Kailua Charms

Spent the afternoon on Kailua Beach today . . . along with a lot of other folks, but nothing was crowded. Just lots of people of all ages having fun in the sun (and the shade). I took my lunch (the couple sleeping here had their sandwiches, too) and loved the warmer water, which is aquamarine, green! Milky, like a gem. Strong waves and brisk winds, so in the water was the warmest place. Outside it was chilly so I wrapped up in a towel (forgot shirts--got burned).

There was a woman swimming with her 3 dogs, two on a small styrofoam board and one swimming along. Sorry for bad photo--ran across them on the beach later as they were going back in--she puts the two on the board and throws a Frisbee far out for the third, and she swims back (a long way!). Who was holding on the rope of the board I never found out. She's swimming out front on your right, the two dogs on the board in the middle, and the big, swimming dog, at the end. A beagle and a pug on the board, big dog alone.

Finished with dinner at Zia's--their special: pear, blue cheese, mushroom and chicken pasta--green flat pasta. It was so good!! Of course eaten outside. Since it's only a 20 minute drive from here, this charming little town is the place to do beach things. Big bookstore, Coldstone ice cream, and a lovely, cool green drive to and fro.

Transitions

Both William Bridges (the classic and best) and Julia Cameron (of The Writers' Way) really get transitions.

From Julia's Transitions: (gift from my Hawaii friend a few months ago after Marina recommended it)
The door to the future may stick when we try to open it. Not all transitions are easy or graceful. Sometimes out past is done before our future seems quite ready. We are caught in the corridor of in between, a limbo that feels awkward and uncomfortable. At times like these we must practice the art of containment. Soon enough the future will unfold, the door will swing open and the way be clear. In the meanwhile, we can consider the distance we have come already, the lessons we have leaned and the chapters closed. By pausing to appreciate our growth, we find outselves more restful than restless. The wheel will turn and find us ready.
[end of Julia]

From William, whose Transitions has been on my top bookshelf for 25 years:
[Too many people are] change-heavy and transition-light. Change and transition are different, and both are necessary for any significant change to work.

As I use the term, change is a shift in the externals of any situation: a new boss, setting up a new program, the death of a relative, a move to a new city, or a promotion.

By contrast, transition is the mental and emotional transformation that people must undergo to relinquish old arrangements and embrace new ones.

Transition has three phases: an Ending, a disorienting sort of "nowhere" that I call The Neutral Zone, and a new Beginning. If people don't deal with each of these phases, the change will be just a rearrangement of the furniture. And then we say, "It didn't work."
[end of William]

Ah, "the corridor of in between" and "a disorienting sort of 'nowhere'"--as Sue Monk Kidd puts it, "this spiritual waiting [is like] that of the caterpillar in the cocoon waiting to become a butterfly . . . [and] we tend to be long on butterflies and short on cocoons."

But, in the "corridor of in between,"in the "Neutral Zone," in the "cocoon," I howl, "How long, O Lord, how long?" (Psalm 13)

Mysterious Paris

Cara Black is a Californian who writes dense mysteries set in Paris I learned from a blog I read. The small, wonderful local library here had three of the eight she's written and they follow a pattern. Featuring out-of-the-limelight political issues (Corsica, Vietnam, Turkey, etc.) and a different arrondissement (Paris' 20 wards) each time, these are intense, action-packed and human-relationship-intense stories. Most are Right Bank, my only disappointment, being a Left Bank girl at heart. They last roughly a week, the first chapter being, say, "Tuesday Afternoon" and the last "Saturday Morning." The shadowy black-and-white covers give the atmosphere (a long way from Paris Hangover!). So on a trip into Borders bookshop today, I treated myself to just-published #8 and will force myself to save it for the plane back to Alaska, even though "only a dip" has taken me to p. 35. And for background music while reading Black, the soundtrack from La Vie en Rose or anything by Ali Farka Toure works.

Pacing Myself

I've had to give in and pace myself, take breaks and rest more. Maybe my Alaska-acclimated blood is still too thick for the heat here, or . . . . but I'll just have to save parasailing and hula lessons for the next time (though I've had two offers of places to stay if I want to extend my time here).

So Monday morning yoga under the palm trees (today photographed by a Japanese promotion team for ads back there!) while Pihalani practiced her yoga stretches at home (her left arm was straight up but she moved when I took the picture), then a walk into central Waikiki to International Market which is the only place on the island that sells fanny packs (the zipper broke on the one I brought), and just a half hour relaxing on the beach. On the way back to Sans Souci along the ocean I saw a man in a thong bathing suit -- the front just a strip of cloth from low-riser elastic (Amazon has a lot of samples...) -- and I turned for the back view and a charming, handsome guy walking his bike next to me struck up a conversation, "You don't see that very often, huh." I told him I was sorry not to have my camera for my blog and he gave me some great blog quotes to use (if I'd gotten a picture, that is).

Then off to Ono Hawaiian Foods, since this is about the last time I'll be able to work this in. Fuzzy photo of interior, walls plastered with photos of the famous who've been there (I recognized Lily Tomlin). The nice man asked if I wanted fresh or day-old poi (??!); day-old is tarter and more sour, and I chose that. He gave me some fresh to compare--hard choice. I got the combination of course (chicken lau lau), to try everything. Since "ono" means "delicious" in Hawaiian, no wonder it was fabulous. What I hadn't known is that everything is dipped in the poi; I used to just eat the poi straight. The cooked taro leaves were the best I've had, and the haupia melt-in-your-mouth.

Simple Day

Finally remembered the Sunday Kundalini yoga in the park at 8:30, so was up early. I had thought the session would focus on breathing, and it did, but with very intense physical accompaniment. My right shoulder, hip and knee protested, as did my lower back, and somehow, like lomilomi, that yoga session wiped me out. It was a revelation, though, to see just how this form of yoga works. Six of us were there and there was music and the young teacher was really nice and welcoming. It was over by 11 and I had brought what I needed to hang out at the beach, so I did. Just vegged, reading again "The Neutral Zone" in William Bridges' Transitions. He reassures us that the long long emptiness that is the neutral zone part of transition, but which is dismissed or medicated in this day and age, is normal and needed. In this neutral time, "we don't really think in any way that produces definite results." Yet, everyone is expecting me to come up with definite results. I keep going back to Bridges to remind myself that it is OK that I can't. Maybe the Kundalini plus the struggle with the neutral zone plus the ice cubes they put in the ocean today all conspired to wipe me out, and I made it back to collapse in the bed by mid-afternoon. Still barely functional this evening, but back, shoulder, hip and knee feel fine! Go figure.

The Princess Pihalani was greatly heartened by a visit from my friend's son. She showed up on the bed in the master bedroom again while I rested this afternoon and evening, and was friskier. She must understand her "family" has not deserted her for this non-cat-lady, with whom she nevertheless gets along quite well. But she doesn't seem to understand when I tell her that in just a week her beloved mistress will be here with her. Cat heaven is on its way, Piha.

Sunny and warm . . . still

Yesterday afternoon I hung out with my old colleague from Japan, Barbara, on U of H Manoa campus. We had lunch in the the Sustainability Court, outdoors, all food vegetarian, parasols over wooden tables, and talked the afternoon away. So much to catch up on. It's good to get together with old buddies! We were so engrossed in all we had to say I forgot I had the camera in my purse! And me with my "I'm blogging this" T-shirt on, too.

The Princess Pihalani had a new trick up her sleeve today, in addition to her early morning flying-leap-onto-the-bed trick, and that was the disappearing trick. I couldn't find her anywhere, and no, no doors or windows were open to the outside! Finally, she moved and there on a shelf she was curled up. Whew! She loves to be outside, and will stay two hours or more. Not being a cat person, I cannot figure out how to get her to come back into the house when I want her to. Must be a secret code word, or something. But, I don't think I'll ever learn catspeak....