Dear friends,
Vacation was wonderful. I mean, duh, usually they are, but this one in particular was dang near perfect. We got away from the grey skies, and wet days be it snow or rain, and made our way to sunshine, Tradewinds, and if it did rain, it was 70 degree for crying out loud.
I suffer from seasonal affective disorder like a lot of people. It seems to have gotten worse the last few years. I make it through January, barely, but come February I’m done. This get away equals perfect timing. It gives me strength to make it till spring. Thank goodness because coming home our plane touched down to snow.
"Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you."
Walt Whitman
Sunshine is magic. Listen, I realize we need all the weather to be in balance, and I’m good with that, but too many days of anything consecutive, well, boy oh boy, when you see those sun beams sent from heaven after a dry spell, well, its life affirming. Vitamin D, straight from the source.
Everyday we saw the most amazing creatures. Whales waved their tails and spouted streams of water throughout the day. Come late afternoon, the humpbacks put on a dazzling show by breeching. Turtles bobbed their heads in the rough sea until they were ready to beach. Seals sunned on the sand.
Where we stayed there was a koi pond. Just like my chickens they believed anyone who walked by was a food source. There were feral pigs 25 to 1 in the animal to person ratio and the ever popular chickens, 7 to 1 wandering the island. Please don’t forget the black tailed deer and many species of birds. My personal favorite the Brazilian cardinal.
We marveled at the sea life. I wondered if that’s how people from the islands feel when they see moose, buffalo, wolves and all kinds of mammals? I hope so. We still marvel at the animals we see in our neck of the woods too.
The magic, or medicine of Kaua’i is the exhale. That first breath let out when you step foot on their soil. At least for me. It also reminds me of the Florida I grew up in. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s the sea, maybe I don’t need to know what it is. Maybe I just need to count down the days till we go back.
So, I hope you will forgive me for not writing when I was there. I wanted to, I really did, but I was engaged, fully engaged with life. Perhaps that is the true lesson to remember from my trip to the garden isle.
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
Louisa May Alcott
I’ll try to remember that Louisa, even when I’m not on vacation.
Sending you much love,
Kelly