Scene 1
Setting: My brand new, and never-lived-in, house on the island of Hawaii, windward side (think RAINY). August and September--the beginnings of all things to make a life in Hawaii after spending the past thirty years living overseas in Germany, Japan, South Korea, and then Japan again...but Okinawa for the second stint.
At Rise: Although I have been informed that my household goods arrived at the Port of Hilo the last week of July and just await Customs clearance, no firm delivery date is established. Nevertheless, I have officially arrived on island only to reside in a largely empty house. True, the house comes equipped with refrigerator, stove, oven, and a microwave, and, two days after my arrival, I also take possession of a washer and dryer purchased at the end of June during a brief foray to the island. I have a blow-up bed, a set of sheets, a blanket, a set of towels, and two suitcases worth of stuff. Oh yes, and wifi! Don’t forget the wifi! (Another item high on the priority to-do list for that June foray.) The windows of the house wear no “treatments” whatsoever, so I tend to arise with the light and hunker down with the dark.
NOTES:
1. On August 9, my household goods are finally delivered. I begin dwelling within canyons of boxes. My Okinawa downsizing was certainly not sufficient, so I commence the most serious discard scenarios of my life. And somehow it is easier than ever before because this time when I meet up once more with the stuff accumulated over a lifetime, I can actually say, “Nope, I really am not going to need that,” and “This just doesn’t have magic for me any more.”
2. Every year of my life since I was six, I have headed off to school at the end of summer break, either as a student or as a teacher, until this one. At moments it seems strange not to be in school now, but the reality of not being there is not bothering me much. Whether it is because I remain quite overwhelmed with a house to unpack, put-together, and maintain along with a yard that is largely a blank demanding immediate attention (and I seemingly in a losing competition with the total jungle of a next-door lot seducing that blank so thrivingly to become one with it once more) or because of other circumstances, reasons, or states of mind, the fact remains that I putter through my days never accomplishing all I intended, and that is so very normal.
3. And let’s return to that blank that is my yard. May I remind you how well things grow in Hawaii--things you want and things you don’t--because the growing season has no end...as in never ever. I do love that wild orchids grow at the edges of my wee plot of land and that I have successfully planted hibiscus and bougainvillea and now have a notion to attempt a plumeria. And I also design--still in my mind--the herb/vegetable garden out back, but I must do further research because I may need to use raised beds to compensate for my dearth of soil situation?! (I’ll get back to you on this one.) Meanwhile, the native weeds and wild grasses have the capacity to grow multiple centimeters in one day despite the seeming lack of topsoil!
Then, when engaged in yardwork--as in pruning those jungly nether regions--I discover vegetation, considered houseplants in all my former lives, flourishing in the Hawaiian wilderness without any human care, and each species is gorgeous, lushly green and steroidal in size and reach!
4. Several mornings each week I go for a run, usually in my neighborhood. Since school started, I wait until seven or so to avoid the sporadic clumps of students and the convoy of school buses they await because by seven the little roads will return to mostly empty and mine alone. There is one school bus--a short one--still on it’s route sometimes, but the driver and I just wave and go about our business. My business, in addition to the run, includes analyzing yards for landscaping ideas, scattering the feral chickens roosting in the verge or parading across my path, puzzling out what fruit could possibly be hanging from the vine entwined around the cable wire above the road that look rather like avocados but avocados don’t grow on vines, and mobilizing the dogs.
Probably at least half of the homes in my neighborhood have dogs--multiple dogs, in fact. Most are fenced, penned, or tied. I excite them, though, when I run by, and they yap and bark at me or else at the dogs across the way who are also yapping and barking. I can’t decide if they are warning me away or asking to come with me. Some change their chorus to a mournful howl as I leave them behind. A few I’ve met with their owners. Hula Girl is my favorite--dog, not owner!
5. I am close to mastering the layout of Home Depot and Ace Hardware. I have purchased a power drill to accompany my power screwdriver. I understand the purpose of silicone grease as part of the process of changing filters for my water catchment system--still a wet endeavor for me, but I am improving. I have a clothesline project currently in my sights but believe I will have to hire out the building of shelves over the washer and dryer space.
6. Yes, food can be expensive in Hawaii. A loaf of bread often costs $6+, and a twelve-pack of soda in aluminum cans comes in at $7 on sale and usually more in the $9 range. Good thing I rarely desire bread, and I prefer my Diet Coke in bottles...which is a cheaper way to buy it here, by the way. Of course, I can always assuage my thirst for said beverage with a purchase of a large Diet Coke at McDonald’s for $1 plus tax--which is four more cents, should you be wondering. Fresh produce is always less expensive at the farmers markets than at the grocery stores although grocery stores will carry produce not available at farmer’s markets. I rather enjoy my forays to farmers markets and average at least one foray per week. At the Hilo Farmers Market on Saturday, and only on Saturday, this couple sells homemade brownie/cookie bars that are presently my to-die-for treat. I sample all their samples every time--double chocolate, salted caramel, butterscotch/macadamia, and lilikoi (passion fruit) and then buy the discounted twinpack with a salted caramel one and a lilikoi one. The twinpack lasts me three to four days if I’m disciplined, two when I’m not.
Although vinegar and Dove’s dark chocolate cost less at Walmart, Target wins the price wars more often than you might think. So I signed up for a Target credit card that I use exclusively at Target because it also discounts all my totals an additional 5%. I have become a collector of coupons, and a Costco member. (Giggle all you want and then revise your image of me; I have had to renegotiate my image of myself!)
7. War with the insects continues, particularly with mosquitos and ants (and my ants bite). The movers kept the doors to my home wide open for close to ten hours (with a perfectly acceptable rationale, of course), but apparently numerous mosquitos took that opportunity to colonize the interior regions of my house. About a month has elapsed, and only now can I safely sleep with a limb extended from beneath the covers without gaining at least one new red welt. I have invested in repellent with DEET, DEET-free repellent with lemon/eucalyptus, and several essential oils known for their insect-repelling qualities. My arsenal is loaded and employed evermore effectively. I seem to have regained control of the battle with the mosquitos; ant control remains a work in progress.
8. Mentioned previously, I live on the windward side of the island, and it rains here--a lot! All kinds of rain, too, ranging from a misty wetness with droplets too small to see all the way to torrents, where rain falls in sheets, in entire geometric planes, one beside the next and touching. When you live in a home with a metal roof, and I do, the music of rain changes and crescendos are mighty.
9. Balancing Monkey Yoga--so yeah, I just finished my two week stretch of new student come to as many classes as you would like for $20. I attended Steve’s basic yoga classes--suggested for beginners--and Vicky’s pilates classes. I like yoga but I don’t love it. I will acknowledge that my body benefits from it, but my mind has quite a distance to travel before I anywhere approach “zen.” In my mind I’m telling Steve not to talk so much or beseeching him to move us into the next position before the scream in my stretching muscles transfers to a scream emanating from my mouth. Pilates I enjoy more. For me it moves faster, I sweat and strive in ways more familiar to me, and I feel its connection to the world of dance. In each class I also confront the reality that I have not kept that flexible body of yore that did splits and backbends with ease.
I will continue at the Balancing Monkey, but next I plan to check out a water aerobics class to add into the mix.
10. Church is like it has been everywhere around the world, and yet church is also different. People I have never met greet me with a kiss on the cheek. Women with thick coils of long dark hair clad in muumuus designed with luscious color wear an aura of regal splendor. All beginnings have “Aloha.” Random prayers are offered in Hawaiian. One speaker dissects the Hawaiian language, explaining how “aloha” connects to the creation story of Genesis: “alo” is our front, our outer self, who we are in this world; “ha” is the breath of life, the breath of God to give us life.
