Rashes from Hawaii

I've never been so motivated before, maybe in my short life, to get up at 6:30am and gear up for surfing by 7:45. The surf shack was only a 5 minute drive away, but I've been enjoying my morning coffee time that I couldn't let surfing get in the way...and in this fine morning, the view from my patio revealed that the waves were larger than normal...eek...great day to surf!

I signed up for a private lesson, paid way too much, however I got to surf next to one of Argentina's female pro short board surfers, Loli. Was she cute? Absolutely. Was she good? Uh...yah. Did I surf? Did I ever.
After a 3 minute ground lesson and some quick safety tips (just kidding, there's no safety for private lessons), I found myself on a board, mimicking every move that Loli made, heading out to the waves. On the way, I managed to mumble, "oh...I'm a bit afraid of the ocean." It certainly didn't seem to phase her so I naturally didn't let it phase me one bit. We were out about 75 feet when she said, "okay, turn around and get ready." Now, I'm not sure how other surf lessons go on the island, but I'm pretty sure I was just being thrown into a whole lot of crazy (I did ask the owner of the shop to hook me up so that I could be surfing on a shorter board by the end of the lesson...careful what you wish for?).

She said paddle so I did. She said up so I did. Behold, up and standing on surf board on my first go! I paddled back to Loli and told her, "well that wasn't so hard." I got a little sure of myself, not cocky, but she did have to put me back in my place to listen to her. I realized that I had no idea what I was doing or more importantly when to paddle or what to look for and that I had to completely trust the pro. Trust? Right.
So I did and I caught a 3 foot wave with a 10' long board! Loli was impressed (alright alright) and said that I made it look easy so she gave me her 9' board. Awesome. After a few bails but NOT being run into the coreal (hence the fear of ocean), I finally got up and started to...kinda turn.

I must have seen over 50 waves - some I paddled to ride, some I paddled and missed, but most of them, I was paddling against some big waves to get back in line for another surf. Exhausting...the arms are not built for this kind of rediculous exhaustion. My arms were about to fall off and I said to Loli that I needed a bit of a break. What does Loli do? She says get ready to paddle. Oh..okay. She pushes my board for a head start and I, once again, find myself paddling, feeling the wave start to push, my board start to drop, I jump up and go...I caught my last wave and rode it all 50 some feet to shore. When I looked back, I realized that I was way out past the baby surfs. Yup, so not only did I conquered this fear of the ocean, but I rode this ocean with shear pleasure (double fist pump inserted here). I plan on going back when my arms don't feel like air and riding along the surf instead of in front of the surf....not even sure what that means, but I'll figure it out.

Uh...no pictures of this one...but here's some of the volcano I went and saw yesterday. Grandpa and I went up 10,000' and had a misty 360 view. I felt at home...like I was back in Kananaskis, playing in the rocks, up high with hardly a soul in sight...well...only a few bus loads. But few went to the summit! Truly some fun times over the past two days and once my wee arms are rested, I'll be back in the surf. I hear there are some 45' waves on the east shore...just kidding. I'll leave that to the likes of Loli.

Struggle...or battle

I'm up early every morning and the first thing I do is step out onto our ground level patio and look out to the ocean. Not really sure what I'm looking at or if I am looking at anything at all. I watch the rythme of the waves rolling to the shore. It is like the stability that I'm missing back home. Plus, the humpback whales tend to cruise in my line of sight every morning - about 75 feet from shore. Neat.
Yesterday, grandma and I went for a walk along shore. We wrote in the sand, I did some cartwheels, we chatted with some sweedes, I met a friend (4 year old cutie) and we built a huge sand turtle. On our way back we saw in the water, a family of humpback whales, blowing air, rolling along in and out of the water - truly amazing.

Later on, grandpa and I went to explore the island. He wanted to go to the marine centre...like all huge aquariums, there were some big fishies in there. Then I took him to I'ao Valley where the most intense battle took place in all of Hawaiin islands, back in the 1700s. It reminded me of Laos with a ranforest mist of B.C., a refreshing sight for sure. Then we drove a windy road up along the steepest coastal cliffs I have ever seen. One couldn't even see the bottom until about 80 feet out, because it was so steep. Of course, I just wanted to climb around, but that would cross the line from crazy to stupid.

Back at the condo, I bask, write, and read. I love this relaxing time. I find myself getting up earlier and earlier jsut so that I can read or write longer in the morning. I'm also learning that all my history revisits me in the morning; i'll give it some attention, but then I just need out, hence getting up early. I realize that there are experiences and relationships that need some healing, understanding, and liberation. Family, friends, lovers, peers...how often have I had the time to reflect and release? Not in my self-induced, "busy" world. The book Zahir by Paulo Coelho has been timed so perfectly from start to finish. Thank you Sage for the book and inspiration.

Lovin' the life's beach...

Rock on. Never thought I'd see myself traveling around with my 83 year old grandma and enjoying it. There are some ups and downs in an adventure with seniors, however, I've certainly learned a lot of my childhood. Things that I'm sure my parents are not even aware of. Here's grandma and I at the beach just outside our condo.

We have rented a car which has given us such freedom around the island. So far, the new top five for unique places is the lava flow from the mid 70s. The flow didn't originate from the top of the volcano, but about half way up the volcano...then we drove threw the field of hardened lava...super cool. At the coast edge where the lava flows into the water, the water was incredibly blue..."like Carly's eye," grandma says. Cute.

Never thought I'd see an eel, but here I am, holding the most cruel thing I've tasted. The eel was totally dried out and also created some striff among grandma and I; she wanted to bring it back to Canada...do you KNOW how much a three-day old dried eel smells...urgh. Nope. At the same place, I met a super nice man with his son (who had a 30 syllabul name - no kidding) who spoke of his way of life like the aboriginal elders do back home. It was nice to meet someone who was absolutely connected with his culture and ancestral history. Love it.

Other than some beautiful sunsets and muscles feeling fantastic, I've been mostly enjoying the time to turn pink and reading my books. I've been getting to bed pretty early since the only dance club is closed for renovations and everyone here is either retired, getting married, or under the age of 16. Meh. All next week however, keep your eyes open for some stellar surfing stories - all next week I'll be taking lessons and in the water. ps...here's the view from our condo.

Wishing, Wanting, and Ranting

The infamous phrase comes to mind too often, "Be careful what you wish for."

I feel that if people are oblivious to their surroundings, the consequences that come their way give a blind-sided reaction. "What, why'd that happen” Really? Whether you believe in a god and all his children or a goddess and all her creations, there is something to say about how our day-to-day lives unfold. Do we have a path, a marked out journey previously laid out since the day we opened our eyes upon this world? Perhaps. Instead, maybe what we are given is a clean slate, a chance to start fresh to reach our destiny. I suppose it is up to us to figure out what that ultimate goal is. For me...utopia, in my immediate circle. Now many people think that this world is in a dystopia state and in the global picture, I would for sure agree.

An Aside: Utopia - a word first introduced in 1516 in the book Utopia written by a knight who was eventually beheaded for disapproving of King Henry's stance on the church...of all people). If Mr.More can see a Utopian dream during those days of renaissance, then I can most certainly dream of one in the state of this world.

It is what I make of it...it is as it is. I could, as I have done so in the past, rant about the idea of positive energy, self-fulfilling prophecy, living life full of intent, but I feel that people are on their own agenda. Until people do a little shake to themselves, the global state will remain as it always has been. Nobody in my circle knows who Mr.More is because it's not in the songs, movies, or still frames of newspapers and magazines. Why do I care? I don't. The point is that there has been so much of our past lost, preventing our generation to learn from unknown yet still brilliant heroes unsupported by mainstream society.

We turn into so many mainstreams but ignorance being bliss is a bullshit statement. People must know that there truly is life outside best buy, home sense, and McDonalds. Ignorance simply reflects the lack of awareness, the lack of ambition to consciously open the eyes to see the pain, greed, and flat out stupidity from third world countries to our skewed democratic society. Politics has for sure messed up democracy but individually, we can immediately change our world; our world defined as...in arms reach. Maybe I am a little bit too much peace, love, and happiness but the state of my world is awesome. Not perfect, just awesome.

So through out the ignorance and take caution in what you wish for. Want...tangible, realistic, positive 'wishes' for your greatest self, and these 'wishes', will indeed, come full circle. Your wishes may already have, but would you have recognized it? I try to think abstract on this one - I wish for world peace every Christmas and each year I receive peace in my world. Abstract. Further on that note, be so specific, you'd think your writing your autobiography days or weeks before it happens. Not only does this state of mind trigger awesome outcomes, the heightened awareness and intuition leads to so many new opportunities and choices.