Hawai'i #7

Under The Milky Way Tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNhR-PrTAFE

Been struggling with writing the rest of this story. There are things I want to write about, there are other things I choose not to write about, and then there are the things that can’t be written about. One thing Dennis was teaching me about was words, their power and their limitations. And he was right (that’s the thing about Dennis; he’s almost always right. Irritating as hell.): I’m not as good with them as I liked to think; I say things all the time that don’t accurately reflect what I mean, I use words without really thinking about them, I misuse and abuse the language. You can argue all day long about whether that’s art or not, but it’s certainly true that it complicates communication. So I’m trying to be more careful. Or at least aware.

So I told Dennis I’d come sleep under the stars on the beach with him. Then I said “I know you’re gonna kill me in the middle of the night with that knife.”
“Why on earth do you think I’d use my knife?”

Megan was not wild about me going north of town to Boomshakalakalaka Harbor to sleep on the beach with Dennis. With the rental car. But I trusted him.

We’d planned to have dinner but ended up sitting on the lanai & talking til late so we went to the grocery store on the way to the beach. I’d had a beer earlier in the evening on the lanai, but Dennis talked me out of bringing the wine to the beach. I weakened at the grocery store, but missed the time to buy it. By minutes. Well, darn. Dennis was amused, though.

And up the coast to Honokohau Harbor and into Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park. From the National Park Service website:


The Spirit of Kaloko
Along the western coastline of the island of Hawai’I lies the hot, rugged lava of Kaloko-Honokohau. Some people find it difficult to understand why the ancient Hawaiians chose to settle upon these stark lava fields. The reason was, perhaps, a spiritual one, for there was a spirit in Kaloko-Honokohau. The Hawaiians who first came to the area felt its presence in every rock and tree, in the gentle waters of shallow bays and in the tradewinds that gently swept across the lava flow. Perhaps you too will experience this spirit on your visit to this National Historic Park.

This is where Dennis sleeps. It’s surprisingly comfortable. You have to get up early, though….technically you’re not supposed to sleep there. Sometimes there are turtles.

He taught me an interesting and useful trick with my vision that night. We were looking at the stars and I explained how I couldn’t focus directly on one: it would look bright, but if I tried to look directly at it, the image would cross and fade away. It would come back when I looked at something else. So he taught me to look not at it or away, but right next to it. Sounds simple, and it is, but I’d never thought of it before. Works, too. And not just with stars; if I remember to do it, I can see other things much better.

We got up as it was getting light, went to Lava Java and grabbed some delicious 100% Kona coffee and headed south of town to the Grassy Knoll At The End Of The World.

And just sat there, for hours and hours. ‘Lita played with other dogs, chased mongoose, napped. We drank coffee, then water, watched whales. No hurry to go anywhere. Just slow down. Stop. Be quiet. Breathe. Listen. I just listened. To Dennis telling stories, to the ocean, to the breeze in the palm fronds above.