I’m cannibalizing a note to DDS (aka Denise) for this entry…Time / effort / competition don’t allow me to do a proper summary of the Christmas 2008 trip to Hawaii, which was rich and productive and magical and ceaselessly rainy. The urge to recap it in its entirety is strong, but there are only 40 pages to go on the first full draft of the novel; the resume needs updating and a visual refresh in these workless uncertain times; dinner’s cooking; and so on and so on…
From Monday January 11, 2009…
The last few days of our stays in Hawaii are crunch time for us—got to get those last minutes plantings in, distribute the gravel, clean the spider nests from the eaves, top the water off in the solar batteries, cut the last two acres of lawn…Friends fall by the wayside on these final days, unless they come by the house and help us eat up the remnants in the fridge. It’s not how we like it but it’s how it is. (Nicki and Sev were sweet and had us over for a lilikoi martinis as a farewell…)
Thursday morning the boarding passes will be printed. In the afternoon presumably we’ll say goodbye to the hawk. (He came by today for a lengthy and raucous visit but he got no raw chicken from us.). Friday, with a sigh and a bit of a rush, we will load the luggage in the car, put the trash bags in the trunk and drop them at the refuse center on the way to Hilo, where it is likely that rain clouds will be hovering, obscuring the snow-covered summit of Mauna Kea. (It wasn’t. There was a 5-volcano view on the way out.)
And in eight hours after that we’ll be home to a city that seems, with each successive trip back from Hawaii, a little bit less familiar.
Sunrise on the day of departure
Last inspection of the ferns along the lava wall
A gecko pays a visit - captured magnificently by Arvin
Another familiar friend comes calling - from high within the albizia
A last squawk from our wild friend, who has been an occasional visitor of late
Mauna Kea - a beautiful day to fly back to the mainland. (Click to see the full-size; it was a gorgeous day.)
pacifica
A hui hou.