Solo

The trick in a place like Hawaii, the ultimate tourist destination, is to find solitude. Today, being my last truly solo day here, I sought out something that would give me that sense of aloneness. I headed out to the "place of refuge" which is at the end of a long stretch of road. By Hawaiian standards it was pretty empty or at least an easy place to slip from the crowd and be out with just the rock and the ocean.

On the way out I stopped by the Painted Church. This Benedictine Church has interior walls covered in murals, which harken to St. Peter's with more palm fonds and hibiscus. The murals are slowly eroding from time, salty air and termites.

Interestingly the painting of Hell was the most eroded, shows what termites really think of Hell.

Usually, there are a few things that I pick up about a place early on that become a fascination of mine. I believe in Hawaii, it will be the trinkets of American culture that have remained long past when they left the Mainland. There are aspects of Hawaii, that remind me of Cuba in the way they are time capsules of another time.

Housing

My generation may be one of the first, in many years, that has serious doubts about the reasons for buying a home. When it comes time for me to seriously consider that decision, retirement and home exchange will feature prominently as the reason to buy. My parents have endowed much wisdom their lives but this home exchange thing may be the tastiest morsel. In brief, home exchange seems to mean that you stay in homes that are nicer then you would ever bother renting, for free.

This home comes with an infrared sauna, pool, multiple decks, the softest, biggest bed I have ever slept in, a view of the ocean and a massage table (you know where I will be on the morning of my birthday:). In addition, they have a movie collection that includes Girl on A Bridge, arguably my favorite French film, Talk to Her, arguably my favorite Spanish film and Edward Scissorhands, my second or third favorite American film. But really the best parts I had to photograph so you could see for yourself.

A note on my photographs: The computer I am using has some wacky settings which screw up the color and contrast. For this reason I am flipping all of my photos to black and white and not touching them otherwise, which means these photos are going to be reprocessed and republished. You can look forward to my real photos at a later date.

Outdoor dining room, complete with pole for... pole dancing?

Outdoor alter to the cat goddess Bast or Bastet.

Indoor crystal garden that greeted me upon arrival.

As for the cats, we are becoming friends. Last night Little came up and curled into my lap after my midnight swim. We fell asleep together.

Earthquakes to volcanos

An earthquake woke me up this morning in San Francisco, so I decided to get on a plane to Hawaii. I may have been tempted to stay to assess the seismograph readings but Pele was calling.

The trip to Hawaii is only 6 hours, if you fly direct, but who does that? So my day ended up being long with lots of crying children and agitated adults. Luckily, a surprise birthday present from an angel appeared at check in and landed me in first class seats, where I learned you are able to put the world on mute and have ice cream sundaes.

I arrived on the Big Island at 10:30pm, got my baggage and headed out to the car. (Note, I am doing a home exchange while traveling thanks to my parents.) Kona was 77 degrees with a little rain. Coming from San Francisco I felt like I was arriving in a village disembarking the steps of the plane onto the tarmac and walking through the airport that is smaller then most SF high schools.

As part of the swap we have traded cars, which meant I had a brand new Kia Sportage waiting for me. With directions in hand I hit the road, only to be pulled over 5 miles out of the airport because the car, which is only a week old to the actual owners, doesn't have a registration sticker. I should note that I didn't get pulled over by one cop, I got pulled over by three of the chillest police officers that exist. I explained the confusing situation to them, which they mostly didn't understand, nearly asked if they wanted to go to the beach tomorrow and moved on with my night.

I arrived at the mini Hawaiian dream palace. Greeting me was: a Mini Cooper with plates that said "weeheee," an unlocked door, a crystal alter, a bottle of wine, a bag of macadamia nuts and chanting music.

Thus begins my Hawaiian vacay.

Time for my night swim before falling into a deep deep forgetful kind of sleep.

P.S. Domesticated animals aren't really my thing and on the totem pole of animals I like cats aren't at the top. I am caring for two kitties as part of the exchange, they are cute enough but they get in cat fights. If you have suggestions, let me know. I need to give good kitty love but all I really know to do when they hiss at each other is engage in a discussion about how they are being illogical and should be friends. I don't think the cats really care.