FROM HONOLULU, HAWAII

Back in Maui...

MAUI, Dec 27 - It's been more than 13 years since my last time here in Maui.  It seems like an eternity.  Yet Maui has always had special place in my heart.  That was the first destination to which I went with my younger daughter one-on-one when she was only nine.  I repeated this practice later with both daughters all over the world.  But this is where it all began...

We landed at the Kahilui airport on the north side of the island (see above).  I noticed during the approach a big ocean liner docked at the nearby harbor.  I made a mental note to check it out after I get my rental car.  The service at the Enterprise car rental place was so slow that I canceled the reservation and got another car at the National counter.  The only thing they had available was a Jeep.  I took it...

Back in 1989, my two daughters insisted we get a Jeep.  When we later drove up Haleakala to its crater, the world's biggest extinct volcano (enveloped in the clouds at the back of this picture), we nearly froze to death.  I relayed the story to the National counter clerk.  We both had a good laugh.

And this is the "Pride of America," the big cruise ship that I spotted from the air.  

The ship is owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines, and it is in its inaugural season of Hawaiian cruises.

This is the view of the sugar cane fields with the western Maui extinct volcano enveloped in clouds in the background.

"The Last Condo in Maui"

And then it was time for me to find out what "the last condo in Maui" looked like.  That's what my travel agent said I was getting when I made the spur-of-the-moment booking two weeks before Christmas during what is the busiest tourist season around here.  All I knew was that it was located on Sugar Beach in Kihei.

The view was stunning...

To the right of my balcony was the southern shore of Maui toward Lahaina.  Straight ahead was the island of Lanai.

And to the southeast, one could see the contours of the Big Island.

As you can see, the beach is right at my feet, literally... less than 20 yards away from my balcony...

...separated from the building only by a lush lawn.

A couple of hours later, this was the first sunset I witnessed from the balcony of "the last condo in Maui."  Suddenly, I was feeling VERY lucky, especially when I got to my room and realized that I would be falling asleep and waking to the sounds of waves washing up on the beach.  It's the kind of a sound people buy CD's to listen to and relax by.  And here I am, getting to enjoy them 24/7, as well as the beautiful scenery.  "Maybe I was meant to come here," I figured, already salivating at the prospect of writing and working for the next week to 10 days in this kind of a setting.  I could not wait to get going on my "Piano" book project and the year-end Annex Research editorial.  

But first, I had to forage for food... It was hardly an effort.  Less than five miles down the road to Waileia, I found a shopping center with Safeway, Starbucks, Blockbuster Video, etc.  "Life is so easy in the States," I thought, comparing this with some experiences of literally foraging for food elsewhere around the world.  And even inside the stores, everything was familiar; arranged the same way as if I were in Scottsdale or New York.  You just pick and pay; click and pray... :-)

The Christmas Hula Show

As if all this were not enough of a confirmation that I am meant to be here, before I went out to look for food, I talked to the concierge of the condo resort.  She told me that tonight they were having their annual Christmas hula show for the residents.  She invited me to join everybody poolside at 6PM.  

"It's a once a year thing we do," she said.

"Once a year, and it happens the day I arrive?" I sounded incredulous.

"Aren't you the lucky one," she smiled.  "Don't worry... it will be worth your while." 

It was...

These little Hawaiian tykes, some barely five, were so cute and so good at hula dancing.  It's obviously in their blood.  The whole ensemble had just returned from a concert tour of Thailand.  They also obviously start performing at a young age.

And here are some bigger dancers, too, though not much older than maybe 15-16.  What's interesting, however, is that it wasn't until the late 19th century that the girls were allowed to dance in Polynesia.  The MC cited a Hawaiian king who changed the tradition by decree, but I did not retain his name.  Tonight, there was but a lone male dancer who was not nearly as good as the little girls.

After a change of costumes, the little "keikas" (which is what their teacher called them) were back on stage, dancing like the pros again.   

Meanwhile, notice the pretty sky in the background?  The sun had already set, but its orange glow was still visible over the ocean, and bouncing off the waves.

My final surprise of the day, and the confirmation that I really was meant to be here, came this evening when I returned to my condo.  I saw a series of little green lights flickering under the TV set.  "No, that's not possible," I said to myself.  "High speed cable Internet modem connection on a Maui beach!?"  It was.  All it took was a credit card and a few keystrokes, and I was connected to the Net as if I were in Scottsdale or New York.  Just pick and pay; click and pray...

The world sure is shrinking fast... and the IT is making it possible.

And that's all she wrote for this Tuesday, December 27, 2005.  Mahalo for your time and attention.

New Year's Eve Views

MAUI, Dec 31 - I was treated this New Year's Eve morning to this view out from my condo's balcony...

The above image is a combination of two photos spliced together to try to give you a panoramic view a naked eye enjoys from my balcony.  The island visible straight ahead in the left half of the picture is Kahoolawa, disaffectionately called "Target Island" by the locals.  It is uninhabited because, for decades, it has been used by the U.S. military for target practice.  This stopped in 1993, but there is still a lot of unexploded ordinance on it.  Sad but true... that our military would wreak such havoc with nature in this beautiful part of the world, while our government, that runs the military, tells us that if our hats blew off accidentally while sailing, the boat has to turn around to pick up the "trash" (I am not kidding).  A bit of a double standard, wouldn't you say?

And here are now two individual frames from which the above panorama was composed.  Besides the Kahoolawa island, you can also see in the above frame two outrigger boats in a race.

Here's a close up of one of the two six-seaters as it passed in front of my balcony.

Most kids make castles out of sand, but the author of this sand sculpture must have read my "Whale of a Story"-piece.  :-)  At first I thought it was a jumbo jet.  Then I realized its tail was horizontal, not vertical.  

This was my favorite shot this New Year's Eve morning.  The light had a special, almost ethereal quality to it.  And the combination of the blues and the greens made it look almost as a painting.

Happy New Year!

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