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…