Daily Archives: February 11, 2008

Travel

Tommy Bahama, Reyn Spooner, Maui Dive Shop

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Maui weather 80 degrees and sunny 

Ate breakfast at the hotel…not again.  Way too expensive. I knew that but I was not awake.

Wandered over to Whaler’s Village and bought a new hat, looked in the windows.  There’s a scrimshaw shop that has objects inspired by netsuke, only about twice as large.  Well done, though.  Tommy Bahama, Reyn Spooner, Island Living, Maui Dive Shop, Honolua Surf Shop. 

Noticed the palm trees around the resorts all have piton marks.  To prune these trees little guys clamber up the trunk with piton’s attached to boots and a leather belt around their waist.  The trunks have the scars.  Looks like abuse.

A lot of people here.  More than I remember from previous visits.  Not as many Japanese, though they are still here.  The frontdesk has  a Japanese language newspaper and there is a concierge for Japanese speakers. 

Kate and I are off to Lahaina Town.  There is a banyan tree there that spreads out over half a city block.

Aloha.

Travel

Just Another Day In Paradise

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Weather:   Another Sunny Day in Paradise!   8:13 AM Maui Time
Aloha , all you wind-whipped, wind-chilled center of the continent land lubbers!

As I write this, the Pacific washes up on a white sand beach, birds gibber in the palms off my 8th floor lanai and the temperature heads toward 80 degrees.

Thanks to my recent work in Taoism, I’m trying to reframe my expectations of air travel.  I now consider it a sort of gauntlet or trial by combat necessary before one wins the hands of the fair lady, the Islands.  All in all the trip was not bad, save for an hour and a half spent wandering among slot machines, blinking lights, hurried travelers trying to find the ATA counter, which was, as in O’Hare of old, the maximal distance from I came in and resulted in an equally long trek back to get the gates.  Sigh.

Got to Maui at 7:35 PM Maui time, 11:45 PM CST.  There is nothing else on the planet like the smell of Hawaii.  It caresses  you the minute you arrive and lets you know you’ve come back at last.

Had a strange experience about a half hour out from Maui.  I begin to feel I was coming home.  You know this feeling, the warm secure sense that a place of safety and comfort awaits you, a place where are you are welcome and where you belong.  Don’t know what to make of it, except that I liked it.

In order to connect to you, dear reader, I spent 20 minutes with the Bangalore cyber connection goosing the net to the room so I could finally get on the web.  Now, I’m going to breakfast.  Catch you later.