well my welcome to hawaii has been really beautiful and inviting thus far. i got off the plane to a ti (pronouced tea) leaf lei, and a humungo hug from heidi. it was mostly smooth sailing/flying and an on-time arrival in kona...perfect. we then headed off to get some very fresh sushi, and watch bits and pieces of the ironman, which was finishing up right on the strip in kona. heidi then gave me a talk about how i need to be careful of my feet for the first few weeks because all the rocks are lava and they can be quite sharp... right before we jumped in the pacific (which is WARM) and i got baby sea urchin (we think) quills in my toe... some of which are still there. then heidi and her friend patrick took me to a kava bar, and i was able to relax while listening to a reggae singer by the name of bush mama, with dreadlocks down past her hips, sing her rather liberal and somewhat refreshing beliefs.
bed came as a warm, humid gift. and so did the morning. we got a text from patrick saying that the dolphins were out down at the kealakekua bay... which is where they tend to be around the time of the full moon... which is tonight... so we headed down there with a paddleboard, surfboard, and snorkeling mask, and paddled into the middle of the bay to swim with the dolphins. oh. my. god. the magic. these creatures are such beautiful representation of playfulness and joy. they would get about a foot away, and swim under me in schools or pods, and i felt like i was a mermaid and a child swimming with them and trying to imitate their motions and majestic way of moving through the water. spinner dolphins. that's what they are called.. they jump out of the water and spin in the air, and play with eachother by passing leaves that they find, and they sing their songs in the deep, and you can only hear it under water... clicking, chirping, each a musical voice in their choir... and even way out in the bay the water is so clear that you can see straight to the bottom, and so warm that stayed in it for probably an hour. we got to the bay at around 8 and pulled away around ten in the morning... one of the best mornings.
i saw a sea turtle yesterday as well... (so much life and fruit and beauty) they are called honu (pronounced hoe- new) ... he was an ancient, wrinkly, wise creature napping upon his arrival to the warm sand.
today was a bit slower of a day. i won't give you too much of a play by play... but we did eat an avocado from the front yard, and we did plant greens, and a mamaki (ayurvedic medicinal herb for general wellness-basically a native hawaiian nettle without the defensive spiky-ness) plant in the yard to mark my arrival to the island! so beautful!
my reduced intake of caffiene is not going so well... the kona coffee is amazing. and supposedly medium roast is stronger than dark roast because the coffee goes through less processing, and it tastes so much fresher, tangy, and strong... mmmmh..holy crow.
this afternoon leaving our little oasis on top of the hill, we saw a very rare hawk (the only species on the island), apparently it lives in our front yard some where and it had a little creature with a long tail in its talons. i got out of the car and it looked at me for a minute... gave me goosebumps... i do love to run into a winged creatures... i felt really blessed. the native hawaiians consider seeing one of these to be a good omen... they are called hawaiian hawks. look 'em up. beautiful.
right now i am sitting in a coffee shop sharing a fancy coffee drink with heidi that has kona coffee ice cubes in it, wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt, feeling raw, new, excited, hopeful, and ready, willing. strawberry guavas and avocados line the road outside, and i am contemplating buying myself a organic cotton and bamboo skirt on the rack to my right. mmmh.
much love and aloha.
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