Last Day of 2011

Counting down the minutes until 2012... The night is clear, brimming over with stars. Neighborhoods in all directions are sending off celebration fireworks, stealing "the silence of immensity" and turning it into a chaos of cluttered color. 

When I put my new calendar on the wall, I look back on the old calendar, looking at all the birthdays, the Bible studies, the movie nights, the piano lessons, and I see moments and faces and smiles. I remember laughter and pain and anxiety and happiness. I look at all the days of things that we do, and I think, "So this is a year. This is all that goes into one single year of our lives." And as cliche as it seems to say, the new calendar is blank, the days unwritten. Who knows all the joy and sorrow that will come. It is like starting a new book, smelling the beautiful pages and wondering how the story will unfold. 

This afternoon, we made an adventure along the sea cliffs. For a change, the day was sunny and blue-skied. And the ocean... was the perfection of deep tangible color. And despite the troubles of day-to-day life, I felt happy to be on the edge of the sea, in the midst of God's creation, enjoying the company of some of my dearest friends. There's a reason we don't know the future. We are meant to live today, to remember the past, and to hope for the future. Here's to a New Year, given by God for His glory and our enjoyment.

Kayaking the Wailua River

I hope you all are doing well, especially those of you on the East Coast! Out here in the middle of the Pacific, the sea is calm and peaceful, and the images of the Atlantic during Hurricane Irene come as quite a contrast. I pray you and yours are safe and dry.

We've been stuffing August with as many adventures as we can before the collapse of summer results in busier schedules and less free time. One thing we knew we wanted to do was kayak up the Wailua River. Imagine a sunny blue day with a quiet lazy river stretching out before you. No rush. Worries are pushed aside. With a paddle in your hands and nothing but water around you, the day stands still as you go upsteam into the secluded valley fringed with jungle.

Since I was in a kayak myself, I wasn't able to take many pictures of the kayaking part, but I was able to capture the waterfall.

One of the river branches led to a water hole complete with a rope swing and a convenient cliff ledge.

The other branch of the river led to a trail that took us to Secret Falls.

We swam out to the not-so-secret falls, the water pelting our heads like hail.

The shade was cool and green on our hike back to the kayaks. From there we kayaked back down the river and stowed our paddles to wait for our next adventure.