Good News.

Friday evening drive.

I surfed!  Standing up!  Finally.  This is my most exciting news of the month.  Dave and I headed out to his favorite surf spot, Guardrails, today to celebrate our two-year anniversary and hopefully catch some nice beginner-sized waves.  He’s good with the bigger stuff, but I still had not been upright on my board for more than four seconds.  Before today, that is.  After catching a few waves and riding in on my knees, I started to get a better feel for the balance of the board and the support of the wave.  I finally stood up in the right spot at the right time and rode a wave all the way to the beach!  It was so much fun!  I do not have photos, but I do have several witnesses, as Dave and a few of my friends from work were out there cheering me on.  Yay!  I wish I could get out there again tomorrow; work, schmork.  

I wish every weekend were the four-day variety.  On Thursday we spent some time at the beach and enjoyed an ocean-front lunch with Dave’s dad (Gail) before heading up to Haleakela.  It was super windy and colder than I remembered, but we had a good time showing Gail the top of the volcano at sunset.  It was great having him here for almost two weeks, and it was hard to say goodbye on Friday.  We had a great time celebrating Dave’s birthday (he is finally as old as me) and showing his dad around the island.  Having people leave makes us ponder our choice to live on the most isolated archipelago in the world, so it was fortunate timing when we ran into an incredible sunset on our way back around the pali (cliffs) as we drove home from the airport. 

On Saturday morning I headed out for canoe practice, thanking the universe for my good health after a five-week bout with the Maui Plague.  I almost hate to say I’m healthy because I don’t want to jinx it.  It feels sosososooooooooo good to have energy again!  More exciting news: It seems that the whales are beginning to arrive!  The canoe guys saw one on Tuesday, so we paddled straight out into the channel to see what we could find.  It was amazing to be out there, surrounded by four visible islands and getting a closer look at Lana’i and Moloka’i.  I kind of wanted to keep paddling until we reached Lana’i, but then we would have been too tired for the return trip.  Alas...no whales yet.  I’m keeping my eyes on the ocean, though.  They will be here any day.  

Porter Brown is also healing nicely, thanks to the fact that we spoil him rotten.  He wore lots of t-shirts to keep him from licking his stitches, but the one that says “trophy husband” is still our favorite.  Luckily, he is now t-shirt free and back to dragging us through the pineapple fields on his walks.  

Dave has been climbing the West Maui mountains on his bike, which is a little crazy considering how steep it is and how blazing hot the sun can be.  I got him a book on the geology of Hawai’i for his birthday, so he will be an even better tour guide when you come for a visit.  Here he is with his binoculars, scoping out some of the geologic features of our fair island.  

Looking for mountain bike terrain.

This picture was also taken during the aforementioned stunning sunset.  We had to pull over to soak in the amazingness.  People often ask me if the wonder of Maui still strikes us.  Yes, it does.  We do get caught up sometimes in the chores and routines of life and work and all that stuff, but I doubt I will ever stop squealing “TURTLE!” when a little sea turtle head pops out of the ocean or pausing for sunset from our lanai or the beach or highway or wherever we happen to be.  It’s a pretty magical place to be.  

Aloha, 

Jen