Oh my goodness. It seems that every day I live out here, things just keep getting better and better.
Yesterday, I woke up and enjoyed a beautiful yoga practice with a wonderful group of people led by an incredible teacher. Her soft voice, gentle guidance paired with a little humor and encouragement was so comforting. She challenged us, but the energy of the room was not competitive. She brought us into some centering and strengthening balancing poses and fun arm balances. It was AWESOME. I went to her class again this morning and it was just me and Lynn, an older lady. Man, I am so happy to find a teacher I feel so comfortable with- I have a few more days left of my ten day pass to the Makawao studio and I'm excited to try a few more teachers and decide if I'd like to purchase a membership. I'm leaning toward yes (as long as I avoid Anita's classes haha)
After yoga, I ate some lunch and got ahold of my childhood friend Jesse who grew up in Lahaina. He and I were planning on doing the Road to Hana- but its quiiiite the adventure and really would be more enjoyable to take on once I have a backpacking tent and can take two days to explore. So, we decided to take a hike over on his side.
The drive over to the other side of the island was wild. Maui has a number of little microclimates- where I live is warm but can get pretty cool in the morning. We have lots of lush, green plants and unoccupied spaces are filled with plants. On the twisty, turny drive down the highway, the landscape completely changed. It was like I blinked and then all of the sudden I was on the coast and the mountainside beside me was sand with teeny little cacti and little tumbleweed bushes. As I continued, the road was carved into the mountain and the walls were covered with thick chickenwire and metal grating to save people from falling rocks. I drove under part of the mountain through the tunnel and the trees returned. There was about a mile of public beach that was totally jam packed and obvious inhabitation reappeared. I drove through suuuuuper tall trees and I arrived at the agreed upon meetupp spot.
I met him and his friend Jessie at Olawalu General Store and we drove together to the base of the Olawalu valley. It was a really short drive but in the half mile we drove- Jess pointed out some SWEET super old Polynesian petroglyphs that tell stories of fishing and hunting in the area. Some idiots made fake ones so its now illegal to walk up closer to look at them- but the real ones we saw were fascinating. I've never seen such ancient art in real life.
We took off- the beginning of the hike is a desert- the plants were mostly low to the ground and the trees that were there were smaller shade trees- as we hiked further in, we met the stream and the trees grew taller and more diverse. Jesse explained to me that before European contact, this valley (along with the rest of the Lahaina area) was not desert. Due to irrigation and the removal of Sandalwood trees, the natural ecosystem was disturbed and a desert ensued. I'll post pictures later when I get my camera cord- but imagining this entire mountainside as a lush, beautiful jungle/marsh area is crazy, and to know that less than 100 years ago, it was reality is even crazier.
As we got deeper into the valley, the jungle came alive. I didn't see any animals (other than Mary Jane, Jesse's dog) a few crayfish, some dragonflies and a mosquito breeding pond. But! The vines, the massive trees and waterfalls were absolutely amazing. I really want to get a field guide for Hawaiian plants and trees because I can't even tell you what I was seeing- they were cool though. Some of the trees looked pretty similar to maples only they had wider, more star shaped leaves- and their bark was a bit more flakey. Some of them had bark like beech trees- very smooth- but were flat, instead of circular which was very strange, kind of oblong trunks. Some had really shiny, shiny leaves. Some had really tiny oval leaves with lots of of leaves per little branch. Some of them almost looked cartoon like. The stream was gorgeous too- little waterfalls covered in vines. Gah- so beautiful. We walked up stream until we came to the perfect spot for a little snack (I brought teddy grahams, carrot sticks and pretzels- Jessie had some poptarts) and swim. There was a log over a little pool in the stream and gigantic boulder to sit on- and there weren't toooo many mosquitos. The opposite side of the stream was a little area of land and then a huuuuuuge cliff- I'm pretty intrested in reading about the geologic history of this mountain because it looked like a conglomerate (a lot of rocks put together within one big rock) not so much like the volcanic rock I see on my side. I'm not sure though, gotta do some reeeeesearch. The water was cold, but not much colder than Lake Michigan and after hiking uphill for so long it felt pretty good to dip in.
On the hike back, we were off trail, hiking more down the river for a bit. We stumbled upon a set of little waterfalls that we had kind of overlooked before and Jesse wanted to climb up a spot it seemed lots of people had. He found a little rope someone had tied to make it easier and we all schelpped up and realized that we had found one of the irrigation river-things. These are apparently found all over the island and are look sort of like a lazy river you'd find in a waterpark, only they were built in the early 20th century... and they ruined the natural landscape. It was pretty interesting, cool and bothersome all at the same time.
We continued back and after more breathtaking views we got back to the car and Jesse and I got some dinner at his favorite local Hawaiian/Chinese restaurant. Yum. Afterward I got to see the house he grew up in and reconnected with another ol' pal April. It was good to see her and exchange numbers. I'm really looking forward to seeing them both again.
Today I woke up, hung out around the house chatted with my little bro Eli and went to yoga around 11. The lovely teacher I had kept us over by about 45 minutes and it was fantastic. I drove down the windy road to Paia for a cup of coffee and some shade to read at the Paia Bay Coffee shop. Just as I was about to leave, I looked over at what the older gentleman who was sitting at the outside coffee bar was up to- he had been working diligently nearly the entire time I was sitting there on a sketch of the tree in front of us. We started chatting and got into a great conversation.
We became fast friends and he shared some great stories and the wisdom that comes from living 70 years. I can't even write all that he shared here, but I'll sum up some of his lessons.
1. The most important thing you must do, is love yourself. You must love yourself, and model to your children (and those you nanny) to love themselves. He explained that this was imperative because if you can't be your own friend, who else can? If you truly love yourself, learn to take care of yourself and appreciate all you are, you can be happy anywhere because you're always with your best friend- you. If you are five years old, you fall down and get hurt- its okay because you're here with you. You can accomplish so much more and be happy. He said that as soon as he learned this, he found that he made much better company because he was more enjoyable to be around because he was comfortable in his own skin. He insisted that I model and share this to my little dudes because it will make them strong and competent beings.
2. You have to have a vision. Once you have a vision, the universe will work with you to make your dreams come true. If you don't know what you want, you can't see it, you can't find it and the universe can't give it to you. He shared that when his little girl was about 3-4 years old, they were living in San Fransisco. They were out on a drive and trying to get a parking spot near their favorite restaurant. He said, on this day- he decided to give the key of the universe to his girl. He told her to envision their pizza place. Imagine the cook (I don't remember his name) tossing in the window. See people in the window. See the open space, and the parking spot would be there. She concentrated and was quiet, as they approached- even in the bustle of the city- there were two spots, just in front of their pizzeria. He explained that there were two, because he wasn't sure she could do it- he had envisioned one too.
His lesson here was that the only way you can find what you want from life was to see it, want it and grab it when its there. I told him more about how I ended up in Kula. He smiled and told me I was doing well for myself.
3. Love and truth are important. He told me some wild stories. The main vain of them boiling down to this- fear is not an option. What you want, you get more of. What you think, manifest itself. If you tell the truth and love, what can go wrong? Love and truth go hand in hand and once you see this, they are the way to light and life.
4. Do the things you want to be good at. Love the things you want to be good at. When you do them, you will get better. When you do them passionately, people notice. When you chase your dreams and really go for it and love every minute of it- you will thrive. When you thrive, you will find your path, and someone will pay you for it. Do everything you love with the passion it deserves.
Fred is a seventy year old poet who moved to Maui when he was on vacation. He is a wonderful man and I know we will meet again. He told me Maui is an island and that we'd meet again. And, if I'm ever trying to drop him a line I can just look up his word 'dolphid'- being a poet, with poetic license, he can make up words- and I'd be able to find him. Sure enough, I looked up his word and here he is : http://betterbeings.blogspot.com/
I cannot wait to see him again. I don't think I told him, but I'd say he is the first person I met on Maui that I'd consider my friend. What a cool freakin' guy.
We send the little ones off to school tomorrow. I can't wait but I must get some rest.
Aloha pumehana,
Betsy
No comments:
Post a Comment