Pus, Pimples, Bacteria and Mosquitoes:

The consequences of a wet not-cold tropical winter….

I was and on some level, still am, thrilled for my first winter without snow and cold. Almost as excited as I am that seasonal affective disorder hasn’t hit like it has in the past. I realized that this past year, that the cold winter really stunted me and it took almost until the summer to really kick start my serotonin levels back to adequate. And it should go without saying that being able to swim and be outside comfortably in these months is really good. 

BUT, there are some definite down sides to all of this rain and moisture that is indicative of a tropical winter and honestly, I’m not sure which is worse: a bagillion aggressive mosquitoes and festering wounds or unbearable cold and frozen snot. I mean, actually, I’d still rather be here, but I’ve been thinking about the effects of the weather a lot recently…

And I’m totally bummed, I, nor anyone in Hawaii, got to see the lunar eclipse because there were clouds for miles. :( 

I got a pretty big blister on the bottom of my foot (umm, from walking barefoot) last week and I really overextended myself (lots of physical activity for days), which I think lowered my immune system and allowed a nasty infection to start brewing. Which, in turn spread to all the other cuts and scrapes etc, that I regularly have on my person. It was no good, and it was really hurting to walk and looking disgusting earlier this week. I could tell that there was something wrong and the ways that I was trying to treat it myself weren’t working, so I went to a clinic on Tuesday morning and got some antibiotics. By now, I’m feeling much much better, and I’ve been actually resting and trying to take it easy a bit.

Except that resting anywhere involves a constant fight with the mosquitoes. Now, there are a lot of bugs here and I really don’t mind any of them, except for these little fuckers. Seriously, it might be the most annoying thing ever to have to always swat and itch and cover my head at night. I found a mosquito net today that I’m going to try tonight but jeez, gimme a break. I should eat more garlic…

OH! While I was at the clinic, I got weighed for the first time since I’ve been here and I’ve lost 30 pounds! This island is doing me wonders, although I guess the lifestyle change of eating really well and a lot of exercise has been helping too, but damn. This morning I was thinking about how my bed must have gotten harder, because it feels like it, but I realized I’m jut getting bonier. Ha! I mean I’m not complaining at all and I feel way good and healthy, which is really what matters anyway…

The tomatoes have also gotten the wet funk :(

There is some sort of mold/fungus/bacteria that has infected the whole first bay of tomatoes. This is likely the result of way too much water, because the plastic on that section of roof ripped off, and basically the whole crop is destroyed. Plus, it’s pretty gross having to deal with the tomatoes and the leaves rotting off of the plants :( We’re having to remove all the plants prematurely, but we’re trying to save some of the green tomatoes by totally pruning the gross leaves, but it’s not really working…

I’m pretty disappointed about this, as I’ve worked pretty hard in this bay and I feel a connection to these plants, but it really makes me think about how difficult it can be to grow food and how when you just pick up tomatoes at the grocery store, little to no thought is placed upon the farmers and what they’re having to deal with. It’s something that I rarely thought about on the mainland and although I made an effort for local and organic, I never thought about the whole commitment someone has made to the growing process. I encourage you to ponder the question Where does my food come from? and think about making choices, which ensure that you know, and that you’re okay with, the answer. I’ve also been thinking a lot about this, and I know that I can attest some of the weight loss to almost entirely cutting out processed and industrially produced foods. No doubt this is difficult to totally change the ingrained behaviors of food choices in this country, but one of the reasons I wanted to come here was because of the abundance of fresh raw food. My relationship with food is really progressing and I’m becoming attuned to eating what, quite literally, feels good. I sort of have a fantasy of having a completely raw diet, as I’ve met some people here who have made it practical, but I can’t commit to something like that, especially when it’s totally impractical in places that aren’t food-plant abundant. But, the majority of the food I eat is all raw. For instance, I made an avocado/banana mash with raw cacao beans (a real SUPERfood) and macadamia nuts and I juiced a bunch of carrots and an apple for breakfast today :) So delicious, and like I said, I can really feel the positive effects all through my body. It’s like the opposite if that feeling you get after McDonalds…

Okay, enough. I realized that I’m  not doing exactly with this blog what I could do and also I’m vacillating with de-connecting with the interwebs, so we are presented with this juncture in which I may become more diligent with blogging or not. You may have noticed my use of italics and bold in this entry, which was totally an attempt to incorporate more tone. Yes? No? Here’s a pretty rainbow from the other day…

It was the most vivid rainbow I’ve ever seen and it went all the way across the sky :) This is the view from the top of the treehouse and that’s part of the greenhouse under that mango tree…

Oh, and I guess Merry Christmas to anyone out there who actually is celebrating it. I hope you remember to rejoice in the beauty of your family and friends, near and far, and fuck the consumermas part. Things are only things and connections are stronger. And for everyone else, I hope that you can sufficiently avoid the Christmas insanity and remember it’ll be over soon; enjoy the break from mundancy. It’s actually pretty funny, another side effect of a not-cold winter is that I’ve managed to almost completely avoid the “holiday” season because it just doesn’t feel like it should be Christmas, and I haven’t allowed myself to be inundated by the Christmas spirit. Plus, Christmas lights in palm trees just look ridiculous. But, I am going to help Becky at her store, Jungle Love, tomorrow to sell super last minute gifts, and she gives out champagne :) Should be interesting…

She’s so beautiful in the morning

On saturday I went on a pre dawn/sunrise hike to the lava with Debbie and Ron. Debbie is Becky's sister, who was visiting for a week and helping out at the store and Ron is this return WWOOFer guy that has been here the past 4 winters and in the summer he lives and climbs rocks in Yosemite. Perhaps I'll reflect upon them further, but for now I'm going to try and sum up the last few days...

The lava stopped flowing into the ocean just after thanksgiving and then it pooled for a couple of weeks up the hill, and in the last week it has been moving downhill again towards the ocean and it's been taking forest as it goes. It's been pretty cool at night, you can see the red glow  reflected on the clouds over in the distance...Here are some really cool lava pictures, and yes Ma these were just taken with my cell phone.

It was really cool hiking out when it was still dark and then coming back with the early morning light. This was one of the first breakouts I saw…

You can kind of see the horizon in this one; the lava was moving so fast, it was incredible.

 

This is of a chunk of molten rock falling off into more lava. So cool.

This was the largest and longest breakout that we saw, and it was magnificent. It got lighter and lighter around us and then the scenery emerged and the coasline was way closer then I thought.

Probably since I’ve been seeing so much art about this, but this breakout really looked like the bust of a woman with long braided hair. I think it was Pele that I saw and she did look so beautiful in the morning.

Lava is so indescribable, like I really could never have imagined what it actually is like to be so close to the searing hot rock. Just the thought of how hot it is and then it comes from deep in the earth is incredible, but when your body gets warm and you have to blink a lot to keep your eyeballs cool, you can feel the force of energy that this earth is capable of. Incredible.

Soft as Chalk

The other day as I was admiring the way the early morning feels when I was collecting horse fodder down the driveway  and I remembered about this blog. I mean, I didn't really forget about it, but I realized that I need to make a concerted effort to thoughtfully reflect upon the extraordinary experiences that I am having here. Not only in order to more eloquently write about the cool things I seem to being getting myself into but also for myself; to consciously think about how happy and content I am to be here right now. Being truly in the moment is actually pretty hard, I think, but I've been practicing a lot lately. That's one reason I've sort of neglected some of this techmology. Anyway, in addition to recounting my experiences, I am going to work on also elucidating the things I'm learning about people, the earth, and energy.

Alas, I'm fairly exhausted, so all of that is going to come in time. I've been helping my friend Zoe to paint the exterior of an extension she put on her garage. She's going to move into it and rent out her house, but the place is jungalow styled and after some fuckery with contractors, she was left with the frame of the house and no money. So, I will also be adding exterior house painting  to my C.V. Except, maybe I shouldn't because somehow I've managed to get an absurd amount of paint on myself all 4 days I've painted. Like, even by my standards it's been rediculous. And although I don't have any pictures of that, on Saturday, Zoe took me on a partial island tour towards the south. Since I've been here, I've really only stayed in my district of Puna, and she was gracious enough to show me some more of this fucking incredible island.

My goal is to get less tired soon so that I can reflect more about this experience, but I'm going to put up a few pictures in the meantime to whet your appetite...

A macadamia nut tree orchard :) Raw ones right from the shell taste like acorns except way better

The Wood Valley Buddhist Temple

I call this one “Cinderconeinacloud”

This is looking north towards Puna where I live

 

Actually, this restaurant had the dankest coconut cream pie ever. Seriously. Ever.

Techmology is everywhere!!! Driving to South Point are these satellites and a bunch of  very photogenic old windmills

And this is one of the most beautiful places on earth. South Point: America’s most southerly point. We were there at sunset and it was breath taking.

This is an old boat launch. Also a site where lots of people jump off the 35 ft cliffs into the water. I will be doing this shortly, and the fact that I couldn’t do it then (it was cold, close to dark, and no towel…) has been bothering me. I need to jump off of high rocks into water. You can kind of see the ladder along the side that you climb up…

This is close to the green sand beach, which we unfortunately didn’t get to go to, but this one was pretty cool. It had white sand :) and a lot of plastics and trash from the Pacific Gyre :(

 

And as if I couldn’t have been more overstimulated, we went to the park, Volcanoes National Park that is, to see the Halema’uma’u crater in the Kilauea caldera. Holy shit, it was so incredible. The amount of lava that must be pooling in there is incredible. Eee- living near active lava is so interesting. People talk about it like the weather.

One final note and then I’ve really been working on this for too long: I applied for a job! as a security guard in the parking lot where the tourists come to see the lava. HA! I hope I get it. I’ll get a badge…

Oh! and I got a haircut:

Hannukah oh Hannukah

Happy Hanukkah Friends!
Actually, I haven't really been celebrating, except for last night when I happened across the other jew on the island and she had a menorah made out of a plank of wood :) So, I got to break out a little hebrew for the benefit of the non-jews present. And! I made a dreidel out of clay! And! I made dessert latkes, which also had carrots and raisins and ginger and cinnamon in addition to the potatoes. They were pretty damn good and it felt nice to do something for the holiday.

Perhaps the second night of Hannukkah has been best so far though. I went to an incredible poetry/storytelling performance by this incredible queer poet named Kimberly Dark, who was workshopping a new show idea. It was incredible, she made this "deck" of cards that had art from 6 artists she knows, which all correlated to stories/poems. Her idea is to make completely unique performances for this show, so she had a member of the audience pick 5 of the pictures and she performed the stories on the back. There were 5 categories including, sex, politics, love, power, and "the all". The all was a whole idea that really interested me about the ultimate energy force or something that connects everyone. Kimberly was an incredible performer and she emoted so strongly that I know everyone in the room felt like she was talking to them. Plus, her subject matter totally resonated with me in terms of feminism, gender nonconformity, and her love for this island. It was a great show and it was funny because the main audience was the old dykes who live in this area and I've noticed/been noticed by most of the women who were there before, but it was interesting seeing them in a social setting...

Lava, How’d you get so cool? Thanks though…

I guess that’s probably wrong, since lava is like 2000 degrees.

I walked out to the lava on Friday to give thanks to Pele since I was in a pretty thankful mood from Thursday's thank-fest. Which, by the way was really a good time. I was able to cook some deliciousness at my friend Zoe’s house before we went to her cool friends house. I made my standard all from scratch apple pie, but I added fresh ginger and lemon as well as a fresh mango and cranberry relish that had honey, garlic and a Hawaiian chile (these tiny super spicy peppers that are almost as hot as habaneras on the scoville scale). The relish was soo good, and the rest of the food was pretty delicious too. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the company was good which made a warm family vibe. However, I did get a bit sad about not being in familiar surroundings with family and old friends on this holiday. It’s kind of weird being away at times like this… But, I am very thankful for the new friends I’m making and the the my new and improved lifestyle :)

Anyway, no pictures from thanksgiving, but I have a bunch from the lava, duh. I still cannot express in words or pictures how incredible of a sight and experience it is to see live active geology. This lava is seriously not staying in one spot, and in fact I heard it took another house/farm near the road yesterday when I was at the ocean entry. That’s just the second one this year, but the ones that are out there are all built atop the 1990 flow that also destroyed lots of homes. Estupido.

Things are changing pretty quickly here and even since the last time I was out there, it looks totally different. For instance, that beach where I took the last set of lava pictures has almost totally eroded and there are only big boulders rolling in the surf. Incredible. Okay, without further delay (if you haven’t already scrolled down): here are some pictures…

   

The Cattery

I can now put construction, and specifically of catteries, to my resume.

What’s that? You don’t know what a cattery is? Well, let me explain, but I’ll start from the beginning: So, Roach killed himself and left 9 cats and no will. Becky, being the most legitimate cat lady I’ve ever met, obviously went on a cat rescue mission. Complicating this whole tragic event even more is the fact that Roachs mother and sister (and her friend, debatably partner) apparently didn’t really know him or care about him or something, but within a week of them being here, they liquidated the entire house and obviously only cared about what money they could get. Totally rude, and they took over and kicked becky out and took her keys to the house and everything. So, the last weekend, cattery construction ensued.

There were already 17 cats on the farm and they all have their own territories, so Becky decided it necessary to build an enclosure in the jungle around her daughter Abby’s house. Abby is on the mainland and that other guy Mike stayed there while he was here. Anyway, there was some extra tin roofing panels, and Becky decided to nail them to 2x4’s that were nailed between trees to create the ultimate Mad-Max-Jurassic-Park-Cattery-Fort.

It was a whole weekends plus Monday’s worth of work, and Michael and I were in charge of dragging the individual panels of roofing up the hill and screwing them into the 2x4. Then we had to put lava rocks at the base on either side (which was mostly my job) and shoots it was hard work. This is what it looks like from the inside and even though it’s blurry, you can kind of see the rough terrain on which we were building this extreme cat fence.

And this is from the outside. it was the craziest thing I had ever built, but it was pretty fun- and Roach left Becky some money to take care of them and she gave me $100! thanks roach…

This is one of the new cats named Penny hanging out in the cattery… note the giant rocks piled up on the edges of the repurposed roofing…

Since we spent the energy and time on the cattery, the greenhouse basically got ignored for 3 days, which was not good, because plants don’t stop growing if you need a break. We’re pretty behind in terms of pruning and clipping and treatments, so things are going to be a little bit hectic for awhile, but another WWOOFer guy who has been here before is coming in a couple weeks. So that’ll be a big help.

Until then, I hope you see as high a level of humor as I do about the cattery…

It is a real sight…

This is part of the stairs going to the second floor and Becky a little bit. She’s been staying up there with the cats until they get used to it or something. This is the corner of the fence against one side of the house. These pictures really don’t give the grandeur of the structure enough credit.

Heavy Heavy

Saturday morning, Becky’s ex boyfriend and close friend, Roach, committed suicide at his home nearby. There is a long and complicated story that is attached to the whole situation, apparently he had been suicidal for awhile, but this time he actually did it. Needless to say, Becky is pretty devastated, but she has been dealing with the situation fairly well it seems. Her sister came into town Saturday night and has been staying with her at his house (they were worried about people stealing his shit) for the first part of the week, but things are slowly starting to return to normal.

As for me, Roach’s suicide really made me think, I wasn’t really upset or anything, as I had only met him a few times, but it sparked a lot of thought about the nature of suicide as well as the mechanics of one’s actual death. I was a little shaken up on Saturday, so I went to visit Pele, and while I was walking across the lava field, I was imagining what it must look like when someone's soul and energy leaves their body and rejoins with the eternal energy life force. Afterwards, I went to the beach to visit the water and I sat in a big dead tree on the edge of the beach for a long time and I talked to him. I think, because I could feel it, that initially after someone dies, that energy is released and for a little while while it’s in transition to wherever or whatever or just while  the atoms and molecules are being reabsorbed into the earth, you can connect with that energy or whatever it may be. So, I told him how his permanent solution to fairly temporary problems had affected me, someone he probably didn’t even think it would. It just reiterates the fact that suicide is a selfish act that leaves victims out of innocent bystanders. It really just sucks, but things have to and do keep going. I think things are to go back to “normal” soon, but until then, empathy is pouring and I am trying to do everything possible to be helpful.

I’ve been enjoying the company of some new friends and I really like this process of joining the community. I’ve been going all over the place with people and doing cool things, and I just love having friends again. Except having friends in the real world seems way different then before. Perhaps it’s because I’m not living in the same place as all my friends, and I actually get to go to other peoples houses and stuff.

Some cool things lately:

#1 Acrobatic Yoga: I did it for the first time on Sunday on this lawn of a big subdivision overlooking the ocean. Basically, it’s like playing airplane-yoga. This guy named Joelle lay down on his back with his feet up in the air holding me up by my hips. The yoga part is when he twists and moves your body in different positions. It was one of the most incredible stretches I’ve ever felt and it was so fun. It looks pretty cool too. I need to figure out where I can get me some more of that

-Snorkeling yesterday at this amazing reef with more biodiversity then I’ve seen underwater, ever. The corals and the fish and the urchins oh my. Here are some incredible pictures, thanks to my friend Zoe! It was so incredible the things I saw…

Endemic purple and Yellow Corals

Pencil Urchin!

Two kinds of puffer fish hanging out!

-Driving up the coast to Laupahoehoe (la-pa-hoy-hoy), which was this little park and boat ramp at the site of where a school used to be that was destroyed by a tsunami a long time ago. The cool part was there were a bunch of gulches, or river valleys, that you drive around/through and they were so incredible. Ohmygah, this island is so beautiful, I can’t even take it. And, I really haven’t seen much of it at all.

Hokay, unclear if we’ll get internet back at the farm, but I am sort of liking being less connected. It’s nice just to be absorbed with nature. Speaking of which, it’s time to do some of that.

Ooo Baby, here I am, come rub up on my belly like guava jelly.

<--- This is a line from a real Hawaiin song. No shit.
Anyway, because I feel a little bad that i haven't updated in a long while and since I tried to upload this before, here is a little video.

Awake in Breakfastland

So, in these hard economic times, I got meself another job. Actually, on Monday I got a call from the Kalapana Village Cafe, where I turned in a application when I first got here. On Tuesday, I went in for an interview and my first day was yesterday. I am a line cook for the breakfast shift and I am sooo excited to be in a real kitchen again! I am also excited to start making a bit of money, although I’m pretty set since the farm work gives me a place to stay and some food and the cafe will give me food too. The only thing that I’m  bit upset about though is that this will interfere with my everyday swimming regiment. I’m going to have to probably work on the farm some afternoons after the cafe and ugh, I’m about to get a lot more busier. I also have to get up even earlier because I have to be there by 7 and I have to walk or bike the two miles there. It’s a pretty generous shift (until 3) and I’ll probably be working 3 or 4 days a week. And as potentially arrogant as it is, I can tell I’m a better cook then the kid who is training me and I am excited to improve the quality and look of the food.

So that’s been this week along with climbing a tall ladder repeatedly in the greenhouse to hang support strings from. It’s taking me a lot longer then it should and I’ve even been going in in the afternoons after I swim. I’m nervous that with this new job I’m not going to be able to be as active on the farm, which is what I really want to do, but I hope I’ll be able to manage the two jobs. Becky is so flexible and I’m definitely dedicated to  the success of this farm, but I know that it’s going to be a lot more then what I’ve become used to.

I had a really wonderful Halloween weekend with a lot of thanks to my friend Joelle and her mom Paige. I met up with them on Saturday and we hung out at the hot pond as per usual but then Paige took us to a haunted house at one of the local high schools and it was actually pretty scary. I was surprised, but all the kids were into it and screaming and bloody and ah. Then we had dinner at the most popular restaurant in Pahoa, the mexican place- Luquin’s. I had an incredible lilikoi (passionfruit) margarita with a Li Hi Mui (red fruit sugar?) rim. So tropical, so good.

Anyway, then Joelle and I went to a party that I was invited to by these nice ladies I met at the Natural Food Store and it was awesome. There was so much good energy at this party and I had more fun there then any Radnor Halloween. Everyone was dressed up (I was a boyscout :) ) and dancing to really good music spun by cool DJ’s and there was a bonfire and more fire dancing and a lot of people I knew plus a lot more I didn’t and everyone was friendly and no one was invasively dancing with you. It was great. Then I slept at Joelle’s (Paige designed this really cool octagon house in one of the big subdivisions called Nanawale) and Sunday, we three had a really great time. Paige works for the Big Island Invasive Species Committee and she does educational outreach and she was setting up a table at Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center’s Eco-Festival. Joelle and I helped her to set up and we got to hang out in this amazing venue with lots of diverse trees and shelters and things. We managed not to pay even though the event cost $20 and Paige had to pay. It was a really cool atmosphere and totally environmentally concious, which I’m so into. Anyway, I fell in love with a 16 month old baby girl named Senseimi (sp?) and her mom too, Sunday. She is this really cool Hawaiian lady who founded the roller derby team in Hilo :) and has just has the most incredible kid. I stayed for an aerial dance/traditional hula/ modern dance performance, which was really cool. 

Too much ramble, not enough substance. Sorry- with the severe lack of internet, getting these up and going has been hard and I’ve been loosing track and coming back, etc. I’m also about to get a lot more busy, but I’m not too worried about it.

Jurassic Climate Realization

Thank you for the comments, I was feeling at the time sort of lonely or something. I haven’t had internet at the farm for the past couple of weeks and so I’m just now uploading this post that I made a couple weeks ago. I’ve been continuing to have a really good time here and I’m more and more comfortable being here and doing the things that I do.

I’ve been keeping an extremely healthy lifestyle and it’s becoming apparent in my physical, mental, and emotional condition. It’s so easy to eat good fresh local food and I have been so active consistently, it’s kind of incredible. This place is so conducive to being healthy, that I’m really getting into it and I am continuing to feel better wholly then I have in a long time.

Anyway, to the realization------------

Michael and I were eating lunch in Hilo at the Queens gardens and I realized right there in front of me were cycads. CYCADS! Now, if you don’t know, cycads, are a time of prehistoric plant that are sort of like giant pineapples and not only are they still around as a living fossil in some places including Hawaii, but they were also one of the primary plants during the Triassic/Jurassic. This means that I am living in a similar climate to when the dinosaurs were around! This may not seem so incredible to some, but to me, this is fantastic- the warm climate isn’t only nice for the fact that it’s November and I’m still swimming and wearing shorts but it’s also more plausible that if there were still dinosaurs, they might be here. Probably not though, since this is an island in the middle of the ocean, but perhaps there could be dwarf dinosaurs…

Here are some pictures of the cycads. They’re so cool in real life. I have and have seen a bunch of cycad fossils but touching live ones was soo cool.

  

There are also an incredible amount of different fern species (also an early type of plant in plant evolution) and they have great displays of rows of spores on the underside.

Other things- I went to a rave/party a couple weekends ago, which was definitely interesting. The most interesting part being trying to make my way back to my bed late at night. Good thing was I was with a new friend named Barclay and we had a really good time walking by the moonlight and adventuring into places we shouldn’t have been. It was fun going out, since that’s not really something I’ve done a lot since I’ve been here, but I remembered how much I dislike drunk people. Although there were a lot of really entertaining people who were tripping or rolling on other various drugs and they weren’t bad at all. There was also fire dancing! Apparently, fire spinning is really popular here and that was the first time I’ve seen it on the island but since then, I’ve seen it 4 or 5 more times. It’s mesmerizing to watch someone manipulate fire and move with it in a rhythmic beautiful way.

It’s almost as incredible as watching the earth play with fire…

Inspiration and Expiration

Sunday was quite the day as it tends to be but alas I’m loosing connection (kindof) with techmology and I forgot to charge my phone to take pictures of all the cool and interesting things that I saw. So, to satisfy your booboo craving of the day, here he is in all his glory, snoring away. You might think that the snoring is caused by his vertical sleeping position, but really, I just turned the picture because it looked better this way. Still unclear as if he actually snores and what the cause might be. Notice my coconut ashtray…

I decided to go to the big farmers market that they have on Sundays near Pahoa called Mu’ku’u market and so after walking the 1.5 miles to the usual pick up point and after getting a ride to Pahoa with a guy who thought global warming was a conspiracy, I decided to walk the rest of the way the market. I knew it was on the same road and I knew it was kind of far but after encountering someone who wouldn’t believe in the facts if I had showed him the figures, I decided the walk would allow me to think a lot about the world and all it’s inhabitants and all the different opinions about the earth and other humans. Turns out it was 3.5 miles away. It was alright though, because it was a nice warm day with some clouds and I worked up an appetite for the delicious and eclectic food that they have at the market. I got a delicious vegan sandwich, because it was cheap and had loads of organic veggies and some kimchee with shrimp. I ran into a nice guy that I met a few weeks who lives near the beach and he offered me a ride there. So that was nice not to have to hitch.

Anyway, Sunday. Beach Day. Social Hour(s).

Since I have been going to the beach now every Sunday since I got here, the regulars are starting to recognize me and I’m making friends with people and then get to hang out with them the next week. My whole day is spent walking around from one group to another and hanging out with people I’ve already met and meeting new ones. And of course I go swimming, but also dance to the drum circle music or hula hoop with this incredibly beautiful woman who wears feathers in her hair, or swing on a tree swing, or play with children and puppies or climb stuff. Sunday is always such a fun day but I’m always super exhausted walking up the driveway, in the dark, later then I stay up most nights.

This past Sunday, this girl Allison and I climbed the sheer rock wall at the back of the beach using roots from a tree growing at the top near the road. It was so exhilarating and something that I have wanted to do since I saw someone do it the first day I was there.

The ocean did bang me up pretty good though. I got tossed in this HUGE wave and smacked my face on the bottom and then a rock hit my head too. Ouch. My jaw hurts and I have a little tender bump on the top of my head and I had a nasty headache, but I’m pretty much okay. I was pretty lucky though because a nice woman named Jenny offered to rebalance my energies (she does reiki and healing massage) and her hands were incredible, she really helped and I think I would be in more pain today had she not done what she did. Unclear.

Then, a nice guy named Froggy, who plays in the drum circle offered to give me a ride and his friend Joshua jumped in to. The three of us ended up hanging out for a couple of hours and had some really good conversation. We also laughed a lot too, which is always a lot of fun and especially with people you’re just meeting.

This post isn’t really going where I thought it was going to go and I have a lot more to say about everything, but I feel like if I make it too long, you won’t read it. Especially since I’m not really stating anything extremely creative or profound. That’s where the inspiration part comes in. Since starting this blog, I’ve gotten into reading other peoples blogs and some people write so eloquently their personal social commentaries, or worldy observations, or comical retorts to pop culture, or they have extremely creative photographs and blog formatting. Ugh. I am hoping that this will help to improve my writing and that one day, my stories will have you on the edge of your seat in suspense. Just you wait.

Perhaps if I had some freakin’ feedback. C’mon, how come most of my comments are from my mom? Not that I don’t love an appreciate her more than anything, but throw me a proverbial bone here.

Do most cats snore?

Because, I’m pretty sure mine does. Now, just to preface, we had a cat named Cato when I was younger, but since I tend to be rambunctious and that tendency was accentuated as a child, Cato endured a lot of excited harassment. Well, I learned my lesson after a few nasty scratches to the face, but since have not really been a “cat person”. I haven’t ever sought them out at peoples houses and I generally think that why would you have a cat when you could have a dog. However, as of recently, I would estimate around middle 2009, I have started to actually enjoy the company of felines and after living here and being adopted by booboo, I’m really starting to cross the threshold into catdom. For instance, yesterday, I went on a cat tour and spent 10 or 20 minutes with a bunch of different cats scratching them and hanging out. This is too much for me and I fear the resultant need for feline companionship.

I tried to catch booboo snoring…

There are so many cats here that I could take a picture of each one and have soooo many blog posts. But, alas, I think if this became a cat blog, less of you would read. So, I’ll try and resist this urge.

Okay, actually, this is Snuffy and he is extremely cute. I like to call him Shabby though- it  just fits better, I think.

Work this week was pretty good, a couple of the grafts that I tried actually worked! The big project I worked on was constructing and installing irrigation lines for some new troughs that we also prepped the soil for and planted keikis in at the end of the week. This is the first time in about 3 years that all three bays of the greenhouse have had plants in them and is an accomplishment and a step towards making this a profitable business. Speaking of which, Becky told me that when the middle bay starts producing in a couple weeks, she’s going to start giving me a stipend. Michael told me that she has never offered that to a WWOOFer before. I know that I wasn’t too worried, but it’s really nice that she likes me and I’m glad because her life has been really stressful lately and I want to help make it easier. 

Here are the newly planted keikis in the foreground (notice the excellent craftsmanship on the black irrigation tubing), the teenaged tomatoes in bay 2 in the middle ground and then way in the back, you can sort of see the oldest crop, which is on it’s final legs of production. That crop was producing 50 lbs a day at it’s prime with an average of about 20lbs a day for about a month. Pretty cool.

Alright, well it’s Sunday, which means it’s beach day. But first, I think I’m going to go to this thing called E-dance. It’s club dancing to techno and house music and the like at 10:30am to get your endorphins up every Sunday morning. I have some friends who’ll be there, so I think I’m going to attempt to meet them.

Although I miss the changing leaves and fall and layering, I so love the fact that it’s the middle of October and I can still go to the beach.

Sissy Hankshaw’s thumbs.

I have really been getting used to living here, which is awesome, but it means that I’m also getting used to all the crazy/funny/strange things that happen to me day to day but I forget that they might be significant enough for you to want to know.

I’ve been reading this great book,Even Cowgirls get the Blues by Tom Robbins and it is really resonating with me. Not only is there a lot of intelligent liberal hippy philosophy but the main character has enlarged thumbs that were made for hitchhiking. She, therefore, makes that her life’s passion and it has really been inspiring for my hitch hiking adventures.I think that it’s one of my favorite things about living here. I usually have to walk about 1.5 miles down the driveway and to an intersection before I can get a ride, but the other day I walked about 3 miles before I got a ride and on Monday for some reason my hitching was off and I was having terrible luck getting a ride and ended walking about 4 miles. Anyway, my new favorite method of travel is in the back of someone's pickup looking at the coast and the trees and everything with a 360 degree perspective. It’s really incredible. This is the intersection in Pohoiki (by the hot ponds) that I stood at for awhile the other day waiting for a ride…

This was on Monday I think, when I went into town and hung out with some of my new friends, Richie- a cute gay boy from Southern California and Sam- the cutest boy from London who keeps a totally raw diet and is extremely interesting. Then, the three of us caught a ride ( we put the good karma out there by singing to the cars…) to the tide pools, which are a little bit farther north from the hot ponds. You have to go through this development to get to the tide pools, which is kind of weird, but they were incredible and the snorkeling there was a million times better then at the hot ponds. There are so many cool fish and corals growing on the bottom and the water was so clear. It was beautiful and Sam shared fresh macadamia nuts with us, that we had to crack open with a rock.  

Hanging out with them has been the highlight of my week so far. After the tide pools, while we were waiting to get a ride we got coconuts out of a tree and had a good time cracking them open. I really really love living in an environment that is conducive to eating from the side of the road. Then we went to the ponds so that I could do my laps and the plan was to meet up with Michael so he could give me a ride back to the farm, but we got there after he left so that’s when I had to hitch and had such bad luck. Anyway, I saw this on my way back to the farm and it’s pretty much the only piece of graffiti that I’ve seen on the island. I like it.

 

I’ve pretty much lost most concept of time or dates. It’s interesting and sort of unnecessary, but I do always make it to the beach on Sundays. Sometimes Saturdays too, but this past week I got there really early and it was raining. So, I went to the back of the beach where the cliffs begin to stay dry. Well these rocks just scream “Climb Me!” and so I did. Here, I’m sitting on a ledge about 20 ft up. The view of the ocean was incredible and I really enjoyed it up there and stayed for a long time. The beach on Sundays is so much fun, people are just everywhere smoking and drinking and hanging out with each other. I meet new people every week and it’s really nice to come back and see familiar faces. My favorite beach guy is OCN (unclear how to spell his name, it’s Celtic but it sounds like the letters O-C-N) who is from Poland and has long silver hair. He has the kindest eyes and we always have a good time talking together.

These two pictures are from last Saturday on the cliffs by the beach. This guy Skyler and I hung out all day and ended up here near the beach. I really can’t get over how incredible it is to live this close to the coast and to be so near to water. I’m so close in fact that at night I can hear the waves crashing against the coast about 1 mile away. Cool.

You can kind of see in the picture above the small steps that you have to climb to get up from this spot we were hanging out in. Cool. But totally dangerous, it’s kind of crazy how vulnerable one really in by being in or near the water. Two days ago, when we went to the store at Kaimu Bay ( near Kalapana, where the cafe is),there were all these emergency vehicles around including a boat. Apparently, a local surfer got swept out to see. I read in the paper today that they still haven’t found the body. Pretty sad, but one thing I’ve realized is that the ocean is not very forgiving here and you have to be smart about getting into the water. Note taken.

Alright, that seems good for now. I’ll try and be more frequent and less long.