Simple Gifts

This is my phavorite Pono Photo this week.

Dan and I are settling into our downsized lifestyle more and more every week. Just when it seems like we’ve got it down, another little gift shows up. Showing that for us, living with less offers many blessings. 

The dogs were groomed twice a year in Colorado, and we could see they were going to need three times that here. After spending over $100 for one grooming session, we peppered our old groomer with questions, and bought some gear.

Armed with the tools of the trade, Dan and I have been shaving them regularly, and the clippers have more than paid for themselves. Dan usually does the clipping, while I comfort the dogs and try to keep them still.

Between his day job, setting up his company Pono Photo, and tending to my needs, Dan has been busy. So I decided I’d give him the gift of time, and shave the dogs myself. Something he thought would be impossible! It turned out to be one of the most treasured times I have had with them, and I think they enjoyed it as well. I got into a meditative state of mind, and as I watched Baxter’s silky fur fall from the clippers, I heard him snore! 

Dan's phavorite Pono Photo shot of the week.

While Dan is in the process of setting up his website, he is finding that he needs more pictures for prints. So we went up to Queen’s Bath for a sunset shoot.  Other than offering some suggestions for angles, and giving my opinion on a shot, I didn’t have much to do. I cozied up to a boulder, and watched the sun go down over the clear, blue sea. As the waves crashed against enormous black lava rocks, a turtle came up for air, his head and neck a silhouette against the darkening sky. 

I love to watch the orange-pink glow dance on the water while the sun sets, but I really get excited when a big wave crashes, sending cascades of foamy water across the rocks and sand. It’s like I’m watching a football game, “WHOA! Did you see that? Here comes another one! Wow! That was awesome!” The power and beauty completely take me over, and it’s better than dinner and a movie anytime!

Sunset at Queen's Bath

I have been fortunate to make a friend who was the editor at Kauai People, the weekly paper that is now MidWeek Kauai. Last night, she had all her girlfriends over. We were asked to bring a pupu, some clothes that we liked but no longer wore, and any good books or knick knacks. The idea was to swap clothes, books, or hair-clips, while drinking, eating and having girl time.

It was a creative way to get new clothes without spending a dime, and everyone brought really nice stuff. I got rid of all that  when I left Colorado, a short 18 months ago. My offerings were slim, but I did have two cute, barley worn capris to contribute. I knew they were too small, but I lugged them across the pacific anyway. I had visions of loosing weight because I was going to be on an island, eating fruit and romping around beaches all day! This has not been the case. 

Being the biggest person there was only slightly depressing. Most of the women were over 50, in very good shape, and very actively living their lives. So, it was an inspiration to be with them. I was able to fit into a shirt. I also got a yoga DVD, and three books—one on writing.

We started smoking electronic cigarettes on Friday, and they seem like a fantastic replacement. You just put nicotine juice into a cartridge and push this little button on the “atomizer”, and bam! it’s like you’re smoking. They have some juice without nicotine, so you can add a drop of that, and eventually taper down to no nicotine. We are happy because we already feel better, and the dent in out wallet is significantly less!

Modern day smoking

I met with the baker this morning and we signed a contract/non disclosure agreement. She won’t have to worry about me telling everyone on the island her secret recipes, and I won’t have to worry about getting paid. This lady dreams big, and she has plans for me to write her cookbook, and for Dan to take the pictures.

Standing on the baker's driveway, looking down at Sleeping Giant

Right now, I’ve got 6 weeks of good work, and she’s put Dan to work fixing her computers and designing the packaging for her products. And that’s good enough for us. It’s tricky not making plans, and going with the flow, but it turns out that life is juicier that way!

She adopted three birds. On your left is Lola, Shakespeare is looking at the camera. Hoppy, a Mynah bird, is off screen hopping around on one leg. The birds enjoy people food, on glass plates!

We’re off to Kalapaki Beach. Dan has decided it’s time to use his surfboard, and I’m going to read a good book while he’s at it. Life is a beach =)

Thurvival

These three shots are from Dan's blog for this week.

“I was just calling to remind you of what you left behind,” my friend tells me. He and his wife are safely back home, and today was his first day at work. I can see him now, driving home in his boxy Honda Element, bluetooth tucked behind his ear as he vents a little about his day, more frustrated than anything. He was never a complainer, so he has little tolerance for people who continually complain. For people who can’t, or won’t appreciate what they have. And, after their visit here, he’s thinking Dan and I are more smart than crazy.

I tell him I don’t need the reminder, I know what I left behind. I know what I gave up. He says something about living in paradise in poverty, and how that might not be such a bad thing. 

The sun is out, and the dogs are fidgety from too many naps and not enough walks. Lucy’s surgery, and our friends visit kept them homebound, and their restless energy is making me restless. 

They are in their element as we walk along a secluded beach that stretches for miles. In their version of heaven, Baxter and Lucy run in the surf, duck their nose in the water to catch a floating piece debris, roll around in the sand; it’s pure bliss. 

As I walk, I think about what John said. For some reason his poverty in paradise comment doesn’t sit right. Even though I have said that on this blog, and it’s true. We count every penny now, carefully considering how it will be spent. I could probably get food stamps if I wanted to. Still, his comment doesn’t feel right.

When it comes down to it, I don’t feel poor. I feel rich. My life is abundant with love, beauty, growth, inspiration, health, and time. Weeks fly by as Dan and I rebuild our lives, start new careers, and adjust to life on a small island.

There is time for exploration. Exploration of rocky tide pools, of professional photographers and writers, of what works and why—the crushing why nots. Exploration of spirit and the depths of love. There is time for sunsets, walks on the beach, snorkeling, and visiting with friends.

There is also a lot of stress: learning a new career, networking, the isolation of writing and living on this island. Being the new kid in town. Making new friends. Worrying about money, and making the time for those sunsets. I have a gratitude prayer that I say every morning and night, it keeps me going, but sometimes I forget.

Mostly, I’m happy about our life choice. It’s like working out; getting all sweaty and feeling my heart pound against my chest makes me feel alive. Everything isn’t perfect, and that’s OK because, for me, perfect is boring. We made this move so we could be challenged, pushed to our edge, perform or go home. 

I think about my friends and family. Most have significantly bigger incomes than us, but they also have a big mortgage, loans to pay off, credit card debt, and lots of stuff. And as I learned from John, even health insurance isn’t a guarantee that everything will be taken care of. Are they really better off? Are they wealthy? Or, are we all dealing with the same thing? Survival, and trying to have a good time while we’re at it . . . thriving. Thurvival!

I’m not saying that living in poverty in paradise is the way to go. It’s tricky business, and certainly not for everyone. When John met Dan’s new boss he said, “You’re so lucky to live here!” She kind of tilted her head to the side, looked out of the corner of her eye, and said, “Are we?” No one said anything. “I guess we are, we’re just too busy trying to survive!”

My point is that no matter where you are, how much you make, or how much you have, we are all in the same boat. We all worry about money, health, work, relationships and thurviving. We just have a better view.

Old Friends

Our friends from Colorado have been here all week. We have known them for 15 years, and it has been great having them here. I missed the easy companionship we had, mostly with John since we worked with him. 

About 8 years ago, we all decided on super hero corporate names. I was Anti-Corp, I guess that should have been a sign! I can’t remember what Dan’s was, but John’s was Rely Guy. You could always count on John’s positive attitude, even in the face of great adversity. No matter what was going on on his personal life, and there was some heavy stuff, he always had a smile on his face, always had time to help you out.

When they got here, they were tired and cranky. But, the island worked its magic, like it always does, and they are having fun spending time together, celebrating 10 years of marriage on this beautiful island. For those of you thinking “Uh, oh! There goes another one!” They aren’t planning on moving. In fact, John’s wife Athena is adamantly against it. 

We have spent three days with them, and today is their last day. Since Dan has to work, we are going to a cheap, local style luau that a friend of mine is involved in. Then we’ll pick up Dan, have some drinks and a goodbye dinner before their 8pm flight.

Last saturday, their first day, we took them to Hanalei Bay for some snorkeling, then went to Lumahai where Athena and I sat in the sun and talked while the guys went picture crazy. Dan has been really enjoying his time with John, a fellow photographer. They are old friends, getting creative and inspiring each other. It's fun to watch! Click here to see the shots Dan got.

Here’s some pictures of our time together.

John found a great vacation rental in Anahola for 90 bucks a night.

The is the bathroom. The windows are screened in and the it feels like you are showering in the lush, tropical outdoors (which you can't see because my iPhone blew out the outside part).

Sunday we took them to the south shore. This is John waiting for Spouting Horn to do it's thing.

Athena loves trees. Once we learned that, we had to take her to one of our favorites (the other is at the Hindu Monastery, Dan guesses it's at least 50 times the size of this one) Athena loved it, of course Dan and John saw it as a photo op and while they took pictures Athena relaxed in the strength and power of this tree.

She just sat under it, an obvious calm had taken her over. She loved that tree!

Dan took us to Shipwreck Beach after that. None of us had been, but this is on the south side tour he does. Dan wants a telephoto lens, right now he has a 105mm, he wants a 300mm. John had a 200mm with 2x teleconverter, so it was equivalent to a 400mm. Dan had to check it out! John has been a photographer for five years now (I think) so he has lots of toys!

Here Dan gives it a test drive. Dan, Athena and I hiked down to some sea caves and had a funny adventure. Click here to see Dan's shots and read the story.

Dan was still getting his snap on while John and Athena enjoyed the view. 

Wednesday night at 9pm, Athena called and wanted to know if we wanted to do a little night shooting at Hanalei Peir. John's favorite thing to do, is shoot at night. You'd think you wouldn't capture anything, being pitch black and all, be we got home at 1am with some cool shots. To see what Dan got, click here.

Dan had Wednesday off, so he took us to places on his north shore tour. This is on the way to Queen's Bath. Dan has been shooting this waterfall for weeks, unable to get a shot he liked. Finally, he decided he needed to get into the water. John quickly followed. To see the shot he got, click here.

Then John decided the waterfall needed a shot of light from the left, so the two of them set out to get the perfect timing (about a 15 second exposure) and lighting. Dan hit the button while John held the flash. Here are links to John's shots and blog. I see he blogged about us =)

Dan's ready to hike down to Queen's Bath. I had fun being John and Dan's assistant, but Athena preferred her book. She's sitting behind Dan.

Queen's bath on a nice day. Somedays the waves are so big, they crash in and carry you away. On our way in, there was a sign with hash marks representing 28 deaths. John and Athena went for a swim. Dan and I, not having brought our swimsuits, explored.

We found a great secluded tide pool and spent about an hour getting shots. It's an amazing little sweet spot!

It has a little waterfall, and big waves crashing over the lava rocks. That's Bali Hai in the background.

Another angle of the tide pool. I'm impressed with my iPhone 4's camera! Every shot on this blog is from it.

Dan risked getting wet to get some shots.

John and Athena are standing on that outcropping. John saw me and we waved and he and Athena headed over.

Dan was still snapping away.

There was a inlet that Athena wanted to swim in. But the waves were coming in, the rocks were slick, and she was afraid she couldn't get out. John got in the water and showed her that there was nothing to be afraid of, and showed her how to get out. I was a beautiful moment of intimacy between and husband and wife, and I was happy to have witnessed it.

Athena got in with her husband and had fun swimming, she was like a little girl. It was awesome!

We had a good mile to hike out, and John's flip flop blew out. He decided to walk back with one shoe on. being Rely Guy, he didn't complain, but definitely wanted to get it over with. His 65 pound pack didn't help.

We stopped to get John new flip flops and he got this hat, at dinner I got a shot of him. He already looks like a local!

We hiked down to Secrets Beach to catch the setting sun. Dan got a fantastic shot, click here to see it. We had to hike out in the dark, a steep uphill half mile, but it was worth it!

At one point, the waves crashed up so far, Dan thought he was going to lose his camera. He quickly rescued it!

The boys packing up their toys.

I'm going to miss our friends, but I treasure the time we had together. Maybe now they understand why we gave it all up for a new life here. Well, time to get ready for the luau!

Aloha nui loa!

It's All Coming Together!

One of my favorite things to do is take a 90 minute walk along the beach at Lydgate park and have lunch at a picnic table under this tree while writing. I got to do that twice this week!

“I can’t believe it! It’s all coming together!” My friend tells me over the phone. I laugh and tell her I have been telling Dan the same thing all week. I can feel it. I don’t know what “it” is, but I can feel it coming. She is my classmate from the organic farming course I took when I first got here, and she has become the leader in garden to school programs for the state of Hawaii.

The lilikoi are here! The is the result of research for an upcoming passion fruit article. We called it Orange Passion Love Juice. It has fresh orange juice, lilikoi, vodka and perrier. Dan's concoction will be the featured recipe in the paper.

She wants me to write a lot of things for her many projects, it seems like a perfect fit. So we are meeting for lunch on Friday to talk it out. My other friend is putting on a hula/luau show Saturday, and she’s joining us and dropping of the tickets.

We just love the tangy, sweet flavor of lilikoi so we got some curd from Monkeypod Jam, our favorite jam maker. All week, I thought about how I was going to use it before deciding on the British way, over cream scones.

Wednesday I got an email from a friend who is the former editor and writer for a now defunct local paper. She has recommended me for some freelance writing jobs for an international hotel chain. I promptly sent the editor my clips and am waiting to see what happens. I also got more positive feedback than ever for the article that ran this week on The Jailhouse Pub and Grill. So that was fun!

I interviewed a farmer that produces eggs loaded with omega threes from the fish they feed the chickens. They get off-cuts from the fish market and freeze them. When we got there, he was whacking a chunk and throwing the fish flakes out to the chickens who, in one big flock, chased the flying fish. She gave me 18 eggs to sample and take pictures of, for the article =)

This week for 20 bucks I got bananas, carrots, beets, eggplant, lettuce, kale, basil, oregano, cilantro and spring onions from our farmer Levi! I used the bananas and eggs for this mornings breakfast: whole wheat banana, walnut and chocolate chip muffins.

I have a friend who owns a gluten-free bakery and she is going to hire me to assist her on private cheffing gigs. I welcome this because she is a professionally trained chef who has cooked for folks like Michael Chrichton. She texted me this morning and I asked if I wanted to help write her cookbook!

With the carrots I made a salad and served seared mahimahi over it, delish!

Dan’s boss asked me if I wanted to write marketing and advertising flyers for ads for the photo tour company. Of course I said yes to all four projects, and three of them happened in one day, yesterday!

We sampled 9 pies (!) for an upcoming article on an adorable and young pie lady. This one is my favorite loaded with mountain apples. They have a delicate flavor and a sweet rose smell. She left the red skin on so it turned the white flesh a nice pink color.

Meanwhile, Dan got his fifth five star review on Trip Advisor and sold his first print. The interview with the pie lady was across the island in Hanapepe town, so I had to drop Dan off at work after. When I picked him up, I had him pose by the print. 

Dan's print is at the top.

Best of all, we have friends visiting from Colorado. Today is their first full day here and we are taking them to the Hanalei Farmers Market, Hanalei town and maybe the bay. We also have a Na Pali boat tour scheduled because, I don’t think you should come here and not get an intimate view of the Na Pali!

Woohoo! It’s alllllll coming together!

Sitting on the Sidelines

Vaka Moana, or voyaging canoes, sail to bring attention the tragic state of our oceans. The voyage is called The Spirit of the Sea.

You would think that two people who cashed in lucrative and creative lives for a meager existence in paradise would have no fear. For me, moving here was the easy part, even though it was filled with the turmoil of uprooting 37 years. Once the decision was made, everything fell in line.

I guess, from a distance, everything is falling in line here on Kauai. If I zoom out, take a broader look, I see that things are going nicely. Amazingly well, I kind of like this view, it feels better than the microscopic view I tend to have every day.

One of the biggest things I run up against is fear. I’ve noticed how it directs every action I take. My old mantra of “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” is becoming ‘part of the furniture’. I don’t hear it anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not paralyzed by it, but I have been noticing how often, and how subtly it shows up.

Sometimes, a great article presents itself. I feel it’s bigger than me, so I make excuses not to do it. I know life wouldn’t have put it in my path if I couldn’t handle it, but. . . 

The other day we went to Hanalei Bay to see seven Polynesian voyaging wa`a or canoes come into port. It was a majestic sight; seven enormous masts peeking over the bright blue horizon, shiny wood hulls slicing through the turquoise bay.

The king and queen, flanked by their chiefs, wait for the voyagers to dock. This is a shot from my iPhone, not from Dan's camera.

The king and queen of Hawaii were there to greet the voyagers who travelled from ten Polynesian Islands, using the stars to guide them. Dan and I had met them last year, so we talked with them for a little while and the king shared his ha with me. 

Ha is the Hawaiian word for breath. It also means life-force. Sort of like chi in China, or prana in India. When Hawaiians greet each other, they press their foreheads together and breathe in each others ha, or spirit.

It’s a very intense way to greet someone, and I was honored to share ha with the king; a man with a very powerful and intense presence. When he starts talking about his lineage, his goal of bringing Hawaii back to his people, I can see and hear his ancestors from 1000 years back.

Some spears have feathers from Native American tribes. They gave them in honor of The Kingdom of Atooi's quest. This and the next shot are also from my phone.

There is a cultural divide here, and our goal is to cross it. It’s usually easier for Dan than me. Sometimes, I feel like an outsider, because I make myself feel that way. Other times, it’s fine and I talk pidgin like I was born here.

Kauai's canoe with the Hawaiian Independent flag.

Today, I let “shyness” win and stayed under a tarp talking story with a local photographer who works on Hawaii 5-O. Dan was down at the beach, in the water, getting shots of Kauai’s canoe. And, well, doing what Dan does. Talking story and making connections.

He got invited to go on the boat that was to guide the canoes into the bay. Well, he was pretty much told to go on the boat and get some pictures; by the king and one of his chiefs. 

It was an amazing experience for him, not only did he get some great shots, but a memory that will last a lifetime. In many ways my husband is my hero. He later told me he was scared. He is a white guy, covered in tattoos, around a bunch of locals; alone on a boat. But his desire to bond with them was stronger than his fear. He stepped up, with sincerity, and was himself. He was accepted with open hearts. 

I step out of my comfort zone more often here, than I ever have before, and I am always better for it. I’ve got my eye on that fear thing, looking to see how it diminishes my life, and trying to set it free. It sure would have been cool to have been by Dan’s side, invited on the boat as well. That’s what I get for sitting on the sidelines!