From Maui with Love

Aloha at last!

So then, how to begin... It has been a busy time settling in and that process will continue for awhile. Mike was here with me the first week. We spent the week in semi-vacation mode. That included cleaning, walking on the beach, cleaning, sitting on the beach, rearranging furniture, cleaning, buying a car (2002 Honda Civic), cleaning, sitting on the beach, shopping at Costco, eating, setting up a bank account, getting a library card, watching the sunset, going on a whale watch cruise, and relaxing in the hot tub. It's really a good thing he was here to help me relax, otherwise I would have only been cleaning, cleaning, rearranging the furniture, cleaning...you get the idea. My internet connection got started about a week after I arrived. From that point forward I added bookkeeping ‘catch-up’ to the list of activities above. The first part of the month is a busy time with the bookkeeping and I had many hours of things to get done. It was all a somewhat new set up and so, once Mike left, I spent the next week mostly in front of the computer. But, the computer breaks were delightful since the beach is less than 5 minutes away. A slow walk with my feet in the sand and the surf at my side grounded me and I was ready to tackle the computer again. The best part is that I don’t even have to bundle up to go outside for a walk! Grab my slippers (flip-flops) and I’m ready to go.

Having the work to do has been a good thing because it helps me to realize that I am NOT on vacation. I have been here nearly 3 weeks now, which is the longest I've ever stayed, and I'm slowly finding my way. As I finish the backlog of bookkeeping I'm beginning to have a little more time to be open to my world here. I am certainly in 'observation' mode, simply taking in the environment, the language, the energy, the warmth, and anything else that comes into my awareness, (such as the amount of cleaning I still have to do). As I observe I am feeling where I want to spend my energy and time. I am very happy in the observation mode and it's very comfortable for me. But I need to begin to break out of it and 'put my toe in the water' (yes, I've already been swimming numerous times so I'm just using the cliche as a pun, in case you didn't get it...). So, beginning this week I will volunteer a couple of hours each week at the local library (they are in dire need of shelf reading!). I am volunteering tomorrow morning to help with a trail clean up/building along the waterfront nearby. It's a great little trail that I've been using so I want to help with the process and it gets me involved a little and it will be an opportunity to meet and talk with others. I spend a lot of my time alone right now, and not that the conversation's not witty and stimulating, but some new insights and perspectives never hurt. (I'm sure they'll all be delighted to hear all I have to say!)

Here's a link to a beach cam http://www.mauirealestate.net/video.html It's at the end of the beach where I walk a lot. You may have a live stream picture on the top of the page or just a still shot. Let me know if you want to set up a 'beach wave' sometime. I can walk down there, you can pull up the site and you'll be able to see me. Unfortunatly I won't be able to see you...sigh.

Perhaps now I will be able to post to my blog more regularly, but not if it takes me as long as this one did!

Here's a few pictures of my world.