FROM HAIKU, MAUI (HAWAII)

(Surf & Turf - Christmas Day at Ho'okipa Point)

First Day of New Year 2011

Flight of Red Bird at Poli Poli

First day of New Year starts on a high note in Upcountry Maui

HAIKU, Maui, Jan 1 - We finished 2010 on a high note, and started the New Year 2011 on an even higher one.  You can see on the left a picture I took from across the gulch with 20 minutes to go in 2010.  And in the morning of the first day of 2011, we drove up the steep and twisty country road to Poli Poli on Haleakala, elevation 6,200 ft, from where we enjoyed beautiful views of Maui, the ocean and the blue yonder.  And we caught the flight of the Red Bird on our cameras.  Elizabeth was shooting the stills, while I filmed it "live" (see below).

But before we got to Poli Poli, there was an auspicious start to our first day of 2011.  We stopped at a local gas station to fill up our Jeep before taking it on a first real four-wheeling mountain test, up Haleakala volcano.  Take a look at the date stamp on the receipt: 1/1/11 11:01.  Seven aces!  Not a perfect score though.  Had we done it 10 minutes later, we would have gotten eight aces. Still, seven out of eight, not a bad start to a year.

Check out this three-minute movie - the "Flight of Red Bird."  It is an edited version of Elizabeth's stills and my video clip...

Poli Poli New Year's Day: Flight of Red Bird [3:10 mins]

And now, here is also a photo album from our first day of 2011...

My favorite scene, however, is not something we were able to capture on film.  On our drive home from Kahului, where we went to run some errands after Poli Poli, we were passing through Paia, as we do almost every day.  Outside Anthony's Coffe Shop on Hana Hwy, there was an unusual sight.  A man was sitting and typing something on an old typewriter.  It was a clunker.  We could hear it over the hub of traffic and main street noises.  A young woman was standing behind the man watching him type.  Then I noticed a handwritten sign in front of the typist: "POEMS."

[The image on the right is a file photo of a street poet. I was not quick enough to take a picture of the Paia one].

My eyes almost teared up.  A street poet.  A thing of the past.  I thought back about the times now long gone and forgotten when artists lived and created art among the people.  Shakespeare, Edith Piaff... came to mind.  I felt blessed to live in an arty community that still appreciates and practices the beauty of spiritual life.  Which is what art is.

So both the flight of the Red Bird and the Street Poet were inspirational.  MMXI (2011 in Latin) promises to be a good year, at least spiritually.

And that's all for now from the Rainbow Shower in January.

CLICK HERE to go to Hawaii 2011 TOC