From above the clouds I descended to where the ocean meets land and climbed out over lava rock and waited for the mermaids. The sound of the waves, the warm sun, the cool water, there was no one else around, but sea life and the elements, and I was just where I needed to be. A good majority of my afternoon was offered to the Ocean and then the rain forest. All of my environmental curiosity’s get fed in Hawaii.
Driving out toward Hana, a bird man with 7 parrots kidnapped me and I became a bird perch for 7 birds. I had birds on my head, my arms, my hands, and both shoulders along the side of the road. It attracted other passers-by, which was the whole point as the bird guy was trying to raise money for his bird sanctuary. He was using me as an advertisement. By the time the birds let me go, he had several paying customers.
This trip to Maui had a special kind of vibration. In every rock, leaf, cloud formation, there were hearts and sea turtles. Yes, really literally sea turtles. The private beach in front of my hotel has a colony of sea turtles that feeds on the rocks. They come close, popping up their head and don’t seem to be that shy. Neither are the sharks. It was rather windy most of the time on the island and the month prior to going, I had been hearing about several shark attacks and the closure of beaches near where I was staying. That coupled with a few other naturally occurring reasons, I chose to avoid snorkeling. The conditions of the water were rough and murky and though I’m fine with sea turtles, I wanted to avoid any encounters with Maui sharks. This did not keep me out of the ocean however, as the water was warm alluring me to kick up my feet, twirl, float, dive, and swim as the sea turtles do.
The last night of my adventure included going to a Reggae concert in Makawao at Makai Glass Studios. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised to find that the location of the concert was an actual glass blowing studio and took me back to the roots of my fire dancing journey at the Horse Cow. Upon walking in, not only was I greeted by friendly locals, but a glass blower doing a glass blowing demonstration, bright colored lights, and art moving around the walls of a large warehouse space, as well as several people spinning glow poi. It was strangely reminiscent of the early Horse Cow days with performance art, fire, fashion shows, paintings, art cars, interesting people, and sculptures. Therefore, I called it the Hawaiian Cow. I was thankful that I had my Flow Toys Pod Poi with me and proceeded to spend the next hour or so spinning jamming to different songs with different light combinations. It was super fun and I was able to master some of the advanced Poi technique that I’ve been working on and making me excited for the next round of Poi classes that I will teach in November. It seems that most things end early on the islands, the concert was over by 11pm and after weaving back around toward my hotel, I found myself lying under the stars on the beach, looking up and out to an open and vast sky from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where the stars still twinkle, and the only sound that can be heard is the hum of the ocean caressing the sand. In silence, I spent the remaining hours of my last night on Maui, reflecting on LOVE. The kind that we have toward to life when it gives us just what we need and when we realize that we had the courage to follow our heart’s song that lead us to that point. After returning back to my hotel, and climbing into bed, I looked up and out the open veranda window facing Haleakala to see a bright Cheshire like moon smiling down upon all who were still awake to see it. Eternally Grateful and forward on to the fall!
Mahalo!
This has been an exciting and epic year indeed and it’s not over yet! Over this last week I ran away on vacation to Maui, Hawaii. This was my fourth time to the islands, having been to Kauai, Oahu, and Maui twice, there is something about the Hawaiian Islands that captured me the first time I went back in 2000. I found it really hard to leave. Though my heart still dwells in the deep Kauai forest, and someday I will return to Kauai, I’m also equally fond of Maui. Leaving before dawn, arriving before noon, I watched the sun rise over the pacific ocean from the airplane. The next day, I watched the sun peak up over Haleakala, the world’s largest dormant volcano. Sitting at the top, a bit dizzy from the thinner air at 10,023 feet above sea level, it occurred to me that this has been the year for visiting Islands and Volcanoes. In February I visited Mt. Aso in Japan, which is an active volcano. Though, I have yet to visit the Big Island where Pele herself has built her eternal home.
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