Happy Thanksgiving! I'm coming Home!

Hello all...Finally got a chance to sit down in front of the computer with more than five minutes...it has been a busy week with work and the holidays...I have to say, everything feels weird out here when there isn't really a change in weather (except more rain) to signify the change in seasons. When I think of Fall at home, I think of fires and grey skies and changing leaves and a drop in temperature...here, you use a blanket at night instead of just a sheet and it rains more.

Thanksgiving day, I was on the ocean paddling a canoe at 6:30 in the morning and later that day we hiked out over the cliffs to this place called Venus Pool (Waioka) and went swimming...that doesn't sound like a Fall day to me, or anything close to the holiday that precedes the biggest shopping day ever.
(That isn't me in the pic, but we did take some pics when we were there which I will hopefully get back soon...but that is Waioka. That was my Thanksgiving day...amazing, huh?)

A group of us later trooped on over to our friend's house who just built a new lanai (read porch) around their yurt (house, cabin, living space) and they had room for like 60 people, so that was really great too...tons of food, lots of leftovers. The only ufortunate part of my day was that I had to get up at 5:30AM the next morning to bake bread because we were closed for Thanksgiving and I had to bake a LOT of bread the next morning...that was a wicked long day.

But my most exciting news is that I'M COMING HOME!!!!!!!!! for two weeks, from the 3rd-18th of Dec...part of my time will be spent in the city and part will be spent with my family, and I am so EXCITED! People, streetlights, no bugs, sidewalks, cell phone reception, people, restaurants, bars, oh yeah, and apparently, COLD WEATHER. That is the part I'm not ready for...yikes, 40 degrees in SF? I don't think I remember what that feels like...as I trot out the door for the beach...hee he. I guess the joke's on me when i get there...bleh.

So, our washing machine has been broken for like THREE WEEKS, which in jungle time means--FOREVER! Washing clothing, bedding, etc...out here is mandatory, and when you can't, it means some seriously stinky, moldy times, so we were all really stoked when the Sears repair guy showed up this morning.

Paddling has been my new obsession lately...Tues. and Thurs. mornings at 6AM, my alarm clock goes off and I struggle into a swimsuit and a sweatshirt and head for the beach...the sky starts to lighten on my way there, and by the time we get the huge six-person canoe into the water, the sun has started to crack the horizon, the sky is on fire, and I get to start my day in the ocean with five other awesome girls...it has been one of the most amazing things that I have done since I have been in Maui, and it is so amazing, it might actually keep me here. I think that's the way people feel about surfing...worth being anyplace that gives you that feeling.

It has been a perfectly beautiful cloudless day, and unfortunately I spent it in the kitchen baking...boo. However, I did manage to make the most perfect banana bread ever today...I left Paul (my boss) speechless (which was the best compliment ever) and it even caused my manager Ananda to buy an entire loaf (which she hardly ever does)--woot!. Seriously, it was amazing...wish you could've eaten some...

Well, off to do laundry for my trip, and then hopefully jump in the water...can't wait to see you!

Internetless...

So, we have been without internet for the last couple of days...you think this would happen more often out here, but luckily it is a rare occurence...nice to feel connected with the world again though. Things have been going well here, and while we have had some rain, the early afternoons have still been great for beach days, which I have been trying to take full advantange of. I just changed my schedule so I will be working only five days instead of six, and i will have my weekends off! Yippeeeee! This has been a major sticking point for me lately, so I am so glad we were able to hire a new girl to cover my weekend shifts...very happy about that.

So, the latest thing in my cabin has been mice and rats. WARNING: if you are easily grossed out, STOP reading. So, we have like seven cats on the property, and lately, almost every other morning, I wake up to find entrails on my kitchen floor from rats or mice that the cats have killed...not a nice way to wake up, let me tell ya. The other day, I was carrying my hamper into my room and I couldn't figure out why the cat wouldn't stop meowing...and then I stepped on the dead mouse that it was trying to show me (which I didn't see because i was carrying the hamper in front of me)--yeah, talk about a freakout session....i. just. stepped. on. a. dead. mouse. GROSS. And then, the very next morning, I had to make an early phone call to the East coast and as I'm sitting there at 6:30 in the morning, talking to this woman on the phone, the cat comes and drops and dead mouse at my feet. Oh, if she could have only seen me on the other end of the line...then it proceeded to start playing with it, and I high-tailed it out of there. I guess the cats provide an excellent service by keeping my cabin mouse and rat-free, but I have to tell ya, it can be a bit disturbing sometimes. Thankfully, I have never had any gross things in my actual bedroom, just a friendly spider and some geckos (which eat bugs, hallelujah), so at least i can feel pretty comfortable sleeping...

I got sick yesterday, and my head feels like it is stuffed with cottonballs and I can't breathe...I hate sinus infections. I have been sleeping most of the afternoon, and I just had ate some soup and am planning on going back to bed--always the best option when you're sick, right? Hopefully I will get over this quickly, I hate being sick, especially when you have to take care of yourself...

Thanksgiving is coming up, and I think I am spending it with Ananda, probably going to a family's home that she knows and having a big spread...I will terribly miss Thanksgiving with my family, it is always one of my favorite holidays, everyone lounging around the house, the kitchen smelling fantastic, and just hanging out with family and friends.

After that, it is one week more and I am back in the city baby, yeah! I am so looking forward to some time with friends and family...can't wait. Thanks for the comments on the blog, and the emails, it gets pretty quiet and isolated out here, so it is always nice to hear from you, even if it's quick. Love and miss you!

In a Funk...

so, i can't decide if i'm in a funk because i'm obsessing about something, or if i just miss home...

I think i just miss home.

i wish i had a car. or a moped. or public transportation...

I wish there were restaurants and concert venues and pool halls and art galleries and stoplights and taxis and bars and lights....

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to leave. I should hopefully be getting a moped soon (like this week), and I might even get to have a different place to live (some possibilities are in the works), and I love, love, love the beaches and the mountains and the oceans and the waterfalls and the hikes and the people and it is amazing...maybe i'm just restless for a taste of home, then i can feel more at ease.

oh wait, that's happening in less than a month...sweet. thank God.

I need some civilization.

and beaches.

both. just a little of each.

oh well, just missing you, i guess, that's all...

Maui

Click on photo for the link to my Maui pics, hosted on Photobucket...

Photobucket Album

Come to Maui...

So, here's the thing about living in Maui, especially in Hana...

When the sun

hits the water,

there's nothing I can compare it to

to explain how clear it is,

so clear you can see your toes

fish

coral

rocks

turtles

sand.

Running is so much better here

when the sun

is going down and the clouds look like

mountains.

Huge

giant

ethereal

mountains of white and gold and pink,

and the prehistoric

teradactyl-looking

birds

are silhouetted

against the white.

Swimming at sunset,

the water rippling and glassy and warm,

the clouds awash with color,

friends on the beach

talking

laughing

living.

Rain, pounding on the roof of a tiny cabin,

so hard that

no

other

sound

exists.

Jungle oustide

shaking, trembling, bearing

the onslaught of wind and water

while

I,

safe and dry inside,

revel in the eye of the storm.

Ha, that's me waxing poetic about the joys of living in such a beautiful place...there really is no way to describe with words or pictures or video how amazing it feels...the smell after the rain, the sound of the birds, the water and sun on your skin, the taste of the fresh fruit picked right off the tree, the look of the sunset over the water (that I can see right now from my computer). It might be rainy season, but it is still so awesome to live here, and I hope that you get to come see it with your own eyes.

I can't wait to see SF and my friends and family with my own eyes in Dec when I come back to visit....