11-16-2007, 05:27 PM
Mgeary, I, too spent ages 10-14 on Oahu...as an Air Force brat. And it was one Christmas that we spent at Kilauea Military Camp that we walked across the crater, and saw fern forests and I saw a spider that looked like a crab and we saw (I think) the Botanical Garden....I just fell in love with the Big Island, and knew I "had" to come back "home" someday. So here I am, and here's just a few things I love about being here:
* Star soup at night...so many stars, it's hard to find the constellations.
* Hiking around the volcano, every time it's still so awe-inspiring and sacred.
* Hapu'u ferns growing so tall in my "yard."
* Picking one of those "weeds" - yellow ginger blossom, and sticking it behind my ear...every time I turn my head, I get a dose of sweet perfume!
* Living in Mountain View means I have to close most of my windows at night, and sleep under a quilt (ahhhhhhh...), but it's never really cold.
* Picking wild strawberry guava along the road and eating it, even the seeds. A taste like no other....love those guavi!
* Growing weird plants like heliconias and bromeliads in my "yard" where on the mainland, those weird plants are only houseplants.
* Every morning here, I take a walk around the "yard" (no grass to mow, just cinders, and small space because mostly ohi'a trees) and look at all the things I've planted. The lettuce is growing up, the guava trees from Kauai are doing well, the basil and the rosemary and the cukes and the peas....this is November!!!!
* Yes, the smiles and the sweetness of people who are so incredibly helpful at stores and businesses. I am amazed and delighted each time it happens and I hope to never become complacent about the real aloha folks share so easily here.
* The rain...after living 30+ years in Colorado and Arizona, having so much rain means not only the lovely sound on the metal roof, but the catchment tank being full means no worries about water running out....a huge change from the arid desert living.
* If I don't like the weather, I can either wait a few minutes, or I can drive a few miles and it's different.
* I'm not bragging, but we don't have too many coqui's here (yet) and we kind of like the distant (so far) chirps at night, plus the other sounds - crickets and such. It's like summer nights in Wisconsin.
* Yeah, the laughs I get from some of the postings on Punaweb are wonderful, too, and all the advice (free!) and the aloha....
* It's just so sweet here....lucky to live Hawaii.
Thanks, Punapetah, for this thread....
Katie
Wherever you go, there you are.
* Star soup at night...so many stars, it's hard to find the constellations.
* Hiking around the volcano, every time it's still so awe-inspiring and sacred.
* Hapu'u ferns growing so tall in my "yard."
* Picking one of those "weeds" - yellow ginger blossom, and sticking it behind my ear...every time I turn my head, I get a dose of sweet perfume!
* Living in Mountain View means I have to close most of my windows at night, and sleep under a quilt (ahhhhhhh...), but it's never really cold.
* Picking wild strawberry guava along the road and eating it, even the seeds. A taste like no other....love those guavi!
* Growing weird plants like heliconias and bromeliads in my "yard" where on the mainland, those weird plants are only houseplants.
* Every morning here, I take a walk around the "yard" (no grass to mow, just cinders, and small space because mostly ohi'a trees) and look at all the things I've planted. The lettuce is growing up, the guava trees from Kauai are doing well, the basil and the rosemary and the cukes and the peas....this is November!!!!
* Yes, the smiles and the sweetness of people who are so incredibly helpful at stores and businesses. I am amazed and delighted each time it happens and I hope to never become complacent about the real aloha folks share so easily here.
* The rain...after living 30+ years in Colorado and Arizona, having so much rain means not only the lovely sound on the metal roof, but the catchment tank being full means no worries about water running out....a huge change from the arid desert living.
* If I don't like the weather, I can either wait a few minutes, or I can drive a few miles and it's different.
* I'm not bragging, but we don't have too many coqui's here (yet) and we kind of like the distant (so far) chirps at night, plus the other sounds - crickets and such. It's like summer nights in Wisconsin.
* Yeah, the laughs I get from some of the postings on Punaweb are wonderful, too, and all the advice (free!) and the aloha....
* It's just so sweet here....lucky to live Hawaii.
Thanks, Punapetah, for this thread....
Katie
Wherever you go, there you are.
Wherever you go, there you are.