But--as we've been home for over a month, and as I've had time to tell people about our trip, to look at our pictures, and reflect on our memories--I've come to experience a deep sense of thankfulness for the unique and beautiful moments we were able to share in such a gorgeous place. I've come to feel so grateful for the opportunity to make such treasured--though imperfect--memories with Sean that we will always be able to look back on with happiness.
We stayed up in the sky: on the 35th floor of a Honolulu highrise in a condo filled with windows and views. Our bedroom overlooked Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach, and it was magnificent to wake to the sun rising over Diamond Head. Our first night there we had the eerie experience of a tsunami warning--due to an earthquake off the coast of British Columbia. Nothing eventually came of it, but it was a bit unsettling to be perched up in the sky in the dark of night, rain hitting the windows, and tsunami sirens sounding regularly throughout the city.
The view from our room near sunset.
On Sunday, our second day there, we had the most exhilarating time watching Sean's beloved Giants in Game 4 of the World Series. We sat at a resort bar on Waikiki Beach--eating fries and onion rings, cheering with the other Giants fans, enjoying the warm weather and blue ocean, and ultimately celebrating when Romo struck out Cabrera for the win just as the sun dipped below the horizon in a splendid golden glow. It was a perfect moment.
Wearing orange on Waikiki!
Our view for Game 4!
Monday we set out feeling like World Champions! After a lot of walking and bus riding we ended up on Kahala Beach:
We walked--dazed by beauty--along the beach until we hit Kahala Beach Resort, where we ate a celebration lunch, and then spent one of the most lovely days of my life tucked into the resort's tiny cove. They have dolphins and sea turtles and tropical fish and rays in pools around the resort and I was as delighted as a child watching the dolphins swim and smile and dive and splash. Then we did some splashing of our own in the clear, cool water of the Pacific. I love swimming in the ocean. To me, it is perhaps the ultimate experience of joie de vivre--the joy of life! There was a floating dock midway out in the cove, and I would swim to it, climb up the ladder, and joyfully fling myself into the water--happy as a clam. Sean was just laughing at how how much fun I was having, jumping off the dock repeatedly. It is one of the best moments I've ever lived. We also spent time reading in our little cabana-like tent, watched the sun set and the moon--the fattest golden coin of a moon I've ever seen--rise.
The cove where we spent our day, and the dock I jumped off of a million times!
Tuesday started with a sunrise hike to the top of the Diamond Head Crater--it was us and at least 6 bus loads of Japanese tourists! The views were--as expected--fantastic. Sean and I imagined what it was like on the morning of the attack on Pearl Harbor as we looked at the island and ocean spread out before us. The rest of the day we spent at Lanikai and Kailua. We hiked up to the Lanikai pillboxes: old bunkers embedded in the hills that are now covered with all kinds of awesome graffiti. The views made me wish that I could "open my eyes to see in all directions at the same time".
Paradise.
At the top of the world!
We ended the day at Lanikai Beach--wading in the cool water, reading, another sunset and another moonrise. I like living close to the rhythms of the day. And I love these two quirky islands jutting up out of the ocean!
Wednesday was Halloween, and to celebrate we put on masks and went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Well, I attempted to snorkel. My persistent cough and terrible gag reflex conspired to send me in early, but not before we spotted a REAL LIVE SEA TURTLE just swimming around in the ocean, nibbling off the coral reef and we got to watch him and swim with him and nothing else really mattered after that! Sean kept snorkeling for hours while I had the best nap of my life on the beach--all of the elements were perfect: soft sand, warm and golden sunlight, cool air, wrapped in towels and a rashguard, so sleepy, and just drifting in and out of the most pleasant sleep to the sound of the waves and touch of the wind. That was probably the crowning moment of my napping life. That night we bought a bunch of candy (a Halloween must) and saw Argo at the movie theater. Then we got an enormous bottle of Odwalla Superfood Smoothie and drank it for dinner. I love that Sean is as untraditional as I am, and that we can do things like that whenever we want.
Our Halloween masks!
On Thursday we set out to drive around the island! It is such a lovely drive--all green and blue, mountain and ocean, sky and clouds:
Chinaman's Hat in the distance.
Kind of unreal.
We stopped at Kualoa Ranch (where LOST and Jurassic Park were filmed) and took a "Jungle Expedition"--which involved bouncing through the jungle in an open air bus and seeing tons of amazing things!
This is me on the Jungle Expedition!
And this is the kind of stuff we saw!
Next we headed up to the North Shore and visited the site of the Survivor's Camp in LOST. Sean was walking ahead of me and I heard him call to hurry up and come see something--so I rushed up, just in time to see a sea turtle crawling into the surf and swimming off. I was so disappointed that he was leaving right as we got there, but then--as I turned around--I saw FOUR enormous sea turtles laying on the beach right behind me! I kind of freaked out, and sat awestruck in the midst of them, then crawled up super close to look at each one, and talked to them, and took at least 50 pictures and couldn't believe our good fortune!
Turtle friends!
Sleepy turtle!
The day ended with terrible Hawaiian Mexican food and gigantic (delicious!) snow cones:
Sean has root beer and I've got sour apple!
Friday was a rough day--that was when my breathing became really labored. We attempted a hike, but I couldn't complete it. So we ended up back on one of our favorite beaches: Lanikai. Soft white sand and clear, cool water. That night we went out to dinner in Waikiki with our beautiful and generous host Natalie, and her two other guests who were visiting from California at the same time as us, John and Joyce.
At Lulu's.
And then it was Saturday, and I couldn't breathe, and I finally accepted the fact that I needed medical attention. I got two breathing treatments which helped minimally, and a steroid shot which worked wonders. And the gift was that even though I would come home and be plagued by my cough for another month, and in fact, cough so hard that I sprained a few ribs (which involved the doctor, chiropractor, x-rays, antibiotics, Vicodin, etc), that steroid shot gave me a few perfect hours on our last evening in Hawaii. We were able to complete our Hawaiian tradition of spending our last sunset at Waiamea Bay, and our time there was magical. The water was warmer than usual, the waves were enormous, rolling and foamy and powerful. But it was all about the light--the perfect, richest golden light--sparkling in the sea foam as we splashed in the waves, reflecting off the beautiful Catholic church perched on a hill overlooking the bay, turning the sand dunes to softly sloping hills of gold. The light. The marvelous light. And I could breathe--it felt so wonderful to be able to breathe so easily after struggling with it for so long. Who ever appreciates breathing? But I was conscious of every breath, and every breath was a delight. Being able to breathe so smoothly made me realize how much agony I had been in before. You kind of get used to the struggle, it becomes normal, and you learn to live with it. I imagine that's how life is now in our broken world--we're used to the struggle, we live with it every day and it is our normal--but when we experience the new Heaven and the new Earth: what will it be like? How whole and perfect we will be! Aches and agonies and burdens that we didn't even know we carried will be gone from our backs and we will live and love as we were created to, and each moment will be a magical gift of pure joy and happiness.
So perhaps the best gift Hawaii gave us was getting to experience the tiniest little taste of eternity, while we laughed and played and fought the overwhelming force of the waves: longing for the day when we can give in to the pull of the ocean and let it carry us out to the great depths of Love.
Waiamea Bay at sunset.
