Christmas Imu and Other Sports

Our first Christmas away from family. Does it feel like the holidays? Well, sorta, kinda, not really, I suppose so. We have had various changes over the past few years in the Family Christmas that this one just seems like another new kind. There was the Christmas in the Caribbean with the boys - no Kaylen, no tree, really no presents. Then there was the Christmas when Nathaniel was on his mission - no Kaylen, no Nathaniel. Now we have Christmas in Maui - no Kaylen, no Nathaniel, no John. Sad? No, not really. Different? Yes, very. We bought a tree at K-Mart. It's lovely and will go back into the box after the 1st. All our favorite family ornaments went on and Robert and I enjoyed it every night.
So what did we do for our first Maui Christmas? Why, what every other real Hawaiian family does - we had an imu! For those of you who are imagining that we were involved with some sort of large exotic bird (that's an EMU, by the way) and imu is a traditional Hawaiian ground oven. People have been cooking underground longer than they've been using ovens. Our high priest group decided it would be nice to build an imu in our back yard and offer it to anyone who would like to bring their food over Christmas Eve to cook overnight to be ready on Christmas Day. For my Kiwi friends, you'll recognize it as a Hangi. For my East Coast friends, you'll be reminded of a clam bake - without the clams.
Ok, back to the imu....
1. Three old guys get together and dig a pit. A BIG pit. 2. They go out and cut kiawe wood (it's the same wood as mesquite or acacia. 3. The build a dome of lava rock interspersed with kiawe. It's constructed around a vertical log which will later serve as the wick. The engineering is critical, it's built so that as it burns, it collapses inside and flattens evenly out.

Robert and Librando uncovering the pit

So well put together. Do you see the center stick?

There's the center log sticking out of the top

3. To light the imu, they pull the center log out, stuff burlap down it and pour in the kerosene.

4. One match!

5. Now that it's burning, they put a rock over the hole left by the log. That forces the fire to burn from the inside out.

So now it gets hot, hotter and super-duper hot!

Then they throw the split banana stumps on top (they're full of water so they'll be doing the steaming inside) and lay banana leaves on top of that.

The food pans are placed on top of the banana leaves and then, it's all covered with wet burlap bags, tarps and DIRT!

All wrapped up inside, no smoke or steam escapes and we wait until Christmas morning to unwrap our big present!

And the next morning....

Kau Kau! Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Ross' come for a visit...

By popular demand, (and for all you non-FB people), I am posting a brief pictorial of our dear friends, Evie and John Ross' first visit to Hawaii.

 Hookipa Beach Park at Sunset - First day.

 Yes, we went to Hana. Kinda by accident...went to Ulapalakua, then on to Kaupo and by then, why heck, might as well go all the way to Hana.

 Dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise up in Lahaina. Afterwards, Ulalena show. Fun evening.

 Back at Hookipa. The turtles come on shore every night. How many do you see? By the time we left there were 20!

What trip to Maui would be complete without Ulalani Shave Ice?

John says shave ice is so ono!

October - Time is going by so fast it's SPOOKY!

Alone...on an island...in the middle of the Pacific. Well, ok, I'm not really alone but my man has left me for the mainland - temporarily. Last Wednesday, Robert headed back to NoCal for a visit with John and a few honey-dos at our home in Santa Rosa. The pool had gotten out of hand and it was time to pump the septic. What a fun trip! Algae and, well, you know. He is having a fun visit with Kaylen and John and wrapping up the loose ends of building permits. The dogs and I are holding down the fort at Apala Farm. So the moment Robert boards his plane, what happens? The kitchen sink leaks. Not just drip, drip, drip - we're talking Lake Erie. Being Mrs. Goodwrench, I jump into action, taking apart the U bend, reseating the joints, tightening, loosening, whatever and VOILA! No more leak!

The pot will remain under the sink until Robert returns.
Progress (outside of plumbing setbacks) on Apala Farm continues. The property is pretty much clear of cane grass, except for the persistent new growth, and maintenance has diminished to mowing. New plants are added all the time - my plumeria keikis are going into the ground today, along with the mountain apple. Before he left, Robert and I erected a Costco storage tent for the ATV and lawn tractor. And....(drum roll please) WE HAVE A NEW FRONT DOOR!! The old door had to go. Every time it rained, the skin of the door would curl more. Put in a lovely oval glass door that closes perfectly (with no gap underneath for mice, geckos, roaches etc. to waltz into our house) and looks great!
So yesterday was cleaning day. And laundry day. I promised myself if I did all my chores, I could go to the beach so inspired by the prospect of the sun and the sea, I dug in, sweated a bunch and made my house sparkle. Packed up some crackers and, of course, a Diet Coke and headed up to Lahaina. It was a beautiful day up there, light breeze - just enough to keep it a bit cooler, crystal clear and very pleasant. Walked the beach, sat in my chair, drank my Diet Coke and contemplated my blessings.

Inspired by the beauty of the day, instead of jamming back Upcountry, I stopped several times to snap a few more pictures.

 Near Thousand Peaks

September 1st...Really?

I had to double check my calender - twice. Hard to believe I've been here three full months now. It's a new life for sure, but living on Maui is only part of it.
I'm going to allow myself one paragraph to lament. I've begun to experience the "empty nest" syndrome. I find myself pining for the days of busy, busy, busy with my kids as the center of my universe. But then I remember it is a season past and living on Maui isn't the cause for the change in seasons. I bolster myself with the sweet knowledge that the memories will be mine forever and all of my children are embarking on wonderful lives. Ok...I'm done.
Well, we bought a car. Not just a car, but a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l 2007 Toyota Prius. I just love it! Robert found it on Craigslist over on Oahu and after some quick airline reservations, a fast phone call to Ray Reynolds over in Waimanalo, a whirlwind day on Oahu and a week and a half waiting for shipping, we are burning up the Maui roads at a stunning 47mpg. Whoa!!! After the last 3 months of 15mpgs in the Whopper, I feel like I'm getting away with murder!

        This is the best picture. The juxtaposition of the Hog and the Hybrid! Isn't she cute though?

We still find joy in every day here on Maui. I think it would be the sin of ingratitude if we didn't. The real myth of Hawaiian life is that every day is the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each day, each HOUR is different and brings with it joyous discovery (if you're looking for it). The highlight of our week was an impromptu dinner down at the beach. We had spent most of the day working around the farm and fretting over building department issues we're still working through in Santa Rosa (ugh). I proposed that I make a nice bento (box lunch) dinner and we go down to the beach for the sunset.  It was a beautiful evening with barely a breeze so we packed up our dinner and headed to nearby Ho'okipa Beach park.

Robert swam for a while - there was virtually no swell that evening, I delighted in the babies on the beach and we enjoyed a delicious dinnner. The sunset was breathtaking:

Then, around 7pm, the TURTLES BEGAN TO COME ASHORE!

By the time we left at dark there were between 20-25 turtles (some the size of our dinner table) on the beach. It was an amazing experience.

So that my friends, is what life here is like for me. Do I still have problems? Yep, they're still rollin' in. Do I miss my kids? Like crazy. Does my body still ache a little when I get up in the morning? Every day. Am I ready for bed by 9:30? Oh yeah! But I've got to say, I'm still living the dream, loving my life and feeling grateful for every breath!

I still like it here - grouchy sharks and all!

The sharks are grumpy. In my book, the best sharks are the ones you never run across in the ocean. But for some reason, the shark activity on Maui is ramped up. Maybe Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" got 'em going - I dunno but we've had two shark attacks, one resulting in a twenty year old woman losing an arm and a retired school teacher from California getting chomped. Then a shark bit an unmanned kite board over at Kanaha. Both of the people shark bites happened over on the Wailea/Makena side. The lost arm incident happened at a beach near where we were swimming. (Shiver)

Last Sunday this was up at Lahaina:

What da???? They're supposed to begin a study next month on Tiger Sharks to see if they behave differently on Maui. Like, what are they looking for? Those subtle differences like hula from island to island? Do they flip their fins? Do they swim counter clockwise when hunting?
Here's a study they can do ...why people insist on swimming when the water is murky. Why people insist on swimming at the mouth of rivers. If we were meant to swim with sharks, God wouldn't have made swimming pools. All of us who saw "Jaws" have been forever scarred. I've never seen a shark while swimming or windsurfing. Let's keep it that way, k?

Other Maui news....

It's great here. No, I mean it - it's REALLY great here. I don't have a day go by that I don't count my blessings for every moment I spend in Maui. It was warm today with not too much wind and tonight the scent of the puakenikeni trees are wafting through my windows filling the house with the deliciously sweet aroma. I love mowing the lawn. Seriously, I wait impatiently for the grass to get tall enough that I can get out on that red mower and just cut, cut, cut, cut! I get to see every nook and cranny of our lovely 2 acres. And guess what! My tuberose I planted has a flower spike on it now!! I am so excited, you can't even imagine. Tuberose is my very favorite flower scent - even beating out my beloved gardenias, who are just blooming up a storm.
And did I mention the coconut palms? Our friends gave us 3 coconut palms and two fish tail palms all of which are putting out new leaves. I talk to them in the morning when I walk the dogs encouraging them to grow and become big, lovely tropical trees. I think they like me - at least I like to think so.
Oh! And the red ginger! Another friend gave me some ginger roots and I planted them and some of them are knee high now! I love our plants.

I love Maui.

Flossie was not a jazz dance...

We had our first tropical storm - Flossie. Not to be confused with Fosse - no jazz hands here.
We've been told she was coming for the past 4 days. Off to Longs to buy water (yes, they still have Longs Drugs here). Froze a bunch of water so we'd have ice in case of a lengthy power outage. Gassed up the cars, the 5 gal. tank too!
Sat around watching the news, following the storm tracking. It's hot, there's no wind and it's misty out. Three showers later I'm still sweaty. Took the dogs out for potty walks, stowed the trash barrels, basically battened down the hatches. Flossie is supposed to arrive around 3pm. At 4pm, we look at each other and say, "Well, I guess that was it" and chalk it up to preparing for the worst and being gratefully disappointed.
I get a call from my friend Antoinette who needs help with her computer so I hop in the car and drive around the corner to her house and BAM!!! Who decides to show up, but Flossie!
Wowy wow woww!!! The wind, the rain, the thunder, the lightning!! It was crayyzie!!!! Lost power - no surprise there, and cell and land lines. Robert is home and I have no way to let him know I'm fine. Do I run out dodging the lightning? Do I stay until it dies down? How long do these things last? Finally, I brave the thunder under a borrowed pancho and make a mad dash out to my car on the street. I'm standing in a 6" puddle in rubber slippers while I unlock my car door. Kokomo Road looks like a raging river! Thank goodness I only had to go around the corner.
I arrived home to two very unhappy doggies down in the garage. Brought them up and calmed everyone down, found the flashlight, found the candles and matches and settled in to watch the end of Mother Nature's show. It only lasted for just over an hour, but it was an adrenaline pumping hour.

Pinch Me....

We are very happy here with our new island life. It's not that everyday is a Hawaiian vacation - truth is, we have yet to spend a day at the beach swimming and lounging. But the rhythm of life has settled into a very comfortable pace. Each day is the same, yet every moment is different. We still thrill at the sunrises and sunsets.

I have yet to tire of the fragrance of fresh cut gardenias in my kitchen window.

Our days start around 6am and I can't wait to get going! Of course, here in Maui the streets roll up at 8pm and 10pm is Maui Midnight. Livin' la vida loca, eh?

What does a typical day for the Aitchisons look like? Here's the basics:

Wake up with the chickens (literally) around 5:50.
Cup of tea and a quick check of email and FB (I'm ashamed to say)
Around 7:30 we pack the dogs in the car and head down to Baldwin Beach
Robert swims up to Paia and then down toward Baby Beach. I walk the dogs to Baby Beach and meet him on the way back.

Baby Beach

We walk back to Baldwin where Robert takes a fresh water shower while I load up the dogs.

If we have errands in "town" we do as much as we can then head back up the mountain (Did I mention that we live on the slopes of Haleakala - a 10,000' dormant volcano?)
A simple breakfast together on the sun deck as we look out toward the ocean.


The day is then ours to work in the yard on any of our endless to-do list items.

Maybe a drive or a visit until early evening.
Back out to the yard while it's still light and the
 weather is cool
Dinner together is usually a simple fare of salad or chicken and vegies - most of which we get at the Kula Farmer's Market on Saturday.

I failed to mention that we usually get in an afternoon nap. But then my kids already knew that :)

Maui has some incredible entertainment opportunities - We just saw the stage show of "Rent" and have tickets for "Les Mis" in August-cast of 85. Gabriel Iglasias is coming in September so we'll probably go to that too. Who says there's no cultural activities here on Maui?!

                                                            (I really like this picture)

I guess the only down side is I miss my kids as part of my daily life....

Can you tell?

 

Beach Buttons...my obsession

And there's always another one for my collection!

  

So life is good here. Pinch me, I'm living in Maui!