the season of Holly

Sunday morning & coffee served in bed. How incredible it is that I  look out my window from the luxurious comfort of my incredibly sensous red silk sheets (!!!) & have an uninterrupted view of a wall of green sheer mass. The dichotomy of color saturation: the red silk curtains from India, against the backdrop of various exotics- all of which I might add are fairly invasive to Hawaii's flora... Ah, spell broken- slightly.

It's the aromas emitted from outside that waft in. It wraps itself around my body- fighting for space in between the silk sheets, as well as other contenders. But enough of that... that was last week's blogbits! The sweet grasses, the night-blooming jasmine (what lucky girl would NOT plant night-blooming jasmine outside her bedroom... all the better to intoxicate any man and render them senseless- kinda like the one-two punch). Again I find myself off track! So to proceed quickly & on track it's a smelly wonderland in this atmosphere. The addition of and Italian espresso roast... Sunday morning sanctuary.

Maui life continues to honor myself w/blessings of friendships and amazing events- this week no different. It's complicated at this point because I just want to cut loose but this last semester in grad school seems painful & I need to stay focused. I have been completely satiated w/life the past 20 months just working like mad, taking classes, running, going to yoga & little else. Certainly no time for manly distractions on a scale more serious than catching my eye & little else. There is a certain comfort to know I want no intense connections while I'm in grad school BUT as this is my last semester...

I was Skyping w/Australia yesterday, while studying, and I feel compelled to honor another connection. Last entry I commented on influential men in my life but there is one more element who has shared in my molding of sorts. Yes, the very Wild Thing. How can I not look back at my Santa Cruz years and just smile so wide. DP was so different than any chick I knew there. She's this wild Tasmanian that taught me to hang out on the porch in the mornings w/coffee, cigs (her) &  spliffs while rubbing papaya peels over our faces to soak in the enzymes while listening to Charlie Parker & company.

It was those formative years of mine that I used to look at her and just think, "wow, this chick really tells it like it is." What I have found out throughout the years that she represents almost a certain breed of females down under- she's what I would call the Alpha Female of the southern hemisphere. I say this because anywhere I've traveled throughout the world since meeting her, and I do mean some of the most remote places where females usually don't travel alone- well, other chicks I've met up & traveled with have been Aussies. Just true grit them. What she, probably unknowingly, taught me was to never compromise yourself, or your principles more so- for anybody- period. If people can't accept you for who you are, you can't will them to do so. If a man doesn't like you the way you want them to, they never will so just move on. She taught me to honor myself to trust my instincts- as others have but coming from a female role model, well this plays itself out differently.

Talking to her yesterday was like we were transported back to Santa Cruz, back to her little shack on 34th Ave, or back to the Boz's in the Jewel Box on the edge of the sea cliffs at Capitola-by-the-sea. It was a fantastic journey back through time. It made me realize my journey, my timeline is what I make it. I realize I have turned her stories that I so enthusiastically gripped onto every word back then, have turned into my stories. I have created my own stories. I now realize that a she played a crucial role in my becoming an anthropologist/archaeologist. My amazement in humanity & the legacy of cultures stemmed from many of our conversations- many of which consisted of copious amounts of red wine & other adult party favors... teeheehee! LOVE YOU GIRL. Also DP perhaps you want to think about investing some $ in Maui w/me & we can purchase some property... I've been thinking I want something permanent here to come back to while I continue to travel around the globe & work.  Good place for you to set up the family & do your thing...

Coffee cup now empty, the rain has abated to a background humming, the forest canopy still holding up the cloudy sky, and the red silk sheets still envelops me, it's time to concentrate on the day at hand: get up, study- that's it... It's no wonder I lazily lay in bed dreaming about the past and the future as present day seems less thrilling than said timeline! No complaints as, let's see, Friday night pau hana spent in the charming Wailuku town w/friends drinking red wine at Marc Aurel Cafe & listening to Kanekoa before heading out to the Iao Theatre for a showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 Last night was the Maui County Fair- complete w/regrettable amounts of subpar carnival food- carmel apple excepted! I will say that the subpar food came just in time though as we polished off the bottle (red wine, of course) a little too quickly back in Haiku before journeying into town while catching one last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I thought I might have one of those 'moments' but ended up keeping it together, lol! We did take a ride on the Ferris Wheel.

 I love the view of the island from Ferris Wheels. The lights of the Fair set against a backdrop of darkness- with a full moon glowing on the eastern horizon slowly making its way towards us. It was incredibly beautiful.  I love the fair. It represents a time of year when Maui is at it's most beautiful. There are subtle changes in the weather that are apparent to the 'kama`aina' or children of the land. It is most special. The winds of summer die down a bit, the first winter swells start hitting our shores, the parking lot at Ho`okipa fills w/happy, smiling faces of surfers taking out their guns that have been in storage since the last of the previous seasons winter swells. All of the north shore is full of people smiling! There are parking spots in Paia town once again. I love this time of year.