May Day is Lei Day

I need to get organized with this blog posting business.  I constantly have ideas darting in my brain and frantically running around yet when I go to write them down, they hide.  Stinkers.

Mom has had an interesting reaction to being back in Colorado after her last trip to Kauai. This time around, she was able to relax a lot more, not worry so much about me in a cabin in the jungle.  We walked the bay, cooked dinners from the farmer's market, toured the Na Pali, and drank many beers on the beach.  We drove each other a little nuts, but I think I just have that affect on people.  It really is fantastic to have other people visit when they have time shares and I can go home alone.  Since being home she's wistful for Kauai and the simple pleasure it offered her.  I don't remind her of the crazy struggles it presents as well.  She's lonely in her distance from my father and I believe she saw the potential of the legions of older surfer hotties here that would kill for a woman like her.  Renee summed it up when she said, "Your mom would be single for about twenty minutes."

I could tell she felt a bit uncomfortable with her appearance while she was here.  She's a beautiful woman, and in Colorado, with her make up on, and fashiony mom clothes, she's a hottie for her age.  Here?  Well, here it's different.  The day I picked her up from the airport was May Day.  A labor holiday in much of the world, here it is May Day is Lei Day.  You give leis and honor the spirit of aloha.  For two days leading up to May Day, we had ukulele and chanting in the cafeteria and a hula dancer.  I'll say it again, NO IRONY.

My dear friend Sylvia constructed a special hair clip lei for me and made a ritual out of taking the lei out of her own hair to give to me as a gift to my mom.  It was so touching and in doing it she really let me know I was loved by her.  She then asked, "Your mom has long hair, right?"  Oh.  Not many moms on the mainland do, past a certain age.  Here, the old women have the longest hair, which they wear natural and tucked in a bun or even loose.  So I did gift the lei to my mom, in honor of Syvia, but it kind of became a symbol of the difference in Hawaiian fashion.  I put a bug in her ear that she should grow out her hair, so we'll see.  If she does, it's a sign she's moving over.

I was looking at my friend Dave's facebook photos of the bars he frequents in Chicago.  The girls are beautiful, and mostly dressed in black, tight clothes, trendy, ironic, hipsterish.  The guys are kind of pretty too, in an ugly way.  Skinny and trying kinda hard.

None of that has hit this island.  Well, I've seen it here and there.  The film crews of course, and random visitors.  But overall, the women are amazingly traditionally feminine.  Long hair, beautiful tan bodies, lots of skin showing, always a flower in the hair.  The tuxedo pants and vests I wore in Denver would look like a costume here.  The men simply wear t shirts and board shorts.  The first night I went out with the 24 year-old, he put a little effort into it.  He wore a camouflage jacket over his t shirt.  Yup, camo and board shorts.  There is not a more Kauai local boy look that I can think of.  I can see how you'd wile away a lifetime here.

Aloha.

Longer Term Plans

I broke the news to Mom that I plan on staying on Kauai for longer than originally planned.  She agreed it was the right decision.  Now I have to tell Jen.

Having her here reinforced what I only tend to notice when people come visit.  The tourist experience on Kauai is miles away from the kama'aina experience.  The way we were ignored in various shops and restaurants was appalling.  Kauai service industry, lose the entitlement.  I'm used to getting fussed at by the local women and now find it a bit comforting.  It's like an Auntie whom you drive batshit insane, but who secretly loves you just a little bit.  That's what I feel like at the PO, grocery store, at the cafeteria at work, when calling public offices, and in most stores in Lihue.  Smile, smile, smile and you'll wear them down eventually.

I had a shitty day yesterday, full of cancelations and bitchy coworkers, and punctuated by missing my mom.  After work, I fled to Grandpas, texting Jenny on the way.  I parked, put on my bikini in the car, kissed the drunks on the picnic bench, and ran with my new friend into the Pacific Ocean.  Swimming as the paddle boarders circled us and the sun set behind the ridge was more reward than most experience on their honeymoon.

A local surfer boy has been pursuing me, which is confusing and exciting at once.  He drives a boat for a living, born and raised on Kauai.  We are as different as two people can be and still have a shot at anything.  Last night we are sitting in the local dive bar and he lets it slip he is 24 years old.  Such a weird feeling of ancientness, fear, and a little bit of pride.  We were sitting about 15 feet away from another man I have a date with later this week.  He's in his fifties.  So with the boy, I can admire his beauty and energy and laugh off his utter lack of sophistication.  He means well and does stuff like text me at 7 am to say good morning and show me pictures of the big fish he caught yesterday.

The older man requires a slower hand and perhaps none at all.  When I kissed him hello last night, he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye that read, "good job and good luck with that one."  The local boy was oblivious.  I have now hooked up with someone who actually lives on the island, and need to proceed very carefully.  Living in such a small space has taught me well what battles to fight and that sugar will get you far more than spice.

Mom's last night at Black Pot.  She was looking at real estate by her last day here.

Aloha.