Memorial Day.

Blue skies, smiling at me nothing but blue skies do I see.

It all looks so lovely, until I reveal that the perfect lush green bits are part of the new golf course being built in Wailea (clearly I'm not a golfer!). Still it could be worse, littered in condo's and ABC stores, choking off the view for the rest of us to enjoy.

At the end of Thompson Road is a nursery and as I rode by, the bold contrast of these three colors struck me as snapshot worthy. As was the bleating goat at the beach yesterday, but that one came out blurred.

Nuff said.

At 28 cents per kwh Hawaii's electricity is the most expensive in the country. Last months bill of $200 threw me over the edge and I stepped back in time, finally installing a washing line. The clothes pegging skills from my youth came flooding back and it was a pleasure to hang up my stuff and walk away for the day. Full of self congratulation, hours later as I unpegged my laundry, I discovered one minor disadvantage....a bird had seen fit to shit on my skirt!

And finally, on my drive back up Baldwin Avenue I stopped by the Maui Veterans cemetery.....it seemed like the right thing to do. Combatants from as far back as World War One are buried here and I quietly walked around looking at names, dates and rank. I watched wives pushing zimmer frames accompanied by daughters come and go with flowers and white haired old men talking story. All of a sudden the backs of my eyes became damp and I had a moment, which I guess is what today is all about.

PS: It's been at least a year since I've been out on my long board and boy oh boy could you tell! In honor of Memorial Day, ready, aim, fire!

Feeding my senses.

The touch of the wind against my skin is chilly at first and I know I have to pedal hard (initially) to get my body temperature beyond my own momentum generated wind chill factor. I warm up quickly and it allows me to delight in the view. My eyes always light up as I whiz by the poppies. My friend Lex said recently that when she first moved to Maui she didn’t grock the flowers as she came from the East Coast where the flora are soft and have petals. Here the tropicals are magnificent stiff, waxy creations and while she did learn to love them, I think about her comment every time I pass by this lovely garden. The little kid in me really wants the Jacaranda's to have the smell of the palmer violet sweets I ate when I was eight. Well, they don't and that’s probably a good thing so nothing distracts from their sheer purple perfection. Which reminds me of a funny 'tweet' I read recently. Someone asked Lord Fry how he pronounced the word 'ate'. He replied, 'I'm an "ett" man, but there's no right or wrong about it. In the North they're likely to say "eight" I think." Damn him, how does he know these things?! Hmmmmm now what kind of cycle 'safety first' is this? Still, now I think about it not all traffic cones are meant to give advance warning of hazards or temporarily redirect traffic in a safe manner.........or are they? (Cue Scooby Doo flashback music)!


Tour de Maui. Un Petit Film from Sharon on Vimeo.
And finally a little amateur hour entertainment from my pau hana ride after work last Friday, a hui ho!