September | 2019 | Sister of Mine, Home Again

So, I’ve been here for a month. I still can’t believe that I live here. LIVE here. I hope that the wonderment never ever goes away. I will do what I can to constantly be amazed by this stunningly beautiful place, and will try to remain grateful and thankful. I live 10-15 minutes from some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet. Blessssed:

I’m not really a rambling person, rambling in the sense of writing a post that has no purpose or beginning or end. Mahalo Kauai for forcing me to shake it up (reference to the Cars whose lead singer died after I moved here….)

OK here is my attempt at the free fall (aww in homage to another of my rock idols TP, RIP):

The pace of life is definitely slower here than in Baltimore/DC. And while I vehemently deny that my hometown is a rat infested hell hole, the pace here on Kauai is way slower than the rat race I used to endure (even with the “rush hour” traffic jams). And WAY slower than DC. I can barely remember my two hour commute. AND it feels good to be far away from the rat in the WH.

Although we do have rats here. And cane spiders and centipedes. And lots of cute geckos and skinks. And big moths. But no snakes! And no mongeese. Which is why there are a gazillion wild chickens on Kauai, which leads to my next ramble:

Roosters are a pain in the ass. They literally crow around the clock. And did you know that each one has a distinctive sound? Imagine variations of “screech screech screech screech screeeech”. The sonorous, beautiful, only at sunrise “Cock a doodle doo” is a made up fantasy my people, the real thing ain’t pretty, especially when it wakes you at 3AM.

Prices are high and salaries are low. I can’t fathom how working people survive here. I guess I’ll find out! Trying to be more frugal, which in the end is better for me, and hopefully for the planet. Yes, while the whole political scene in DC seems far far away, climate change feels very real here. I think about it a lot more.

I need to learn how to prounce Hawaiian words properly. Even the street names trip me up:
Ala Kalanikaumaka St
Hanamaulu Rd
Uahiapele St
Kaholalele Rd
Waihohonou Rd

At least I can manage Aloha and Mahalo

Except for my running shoes, I haven’t had anything on my feel except flip flops (slippahs). Mostly I’m barefoot. I have a slippah tan and rough but happy feet.

All of my clothes are just wrong. I will probably wear 1/10th of what I brought, if that. And I’ve had just a bit of eye make up on, one time. Those of you who know me know that that in and of itself is a miracle! It’s too hot for one thing, and I am really trying to accept my aging wrinkled face as it is. From now on I will refer to my sweat as a dewy glow.

Because it’s been hot and I don’t have air conditioning! But this is the last time I will publically complain about that because, um no winter.

I love avacados, which is a good thing because we have an overabundance. It’s so wonderful to be able to eat fresh food from the farm.

And last but most certainly not least: The people of Kauai are some of the nicest I’ve ever met, anywhere. And it breaks my heart to think that overdevelopment and overtouristing is causing them hardship. I am thinking a lot about how to spread the word about the myriad issues facing the native people of these islands. I wrote a scoldy piece about it here: https://sisterofminehomeagain.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/one-hundred-and-one-things-not-to-do-when-visiting-the-sovereign-hawaiian-nation/ The tone of that piece may be a bit harsh, so I am thinking on how to go about an education campaign aimed at visitors and newcomers that will resonate. Stay tuned

And that’s all for now. Much aloha to everyone from the Garden Isle!

The title to this post refers to this post that I wrote in February of 2015. How I was REALLY on my way to Paris, but then I went on OK Stupid at the suggestion of my mother, and how I met Hawaii Boy aka Doug, aka my husband. Then I wrote THIS post, about how I was sure that we met because I was the one who was taking HIM to Paris, that I just had to meet him to get there. But, no, what was really happening, which I documented in this post, was that I was falling in love with Kauai, even though I didn’t know it at the time! And so when Doug first heard about a job there, well, in the beginning I was apprehensive, because as I noted in THIS post I had come to the conclusion that we were still destined to be in France. except that the compromise was that we’d live in the south of France so that he could have his canoe there but I still could go to Paris whenever. But obviously that too wasn’t meant to be. The universe, man she moves in some mysterious ways…

OK back to the job. Yeah at first I was apprehensive because there was a previous possibility in Honolulu and I wasn’t feeling it. But.with this possibility I started feeling it. Mainly because it’s on Kauai, the one island that, as I said earlier, I had some strong connection to before I really understood what was happening. And Doug felt the same way, he wasn’t sure about this job at first. But then things started opening up and he had a great phone intervew and then he was invited for a second interview, and they suggested that I come. So I did. And if felt so right. It felt like everything was falling into place before we understood it, kind of like everything else in our 5+ years together.

I hate to even write these words but while making the decsion to uproot our lives was a piece of cake, actually doing so was pretty stressful. Selling our house (that’ hadn’t appreciated), packing, filling out the reams of paperwork required to bring my dog Shelby, quitting my job of 11 years. Yes I had quit before, but in the end I realized that my job at the Center for Economic and Policy Research was one of the best I’ve ever had. NO development director stays somewhere for that long! I’ll miss my CEPR comrades. And I’ll really miss my family and friends. I don’t think it has hit me yet, that I’m so far away from my mom, and daugther, and stepson, and my Baltimore peeps. What will I do on Monday nights without my Candace? But in the end, despite all of that, the decision still feels like the right one.

So today, Doug starts his new job as Executive Director of the Waioli Corp (here is an article about him from “our” newspaper The Garden Island News.) I’m so excited for him, and so proud of him. This job is really perfect for him in every way. And I start a whole new life in a very different place. I had thought that I would be working remotely at a part time fundraising gig but that fell apart, probably for the best. Because now I get to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. 🙂 I’m working on putting together my BOOM senior fitness classes, and I just signed up to get (re)certified as a personal trainer. I’m still looking for development jobs (if you know of any remote jobs hit a sister up.) But mainly I am going to slow the hell down. Breathe. Relax. Hang out with the many wonderful friends we have made here, and make new ones. Live into aging naturally, with as much grace as I can muster. And enjoy this place: