, the trail was sometimes slick with mud from mountain runoff.

1/2 mile in you come to a scenic overlook of Ke`e Beach. 

Happy plants thriving everywhere!

Up the steep, wet lava path

the hike has lots of scenic overlooks

Dan really got some great shots!

More up - dry this time!

More beauty

The over look to our destination Hanakapi`ai Beach

Passion fruit flowers

We had to cross the stream that runs into the ocean before getting to the beach

We were blessed with thunderous waves and rainbows

YES!

YES!

15 foot waves pound the cliffside

Dan got a close up of that baby!

Oh yea, we got to see a monk seal!

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.