Hawaii :: Day 1

I'll leave the pictures from our trip to Oriah. She's got a bit of talent behind the lens! Pretty soon we'll start a website where you can buy pictures! :) She's more than free to chime in with her thoughts and memories from the trip to Paradise but here's looking from behind my two eyes for now.

Ah...leaving the snowy, granite mountains for weathered, lush, volcanic mountains. We watched the movie Inception on the flight from Salt Lake to Honolulu. Conceptually brilliant movie. Can't remember being that impressed by a movie in a long time.

Other than the "tour guide" trip two years ago the last time I was in Hawaii was during the height of the housing bubble when fellow Officers in the Wardroom were dropping +$500K for a house in the local neighborhoods. I thought my chance to live the "American Dream" had passed. The price of housing had shot past my reach and I thought I'd never be able to afford a home ever. Funny now looking back how long that insanity didn't last.

Walking out of the gate into the open-air construction of the airport the essence of the islands hit the senses. The breeze rustling palm tree leaves, the smell of the flowers blooming everywhere, the giant monkey pod trees that resemble locust trees, or in Oriah words African trees. I'm back in a place where I spent a good chunk of time and formed a lot of experiences/memories.

We walk to the furthest corner of Honolulu International Airport to get to the island hop. There's no daylight savings here so it's still light outside at 6p. I can see the outside lights turning on and there's the ugly, yellow hue to Hawaii night light. I've never figured out if the lights are made that way for island life or if the humidity in the air turns the plastic which covers the light an unmistakable yellow-orange. We're sitting on the pleather airport seats waiting for the plane for Maui to arrive and a wave of relaxation hits. I have no responsibility here. No Navy, no work, no HOA. Just Oriah, me and the island. I'm so relaxed that I'm told we'll have to check our carry on luggage at $10 a piece. No big deal. I'm on vacation. No matter where you go the A/C is on. Even in December.

I watched Kung Fu Panda a few times before leaving for the trip and there's a part of the movie where the concept of being in the moment is discussed. I've become very aware at how much my thoughts dwell on the past (history) or in the future (a mystery) instead of the present (a gift.) One of my resolutions for the upcoming year will to focus more on the present instead of worrying about what has passed and what has yet to pass but to be conscious of the now. The future is no place to place your better days (thank you Dave Matthews.)