I know it isn't March anymore but the other day I got an email from a friend in Hawaii, saying he and his wife had just returned from a weekend in Maui. That got me reminiscing about a weekend we spent in Maui, in March 2007, when I was nearly 8 months pregnant with Kai. Greg and I have been talking about Hawaii alot lately. I guess it is like any good love affair, when its over, you only remember the good parts. We've been chatting about sashimi, pink clouds at sunrise, the "coconut" at Alan Wong's restaurant, the smell of pua kenikeni. I think ever since we decided we're going back for a visit next March to celebrate my (gulp!) 40th birthday, and to re-acquaint Kai with his birthplace, we've been yearning for all things Hawaiian.
The weekend we spent in Maui two years ago was really special. We stayed with our friends Kelley and Ryan at Kelley's mom's condo in Kanapaali. It was whale season and we didn't have to look very hard to see them. The condo had a view of the ocean and as we ate and hung out on the lanai we watched so many whales spray, spy hop and breech that we stopped counting. It was so effortless it was ridiculous. Munch on your morning cereal...oh there is a whale, and another, and another. Chill out on the lanai reading a book, more whales. Grab a beer before dinner, and would you believe it, more whales! It was quite a different experience from looking for gray whales in Clayoquot Sound years ago in a little tin boat in the fog and pouring rain, only to be rewarded with a little spray and one tail fluke as the whale dove deep. Like many things in Hawaii, it just came easy.
The high light of the weekend was snorkelling on a beautiful reef and actually hearing the humpbacks underwater as they sang to each other. Seeing as I was rather whalesque myself at that time, I felt a strong affinity with these gentle giants. Actually hearing them click and sing and knowing that this wasn't a new age music recording but it was the real thing, that these huge animals were actually swimming in the same water as me at the same time and making their presence known was amazing. That experience will definitely be very hard to top for me in amazing life moments. I can't wait to tell Kai all about it one day.
1 comment:
Oh my gosh, I can't believe I didn't see this post until today! We were just reminiscing about our trip to Maui too! That was such a fun time and I'm so sad we didn't get back there this year. When you come next year maybe we'll have to make a trip over there with the kiddos. As I always say, we miss you!! And on a side note, I can't believe Kai is almost TWO YEARS OLD! Where did the time go?!
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