Musing

[written & published at Kameole Sands, Kihei, Maui]

weather here is predicted to be mostly sunny, breezy, highs around 80 at the shore . . so boring, just like yesterday

Little Beach (Hawaiian name for Little nude Beach) in the Makena state park welcomed me back yesterday for some afternoon ‘reading’ and sun-bathing; if you were naked on a regular beach you would stand out, at this one you stand out if you are not

while I think everyone there enjoys 'scenery', for most people the nudity is just part of the tanning experience, as oblivious to those folks who sport the best designed/hard body tanning surface as they are to those sporting built-in sagging cushions though the close-shave and hairless exhibits can be eye catching; this small beach is a little challenging to get at - a hike up and over a lava cliff at the north end of 'Big Beach' (Hawaiian name for 'clothes worn here'); the most compelling site yesterday was the view of a group of whales and their pups breaching and spraying . . . just close enough to see, just far enough away to not show up in a photo - gives the term 'whale watching' on that beach a whole new meaning; they have been coming here forever, they keep coming back again and again and again . . . so do the whales

I stopped at the Makena pro shop to book golf times, bought gouda and gruyere at ‘Who Cut The Cheese?’, sunscreen at Long’s but, to my surprise, found that Azeka’s ribs, a Maui institution, is closed and out of business; where will visitors get their Maui ribs?

I had a very nice visit and dinner with NB, a Kihei real estate pro and recent muser who brought me up to date and introduced me to a new restaurant – the food at Buzz's Wharf was good, the service poor - NEXT ! . . restaurant recommendations sought . .

sipping my first cup of coffee , no sign of daylight, birds started chirping at 5:47AM, stopped (one of the ferrel cats must have been prowling among them), then resumed more gradually at 6:00 . .I guess they got ahead of their wake up call; twilight arrived at 6:30 . . off I went to the beach but a detour (grumbling tummy) to the Cinnamon Roll Fair for an ooie-gooie-treat, just the thing to get my walk off to a great sugar-high start

a few people chat while they walk, but those are few

most of us walk silently in ones, the twosomes must be late sleepers

no crowd, just a stream of people who want to make eye contact, who want to say good-mornin’, interspersed with joggers, artists sketching shades of blue gray haze where water meets sky in the west while the volcano, fully backlit, has yet to reveal today’s sun show

some stop to stare at critter life left in a pool by a receding tide, others pause to reflect on what life is all about, some speed by at a frenetic pace - like gulping dessert instead of savouring every delicious mouthful; a feast for the senses - I can't smell so I miss that part, but my other senses are working overtime to compensate

while I do walk for the physical stimulation, I can do that anywhere

if nature is religion, surely the beach must be the church; I stop here and there . . feeling an obligation to be respectfully silent – just to listen to the relentless rolling of waves, landing at my feet – falling back, then coming back again and again and again and again

this is not the hereafter, but if you believe in life after death, this place is surely one of the stops along the way where life before death is at its most spectacular; this place is a feast for the sighted . . . which makes me wonder if the sounds and odours provide a true sense of this place for a blind person; I am sure they can see it too

by the time I made it to the Fairmont I’d raised a blister (wrinkled sock methinks) so it was time to ‘take a cab back’ - the driver, Bill from southern California, came here at 18 in 1973, met a hula girl – 34 yrs and 7 grandchildren later he seems pretty happy owning 2 cabs and driving 2 days a week

today will likely be an explore some more and 'enjoy some more sunbathing without becoming lobster-like' day, maybe a drive up to Lahaina . . maybe not

hard to distinguish days of the week here

or to care much about the hour of the day

or to worry about it

some people 'come to their senses', realizing their workload does not permit an escape to this paradise - that is normal, practical, sensible, rational and essential because someone has to keep the wheels turning back home instead of savouring every delicious mouthful here . .

I’m happy to have left my senses, sensibility and workload at home

rather than come to my senses, I am glad I've come to Maui and I will keep coming back again and again and again - to a place that is a feast for the senses

Mark Kolke
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