The Kuau Compound

My postal address may say I live in Paia (Pie-e-ah) but my physical location is actually Kuau (Koo-ow). I live "ocean-side" Kuau which does not necessarily mean there is an ocean outside my bedroom as I previously day dreamed. It means that from my house, if I stand on my toes, I can see the ocean. It also means that there are no roosters. For some reason the chickens do not cross the road here in Kuau and have left us in peace.

Someone told me that Kuau means cemetery which would make sense since there is several within walking distance. This fact does not deflect my love for my little home town. Kuau is full of wonder and beauty. It contains two of my fave beaches within walking distance and has a market that is no more that ten steps from my home and has the best Spam Musubi (Spam, rice, seaweed= deliciousness) and other necessities (beer, wine, York peppermint patties).
But the Kuau mart and the beaches are not the main reason why I love Kuau. I love Kuau because of the compound that I live in. Our compound is comprised of three homes connected by a yard and patio which contains the barbecue, and a table and a constantly shifting cast of characters. People come and go quickly here in the Kuau compound and familial bonds are formed fast.

Included but not limited to the cast are as follows:

Chuck "Chuckles" is our resident care taker and inspires us to new gardening feats. He is almost the father of the compound and has grown used to ordering us around. This does not bother us as it is good natured and encourages us to take care of our budding plants. Chuckles also has unique talents in the kitchen. Thai Food Tuesday's is quite possibly the best day of the week besides Aloha Friday. On Tuesday evenings you can find my roommate Ann and I creeping around the compound looking for any handouts of Chuck's culinary delights. I now have insane cravings for Hawaiian Peppers followed my coconut soup and sticky rice. Out of this world I tell you!

Living with Chuckles is Matt who is the most mysterious character. He mainly keeps to himself but has impressed us with his uncanny Rubix Cube skills. I have not decided if Matt is a highly evolved creature on the brink of Buddha status or a man plotting to take over the world. Time will only tell.

Across the way is Kyle and his girlfriend Emily. Kyle likes to play with the community cat, Nina, who ends up attacking him and leaving him scarred. Kyle always has something interesting going on in his life (a few broken ribs, a new tattoo, a fight with the roommate) and will pop over and fill us in on the drama which provides much needed entertainment as we do not have cable.

Nina is the cat who does not like me and therefore I stare at her with mean looks and try to ignore her. Eventually I will crack and try to pet her but she immediately runs away. I hate that cat. But I love her too. It's a love-hate relationship. Mostly the latter at this point.
Emily is Kyle's girlfriend and is one of those girls that is about as nice as you can get. She likes to drink wine and dance and so basically I love her. She is someone you could talk to for hours and feel like you are only getting started. Kyle and Emily are threatening to leave the compound in search of a home off of the Hana Highway (it gets pretty noisy). I have been thwarting their plans by casting spells to deter them from finding any further housing. Not really, but I am thinking about it.

So that is the main cast of folks. In addition to them we have more sideline characters. There is Zack, the scuba instructor who comes for Tuesday night Thai food. He has very blond hair and makes a lot of jokes that I don't understand. I laugh anyways because other people do and maybe it is just a matter of time before they start making sense.

There are also friends who come and go. From the compound we can walk down to Mama's Beach and share some beers and languish in the moonbeams.

Other people rotate in quickly and make lasting impressions on us. Odie, who moved out recently to live in his Holy Van (a van full of holes), left us with a wide variety of books from "The Power of Now" to "Deduct It! (Lower your small business taxes)." Odie is an odd character that almost needs an additional post in order to explain.

Also there was Avery "Avery-son" who made us food and caught us Tako from the sea. He is joining the Navy now and a part of me feels like I am loosing my little brother. I am quite sad about this.

And then of course there are my roommates. I would say that I adore my roommates but it would be an understatement. Ann wakes up every morning with a smile on her face. I don't know how she does it but it makes me so happy. She and I often sit in the compound and stare at our wonderful world until one of us will say "I love my life!" and then the other will say "I love my life too!"

Our other roommate Lindsay is someone we immediately connected with. She is all the things you would want in a friend/roommate plus she is very pretty and kills bugs, to boot. She goes out into the jungle during the week and does things to keep Hawaii beautiful. Her boyfriend Adam also does this, yet often from the sky. Lindsay and Adam return from their week out in the field with stories of plant infestation and helicopter rides. I am insanely jealous of them.

These are the people that make up my little Kuau family. I hope you can get a flavor for why I love the compound and why I put up with the highway noise.

I love waking up in the morning and going out with my coffee to see how the garden is progressing. Kyle will be tickling the cat and getting maimed, Chuck will pop up with a friendly smile and a reminder to water the plants before I go to work and I will watch the sun get higher in the sky and stand on the tip of my toes to see if the ocean is still there.
And it always is.