Celebration 2015

Lovely to be in Liverpool to celebrate Christmas with my little family. It has been wonderful. So sorry for others who are affected by rising floodwater tonight.

Interlude

Short interlude for Christmas!  A quick turnaround but all now wrapped - but oops! No labels! This should be interesting. ..

Lawai beach

Also opposite but to the left - the slightly larger Lawai beach where the water was warm and salty but oh so blue.  We swam here most days but only on the last did Beth and I get around to hiring snorkeling gear so that we could see exactly with what we were sharing our patch of ocean.

Apart from Nemo's entire extended family there were some very pretty characters but also a big black grumpy looking fish skulking along the bottom, round my feet. In front of my eyes, a shoal of tiny needle fish fluttered around.

It really was amazing although rather alarming. Not so frightening a sight however, as the be-flippered me splodging up the beach in mask and snorkel to deposit my wrist watch in my bag before I plunged into three foot of water to survey the competition.

On my desert island

Back home in grey December Hawaii seems a long way and an age away so it is a bonus that due to a technical problem I was unable to upload photos to share while in our luxury apartment on the smaller island of Kauai. Now I have a reason to revisit and trawl through my album to find my favourites.  

This tiny beach is just opposite our appartment. Sheltered by a reef of black volcanic rock, it is home to a host of tiny creatures and the best place to sit at night and look at the stars, which you will just have to imagine.

California dreaming

I'm on my way home and already my time away seems like a dream. But the imagination and inspiration of my Santa Cruz friends sticks to the images that come with me :
   My cosy bed in the corner of the living room with the beautiful hummingbird quilt handcrafted by North American Indian women.
    The very effective and beautiful gas fired stove that pumps out so much heat I thought I was still in Hawaii.
     Pure sweet-tasting drinking water collected from the mountain source.
     Sharing the shower with buckets to recycle water (remember to place only one foot in a bucket).
      The Peace Pole on our Christmas  table,  a full size pole out in the community. No maypole for dancing, just for contemplating Peace.
       Bicycles with baskets and crates to carry the groceries, and tall flags on the back for added safety.
        The tiny hummingbirds on the bush outside the kitchen window.
         The cheeky squirrel munching his nut on the ledge then having a sneaky pee.
          The room full of glowing Tibetan singing bowls rescued from meltdown and waiting for new owners to claim and cherish them.
           The inscription above the door "Only the brave" - an invitation to step out of your comfort zone - to take the risk and do things differently.

     

Greens

Greens, onions, mushrooms, beans, berries and seeds. That is pretty much what Corrina and Ryan live on. They generally eat small amounts of fresh fruit, when they please, sometimes at home,  sometimes at the wholefood store which here in California is the size of a supermarket, sometimes buying and eating fresh vegetarian food at the farmers market and at other rustling up soup or salad in their kitchen.

Tonight, my last night we had Christmas dinner of soya turkey beautiful greens, potatoes and onions with delicious thick gravy followed by a creamy dessert of wild cherries blended with cashew nuts.

Food for thought.

Corrina took me for a walk

My words cannot describe the grandeur but we stepped closer to heaven ...

Let's go

to San Francisco - tonight at short notice. A two hour drive took Corrina and Ryan out to a hastily arranged dinner with special friends not seen for 20 years and gave me the chance to ride that famous cable car and walk the streets like a local. 

Ryan mapped me a route through well lit areas and I rode down to the glitzy Fisherman's Wharf and strode back up to peer in the windows of chic stores and gaze in wonder at the iconic architecture.

Unforgettable.

Pacific Coast

I have been provided with a splendid customised  bicycle and a Google map of the area so after an introductory pedal to the local wholefood store for a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, I ventured out on my own to find the Pacific Ocean.

A slightly darker blue than in Hawaii and somewhat cooler,  it is nonetheless as imposing. How can the ocean feel so different to our seas when one stands on the shore?  It's all water. 

But the knowledge of the vastness and power of this water is humbling. I feel like a tiny child facing out onto the universe.

California morning

I awake in the most comfortable bed ever made.  Clear sunlight shining through the  leaves that screen my window. I hear Corrina quietly singing in the shower, humming a time worn melody to the  rhythm of the falling water. In the  workspace behind me Ryan is on the phone discussing business and multi-tasking on a four screened PC.
This is a peaceful place where time flows gently and there is no sound of the outside world. No traffic, no TV. Just the purr of the giant refrigerator stuffed with salad and fruit.

Christmas Delights

Honolulu City Hall is absolutely crammed with Christmas lights as police, municipal departments and businesses compete for the Best Dressed Tree display and everyone else enters into the Creative Christmas Wreath competition with designs including a mermaid made from pletrums and a wreath made from piano keys as well as some stunning foliage and not a holly leaf in sight. While outside - Santa hangs loose and cools off. Anything goes - especially if neon and flashing.