Week One

Sometimes we are lucky.

Sometimes by chance, circumstance, personal desire or divine intervention we land home.

You know it is home because each morning when you open your eyes to the sun blaring through the lanai you feel exhilarated. It doesn't matter that you are sleeping on a half inflated air mattress in the middle of the kitchen that doubles as the living area. It doesn't matter that outside your door lies three dead cockroaches, a disemboweled gecko, a half eaten centipede and one proud looking kitten. It doesn't matter that the flies are already storming around your half eaten banana and it doesn't matter that there is no door to the toilet.

It doesn't matter because... you live on Maui.

I have never lived "on" a place before. I have lived "in" Portland, "in" Sacramento, "in" L.A., but never before have I lived on a place.

Being "on" Maui is hard to explain. I think most of us here opt not talk about it because it is difficult to put to words. I will do my best.

Today I woke up at 5:30am to the usual display of bugs and kitten. Whose cat is this by the way? I then make that fitful decision whether I will go surfing or running on the beach. I opt for a run which then turns into a treasure hunt for shells, multiple conversations with strangers, and a meditation on a stump. I sit and close my eyes and let the ocean breath through me.

I mosey my way back to the homestead. The place I am staying is a very cute one bedroom that occupies less than 400 square feet of this beautiful earth yet has ample outdoor space to grill, drink and socialize (which is where we spend most of the non working day.) I jump into the shower which is inlaid with smoothed rocks to make a design of a palm tree. After the shower it is time to battle the fly infestation in an attempt to make coffee. In such small living quarters it takes a bit of maneuvering along with the cursing of the despis'ed flies.

After coffee we (meaning me and my roommate, co-worker and friend "Ann") hit the road for work. Work is in an office a bit "up-country" as they say. We drive 20 minutes passing sugar cane fields and plantation homes as well as Rainbow park. Rainbow park is my favorite place so far. It looks like the place where Unicorns and Leprechauns (or Menehunes as the Hawaiian legend would call them) would live. Once at work I can look outside my office and see both the south and the north shores of Maui attempting to meet each other in the middle.

By the way, there are chickens every where. We are very aware of the chickens and even more aware of the roosters which are loud and obnoxious and have no sense courtesy towards others who may be sleeping. Rooster awareness has been quite a large part of our relocation adventure (we are searching for a new home which has closets and doors an extra bedroom and a toaster would be nice). It may sound unusual to ask a prospective land lord "What is the rooster population in this area?" but for us it is a way of life.

Work is a whole other adventure that I will not go into. Suffice it to say... I love having a job. After work the night is ours and is not complete without some unexpected visitors walking in and out of our little hobble, the grilling of some new meat product, a few beers and interesting conversation with the many spirits Maui attracts from around the world.

At night, I fall asleep reading Shogun and dreaming about the adventures to follow the next day.
My skin feels soft, my heart feels light.

I feel safe and unbound all at the same time. It feels good to be home!