the daily grind

you know, if you have to wake up at 5:45 for a 40 minute drive to work, maui is the place to do it. Jasper and I watch the sun come up over the valley, we discuss the "moos" (cows) on the side of the road, and after passing by the blue ocean, we arrive at school. Its getting easier for both of us; he is getting more and more confident with his new friends-the other day, he ran gleefully up to several kids to give them a high five; and I'm getting used to the logistics of dealing with a room full of toddlers as well as being in charge of several teachers aides. And, if you have to drive 40 minutes to get home after a long day in a hot place, it sure is nice to be able to jump in the warm ocean with your sweet baby boy. Weekends are sweet too, with our little family of beach bums enjoying the sand and surf, good stuff.

this island is their land...

so here's a funny thing about living in hawaii: most people who reside here full time are super intensely into "local culture," but exactly what that means is really poorly defined. for some, it seems to be a desire to return to the "old ways" before statehood or maybe even colonization. that's probably the definition i can most readily understand--it's unrealistic in this modern age, but i get the urge to go back to some pre-industrial, tribal reality where everyone was practically naked and the water was clean and there weren't any ugly condos or sunburnt tourists lining the beaches.

but for other people--mostly middle aged caucasians who've lived here a few decades and have burnt leathery skin and wear flowing cotton clothing and try to speak with a native accent--"local culture" seems more to be this insulated, oddly defensive notion that what happens on the islands (or in some extreme cases just THIS island) is all that matters. 

as an example: i got an angry e-mail from a reader of 'maui time' complaining that i wasn't covering local issues and had an "outsiders perspective." i'll certainly allow that the second accusation is true--i've been here a month-and-a-half and even though i've gotten something of a crash course on maui politics, i'm still learning. so call me an ignorant big city haole if you must. i can take it. but then i looked at the story this irate reader was actually referring to, and it was one i wrote about local tattoo shops where in addition to quoting several maui artists i also talked to someone from oahu. if that's your idea of an "outsider" (a person in the same island chain as you who's a 20 minute plane ride away) i think it's time to realign your perspective. or at least admit that it's totally been warped by too much sun and a few too many pina coladas.

i'm not really complaining, though. living here is interesting and mostly awesome, and a lot of the people i've met have been extremely nice and welcoming. but i guess anytime you live somewhere versus paying a quick visit you just start to see those little things that happen on the margins, those quirks and oddities that only come out after you've had time to like do your laundry and pay some bills and go to the grocery store in your pjs on a sunday afternoon to buy some coconut milk.

hell, a few more weeks of sunshine and a couple more pina coladas and i could become one of those cantankerous island kooks. could be fun.

off to school

Well, day one went pretty well. I think that probably the low point of the work day was as we left school; Jasper and I were both sweaty and hot and as we drove along the edge of the beautiful ocean watching the surfers paddle out, I was pretty bummed that I hadn't brought a bathingsuit and towel. Oh well, tomorrow we'll do it again. Now we're back on the cool side of the island, I'm gratefully watching the fog swirl on the mountains, Jacob is probably watching something go by really fast( he's off for his evening run) and Jasper is watching Telletubbies...a nice, relaxing evening.

i wanna know...

...have you ever seen the rain? cuz we sure did last night. it rained more in about 10 hours than it has the rest of our time here combined.

it was nice falling asleep to the sound of pitter patter on the roof, but then we were awoken in the night to what sounded like a biblical deluge. i was getting ready to go build an ark and start rounding up geckos two by two when i realized the sprinklers in the yard had kicked on and were adding their wholly unnecessary wetness to the proceedings. alyssa suggested a good invention (which, if it already exists, our landlord should look into)--a sprinkler head with an underground water sensor that would shut the thing off when the ground was saturated. every day i read--and write--about how maui is dealing with a serious drought, to the point where sugarcane farmers are shutting down operations and certain communities are going to mandatory rationing, and here are these stupid automatic sprinklers spraying the side of our house in a storm.

funny and sad at the same time, really. but mostly pretty funny.

also: if anyone wants to check out the paper i'm working for and read a few of my scribblings, you can find it at www.mauitime.com

Jasper is getting sleepy, but he doesn't want to go down. He woke up around 5:30 this morning, which is good i guess. Next week he and I(alyssa) start school, and we have to be there at 7. We will load up, drive across the island, along the ocean with a beautiful view of Lanai, and end up at Kama Aina Kids preschool, where Jasper will play, and I will work in the infant/toddler class. He is very ready to have friends, and a new independent adventure, and I'm excited for the new challenge of creating a learning environment for such tiny people.

Jasper is now on my lap, sucking his thumb as the sun shines and the breeze blows down off of the mountains. About 10 minutes from here, tucked away in a little neighborhood is Baby Beach. A lava shelf about 20 feet offshore acts as a wave break, and creates basically an ocean swimming pool. Aside from being somewhat windy, its a perfect place for our little family to hang out. Jacob can run on the beach, I can swim up and down without getting smashed by waves, and Jasper can play by the shore safely. It's good stuff.

Last night before Jasper went to bed, I said "go give daddy a kiss", and our sweet little guy trotted over to the couch grinning and reached up on his tiptoes as J leaned down...it was sweet stuff. Our life here is full of sweet stuff, and sunshine and warmth, and LOTS of fruit. I'm telling you this so that you know that we are doing well, but also to make you want to come visit even more than I know you already do ;)

Well, time to go read Oh the Thinks you Can Think for the 200th time and help this little thumbsucker drift off to dream land.
So much love.....

no man is an island...

...but we live on one! jasper, jacob and alyssa have moved to maui. we love it here, but we miss our family and friends, and so this blog was born. we promise to update it as often as we can with photos and musings. but keep in mind that the beach is really nice, so we have to be there too sometimes.

--J, j & A