Hawaiʻi Island
19° 44' 30'' N, 155° 50' 39” W
Hawaiʻi called us home from Palermo. Zach and Melissa, two folks Mary set up on a Fall Equinox just as the reins of the pandemic were loosening, called while we were in the Ballarò and asked if Mary would be the officiant for their wedding. The Universe had orchestrated our return and we set our sights on Volcano September 22, 2023. It seemed like a lifetime away and yet came so quickly.
We returned, amazed at how short a 5 hour flight seems now in comparison. When you first step off of the plane in Hawaiʻi the air wraps her arms around you adding moisture to your dry skin and filling your nose with the perfume of a thousand flowers. The complexities of the mainland are cast away immediately as the airport windows often don’t even have glass.
Amma, an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, says “In this universe, it is love that binds everything together.” We were gifted with a beautiful reminder of the depth and power of love in Volcano as we stood at the base of an ancient koa tree, a part of the celebration for two folks who match each other like water and a river. Their hearts extended a welcome home we will forever be grateful for.
Home. Home is in our hearts. Time away makes the dragon fruit sweeter, the shoreline memorizing, and reminds us of the reverence for the secrets of this land. We knew upon our return that we could not stay. Friends asked if we came back just to say goodbye and we believe there never really is a goodbye. Just a see you later. Next time. Traveling the world helped us to see that we have places and spaces left to grow. Expansion that needs to happen in partnership with exploration.
It is a blessing to be seen clearly by others who have also set out in pursuit of this expansion. Dear Rishia blessed us with kimonos from her collections. A woman with a deep sense of adventure who insists on using the nice dishes every day and wearing the kimono because it is beautiful and should be enjoyed. Yes. Use the good stuff today because tomorrow is not promised.
The greatest part of coming home is getting to see all of our old friends! They came from near and far to see us and we were beyond excited to spend time with Kapā and her whole family! We had homemade pizza nights, the best breakfast spread, and a driving adventure.
The hale we called home had a righteous kitchen set up and Mary was a baking queen! We ate so much bread and it was all super delicious. We also shared a lot of bread! Given our short stay in Hawaiʻi we opted not to get a rental car because the cost was absolutely bananas. Thankfully, lots of folks let us borrow their cars! One of our bread delivery adventures took us through the mountain coffee farm roads and the car we were borrowing definitely was not cut out for the uphill climb. Good thing we have strong legs! After a bit of a ruckus between the two of us (the walk was literally straight uphill) we made our way to deliver fresh bread to Lei and Jerry at Kupaianaha.
We also made our way to Oʻahu (thank you Ben and Tori!) to visit our absolute favorite small human! The views were stunning, the coffee incredible, and the whiskey was top notch! The holidays were on their way and our evening was filled with santa skepticism and epic tree decorating with an indoor snowball fight.
Back in our little village of Volcano we took the decorative picnic basket out for a test drive. There is truly no better picnic sidekick than Molly, the mail goddess! Molly checked our mail the whole time we were gone and she also makes the best picnic salads!
It is a good time to mention that a year of travel would not have been possible without the support of a giant and incredible network of folks. Heading home to spend time with them all was the greatest blessing. It was also a painful reminder that we still have a lot of traveling left to do. Hawaiʻi Island will always be home and as we write this 30 million cubic meters of lava are intruding just up the mountain side of where we were married. It is possible in the coming days that the place where we stood in the persistent face of the east wind will be covered forever by a new layer of Earth.
We are getting sentimental. Admittedly, this blog post has been a hard one to write because each image is our hearts. The people we love and who have loved us.
On to more adventure! Volcano gets cold and the boys (Chris and Eric) have the most amazing fireplace. We needed more firewood! That, my friends, is when the magic happened. In exchange for a joyous day of wood chopping - with an automatic chopper - we were gifted an absolute ton of firewood! Thank you Kevin and Kathy! We have been on many adventures with Zach that were sort of….dangerous. We are here to report that Melissa, his new bride, brings a level of safety and precaution we can all be grateful for!
In Hawaiʻi you always see the folks you know. We were gifted with an Ihop breakfast with Keala, an airport run in with Uncle Chad, and early mornings at the Volcano Farmers Market filled with all of the folks we love to pieces.
Not a single moment of this would have been possible without the unbelievable generosity of Chris and Eric. They provided us a place to call home for the time we were in Hawaiʻi and we are forever grateful. In fact, we not so secretly hope they will come with us to Sicily and remodel a palazzo because they have unmatched style, attention to detail, and incredible cooking accoutrement! Each day we were surrounded by mountains of love and laughter. Upon our return from Oʻahu Chris surprised us by setting up a Christmas tree and Krystal sat staring at the tree in total disbelief for days. Home truly is where your heart is surrounded by your dearest friends and quirky dogs.
Willingness to let others in and share what is real brings gifts to our path that we could never imagine. Near our final days we were blessed with a visit from Krystal’s dear friend Kim and her family. We don’t have words to end this blog post, so we will share some of Kim’s stunning writing: “Adventure opens the senses and forces one to LIVE. But all that living (and confronting) of LIFE can be painful. To feel, to exist, wide open… is wild and brave. So go gently into your freedom and may you continue to discover love’s mysteries along the way.
We love you!
