aloha

I'll be honest, my first 2 days in Maui were bumpy.
Overcast Hawaiian skies and the sleep deprive week culminating in a packing all-nighter the night before my departure did not make me too ready to embrace beauty in any shape or form.
To top it off, I realized that even in paradise, I missed San Francisco.

My arrival to this beautiful island started with sleeping shamelessly for 2 straight days. Interspersed amidst the decedent naps, the pragmatist in me cleaned my studio, and dabbed olive oil on all the door and window frames. Arlene would be proud.

Though settling into a slower pace did not come instantly for a city dweller,
other things were as natural as breathing.
Little things like:
greeting the dawn by the ocean every morning,
endlessly watching waves like none I'd ever seen in my life,
consuming heaps of gorgeous locally grown organic lettuce from Hana farms,
falling asleep to a myrid of stars outside my window
and my first session at Kanaha beach - without neoprene
I'm starting to love this place - wind, ocean, neighborhood, people and all.

The neighbors are an fun bunch - Kathlyn, who was excited to meet another windsurfing buddy, her son Hans, who missed his flight from Honolulu and pawned off 3 Bintang shirts to pay $30 of airline penalty. Steve and Nu, who drink coffee on their deck by beach I visit every morning. And of course, my landlord who had to duplicate a key for me when I lost it at the beach by mama's fish house my second day here.

for how hard it was leaving san francisco
it's nice to know that 36 hours of sleep can change your mind
aloha, i'm in love...

grass fed beef goodness and hana farm lettuce

the living room below

jasmines from Steve and Nu's garden

yes, the outdoor shower

the new boardmobile

my favorite place in the house, the veranda, wifi doesn't hurt...

papayas for breakfast

the loft above, with sunrises in the morning and stars at night

A pillow in the mail

rock release party, ocean beach

returning all the pebbles I'd ever picked back to the beach

They say what you do in your last moments says something about you. In between errands, I wondered what the things I was packing to ship home said about me.
The oddest things yet, a $15 antique side table from a thrift store and a pillow from IKEA. What if that pillow got discontinued by the time I get home? Horrors! That pillow is coming with me!
In the midst of learning about the qualities of breathable and wicking fabrics,
and being surrounded by packing peanuts and paintings still awaiting homes,
managing craigslist buyers and relentlessly lowering prices of my ad postings in a depressed market,
1:13am on a morning exactly a week from my departure,
brings with it a peace that confirms my suspicions
that life is crazy...
... crazy beautiful