What a Summer!

Roomies!

I don’t know why, but I lost the urge to blog for a while.  It’s weird writing about life for all the internet read. I want to be honest and share what’s going on with my friends and family, but I also don’t always want my business all over the internet.  So anyway, the short summary is this:  There was a rough patch, and now things are ok.  Dave and I are friends.  I am still Porter’s official mom and dog sitter.  My new roommates, Cori and Luna, are pretty awesome, and now I live in Kihei (not nearly as lovely as Kahana, but just a few minutes’ drive to work, instead of an hour).  Living, loving, laughing, and learning...so it goes. 
  
Summer wasn’t all rough, though.  I had an excellent trip to the East Coast, where I was finally able to catch up with my New England friends, Met kids, tons of cute babies, and of course, my hilarious family.  There was a lot, lot, lot of eating involved, as well as staying up late and talking into the wee hours of the morning.  It was wonderful!  

When I returned, canoe season was in full swing.  If I had to draw a picture of what I did on my summer vacation, it would be a 400-pound wa’a (Hawaiian outrigger canoe) with six strong women in it, all trying to learn our new sport and work together to get the boat moving swiftly in a straight line.  This is not nearly as easy as it sounds, but it is an amazing good time!  

Off we go for our very first race!  (That’s our mascot, Kuma, swimming along).   

I eventually became our steersperson, so I had a lot to learn about the wind, water, and boat.  I only made us huli (flip) once, sending all of the paddlers and our stuff into the ocean. Luckily, we were in pretty calm, shallow water.  The regattas were amazing, with a thousand-ish paddlers from around the island competing in age groups from manini (tiny kids) to the masters.  I felt so lucky to be a part of it!  The season is winding down for me because school has started, but I look forward to more adventures in the coming year.  It’s about time I lived in a place where the state sport (with more participants than any other) is paddling! 


School begins in late July around here, so I have already had my first week.  It’s more difficult to return to work on Maui, because the time off is SO good!  Luckily, we can paddle, snorkel, swim, camp, hike, and go on all kinds of adventures in our spare time.  I still have the mindset that once school starts, it’s going to get cold and dark and I won’t be able to go outside anymore.  I guess I’m kind of like the trees Dave and I saw on the Big Island, leaves turning red and dropping on the ground like it was Fall.  The park ranger told us the trees came from the southern hemisphere and they didn’t seem to know it wasn’t Autumn in Hawai’i.  


Aloha for now, 
Jen