Monday, February 28, 2011

Change for a Dollar

I spend the morning cleaning the presupposed mold off my long-lost hairclips with the last of the rubbing alcohol. It is the after-weekend, complete with an early sun, an empty bag of coffee, and a pocketful of possibilities. Green and gold is the sunshine and sparkling blue is the air. The acoustic version of life accompanies speeding thought that I strive to slow. As I savor the salt of a last-day-of-the-month, I let my mind skip stones across the frozen world of a day in the snow-filled streets of Turkey. Paper-thin and black-and-white am I. I am the remnant of a remnant. Like the naked belly of a lizard on the screen door - Exposed. But I bandage my aching toes all the same.

I spend the afternoon pondering how much of a life you can fit in a zippered bag. Or should you set it all aside and float around bagless - thingless - shoeless. With imaginary books and whistled melodies, alone and untrammeled. Thoughts become clothes, and love becomes food. But soon the starving gasps alone push you back to the everything. 

And now the sun sinks behind my eyes as they look on the house on the hillside glinting gold from the dying day. Heaven is behing the gleaming clouds high above the crooked streets of this old town. Heaven is blind and blinding with eyelashed holes called stars. But we of the salamander toes and mosquito wings cling and buzz in the shortest of atmospheres. We are the ones with the purple crayon, making up the world as we go along in our PJs.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Simple Things

It has been said that the simple things are those that really matter. Well, my life has been a bit simple of late. Whether it has mattered is still undetermined. Music has been keeping me going lately. Piano lessons and choir class - seeing the kids get excited about music makes it all worth while. I actually broke out (not literally, of course) the grand old violin yesterday. We had a tender and touching, though a bit scratchy, reunion. Among other things that have been happening to me recently:

I accidentally closed a door on a baby gecko -without going into details, it was not a pretty sight.

A whale jumped out of the ocean today, just because I was there.

I discovered a rather fat rat in my garage - it was practically waddling away from me when I opened the door one night.

Despite a general indifference and lack of talent at scrapbooking, I learned how to decoupage a box. It was fun, plus I now have a new favorite word. Decoupage, decoupage, decoupage...

 Spring is on its way... I think. Those of you on the mainland are probably waiting on the edge of your seats for the snow to stop and the sun to start shining again. Here in Hawaii, the winter is our rainy season. Despite some rainy afternoons and wet spells (and a case of acute thunderstorms last week), the sun has been smiling the last few days. The local plumeria graveyard...


...has sprouted a few blossoms...


I wish the internet had a scratch-and-sniff button so I could show you what Heaven smells like. Somebody please invent that.

As the seasons come and go, the sea always and never changes - it is always beautiful and never the same. The other day I watched as distant rain showers fell on the Pacific while the setting sun cast golden beams into the veiled horizon...


On a closing note, here's the latest from snowoholics anonymous:




Monday, February 14, 2011

Whaling Remnants


Pardon me for shouting, but I was only trying to get your attention. Occasionally I wonder whether anyone is reading this as I send my pointless ramblings into the bottomless void otherwise known as the internet. It doesn't really matter... I'll still be at the bottom of the stairs, screaming.

Talking about bottoms... a shipwreck was discovered on the bottom of the sea, 600 miles off the coast of Hawaii. The ship was a whaler named Two Brothers and just happened to be captained by George Pollard, Jr., a man cursed with a habit of sinking ships, apparently. He was captain of the Essex which sank in 1820 due to a collision with a giant sperm whale, thus generating the story that was the inspiration for Moby Dick. A few years later, in 1823, he was captain of the Two Brothers and promptly sank it near the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Needless to say, he quit whaling after that. Two Brothers was discovered in 2008, but no one was sure which ship it was. Just a few days ago the wreck was announced to be the long-lost whaler of the unlucky Captain Pollard.

Remnants of the whaling days in Hawaii can be seen around the islands. Here is a try-works pot that sits peacefully in a park, its blubber-boiling days being long over - note the flat sides that were used for lining up the pots on the cramped ships.



The whaling days are over, but the whales are not, thank goodness. I love to spot them out in the ocean, spouting and splashing in the warm tropical waters. They'll be here for a couple more months maybe before they head back up north.


 
Yes, I do know it's Valentine's Day - you don't have to keep reminding me.



Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Snow Addiction

If you know me at all, you know that I am a snow addict. Little did I realize when I moved to Hawaii that Snowoholics Anonymous has such a small attendance here. Not much moral support, if you know what I mean. But I find consolation my own way - it takes a bit of concentrated effort, but I'm happy to say that I've survived three years without the pleasures of frozen toes and snowy skies to brighten my day. My methods are perhaps out of the norm, and I rather think I am the only one in Hawaii who dares carry books with frosty titles (such as Snow,which I am currently perusing) to the beach on sunny days.



January is a very exciting time for snowoholics. The rush of Christmas is over and the world can settle in and wait for the snow. With all the recent snowpocalypses on the mainland, I feel a silent urge to be in the midst of it all. Snowboarding in Breckenridge - or ice skating in New York City - or even curling in Minnesota. If snow is somehow involved, I'm in. Too bad that bridge over the Pacific hasn't been built yet. My only release: the Winter X Games. As you may know, the X Games are the most Xciting, Xhilarating, Xtreme sports event on television. I realize I may have gotten a bit overexcited this year, especially since I got asked the question "What's with you and the X Games?" (as if I were dating them) and since I've been thinking in strange terminology lately (like, "so stoked to sit on this gnarly couch, watching sick tricks get stomped"). Healthy? Perhaps not, but in the long run, I feel like I've lived a little winter. Here's a clip of my favorite part of the X Games this year, when Torstein Horgmo landed a triple cork (first time ever in competition):



In case you've been wondering how the weather's like in Hawaii right now, don't ask. You don't want to know. All I can say is, I feel like I'm living in Jumanji. For instance, this is what the setting looks like:


But wait, there's more! Not only do you get the tropical lushness and equatorial sunshine, but order now and you will receive your choice of household slugs slogging down the hallway!

I actually thought this guy was sort of cute, but I still tossed him outside. No one wants to step on a slug with bare feet!




Monday, January 24, 2011

The Best Time of Year

January has been going all too quickly and I've been petrified that will February will roll around without a blog post. Nothing very exciting has been happening, though some extremely pleasant things are being planned and dreamed about. All the same, January has shown some very fine moments to us on the islands, not the least of which being a little rainy season to spice things up a bit. So, to catch up on 2011...

New Years
I went to my first real New Years Eve party at which I was not the hired musician. This was quite nice, except for the fact that I spilled white wine all over myself when we turned off the lights for the fireworks, causing me to smell like rotting grapes the rest of the evening.

Resolutions
My biggest new year's resolution: learn how to play "Happy Birthday" on the piano. I've been playing the piano for years, but for some reason (call it lack of enthusiasm or lapse of memory skills) I haven't learned this song by heart, despite repeated requests. Then a few months ago, someone made a comment that it was "rather silly" not to know this particular song. Therefore, to prevent further accusations of silliness, Happy Birthday is on the top of the list.

Saying Goodbye
A friend of mine went off to college on the mainland, in the middle of a snowpocalypse, and we had a picnic and bonfire on the beach as a going away party. A many-people game of Bloody Murder ensued, with zero casualties. It was a chilly night, and the bonfire was nice to warm up by, although there was a serious lack of marshmallows. I've been experimenting with my new camera and was able to capture this lovely shot:


Chickens
In spite of all efforts of carefully aimed driving, the wild chicken population continues to increase.


Contentment
This word seems to be the theme of my thoughts this month. What exactly is contentment? Is it sitting in the house complacent with all the things you're not doing? Hardly. Is it being OK with circumstances beyond your control, giving it to God, while doing what you can? I'm still dwelling on all the intricacies of this word and doubt whether I'll ever fully understand how to live it out.



Looking forward to:
Devoting more time to music
Writing regularly
Meeting new people
Travelling (I hope)
Enjoying the todays

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas in Hawaii

It's that time of year again. The Fourth of July- oh wait, I mean Christmas. Sorry, I was just a bit confused with the weather and all. At any rate, the shoppers have slowed their surging, the neon pink Christmas trees are starting to go on discount, and once again I am late with my blog post. I have decided to err on the side of Christmas spirit this year and wear these out in public...


Christmas in Hawaii is a little different from what I'm used to. There isn't any snow or snowmen or snowstorms, for one thing. Every time a holiday song comes on the radio joyfully exulting about how "the weather outside looks frightful" or how people are "dressed up like eskimos", I scream "Liar, liar" because last time I checked, Hawaii is never frightful and the people here are dressed like eskimos after global warming.

But Christmas is still Christmas ... and I feel blessed to rejoice in the love of a good God, a wonderful family, and the prospect of a new year without any mistakes in it yet. I hope you all are enjoying the holidays wherever you are, and may the new year be full of love and joy! Mele Kalikimaka and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou from Hawaii!


The above is my attempt at a sand-man :)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Liliko'i - Hawaiian Passion Fruit

While those on the mainland are canning away their harvest orchards of apples, here in Hawaii we have our own kind of harvest. Apples and other orchard fruits don't grow well in the volcanic soil, but other more exotic fruits thrive in the Hawaiian climate. We have pineapple and papaya and guava. One of my favorite tropical fruits is the passion fruit, which in Hawaii is called Liliko'i. The sweet sour taste really can't be compared to that of any mainland fruits. So lately we have been harvesting the lilikoi and freezing the juice that we can use in smoothies or baking all year round. Though a passion fruit can simply be eaten with a spoon, there are many recipes and cocktails that call for lilikoi juice. To separate the seeds from the juice can be a bit tricky, but totally worth it. I've put together some tips and guidelines (with plenty of pictures) on how to use the lilikoi here.


You won't want to miss the martini recipe!

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