A Celebration: 38

It’s been a very, very big year. I am only just beginning to reflect on and write about it all, but one thing is certain. I am blessed. As a form of celebration, in the days leading up to my 38th birthday, I will write about the epic trips I took this year.

For each I will ask myself what the place and the people taught me. And I will share the best of the experiences as I remember them.

Hawaii: Big Island, Kauai, and Oahu.

It is a land of many ecosystems. On the same island, you can awake amongst a gentle mist that everyday generates rainbows, always at the same time and in the same place. Then you drive two miles and you’re in a veritable tropical rainforest, literally getting pummeled by raindrops, big and small. More rain than you’ve ever seen or felt in your life. You didn’t know your body could be that level of saturated. Then you drive another mile and it’s clear that while it was pouring 5,280 feet away, here it was sunny and warm the whole time. It is home to rainbow eucalyptus trees with trunks striped in colors and sea turtles, fragrant plumeria and countless, unabashed wild chickens.

Go to a different island, and you’ll find black lava sand. The coolest texture, almost like the black rubber kernels found on turf fields, but a little softer and smaller. On the opposite side of the same island you’ll also find green sand, if you’re willing to traverse a couple hours of sand dunes to reach it. It’s home to active volcanos and the most delicious and complex peppercorn I’ve been privileged to taste. This kernel of pepper transitions gently through at least 5 different flavor profiles, narrated on cue by the resident cultivator.

Beautiful white sand beaches, cliff-side hikes, Oceania culture, history, and language, and giant waterfalls.

I floated on the rolling, aqua waves of Waikiki beach on a surfboard, alternating rest and joining the power of the current to carry me into shore on its broad back.

What did Hawaii teach me? That the earth is more diverse and awesome than any of us can imagine, and that environs and thus life can be drastically different from here to there and over yonder. It was more clear than anywhere else I’ve been that nature is meant to be revered and protected. Let’s be better, let’s do better.