Journal of a Sysadmin

Hawai`i

Red earth on my runners.

Hawai`i smells on my shirts.

Sand on my sandals.

We landed yesterday after spending 23 days in my beautiful wifes home. My head is still filled with the feeling of the warmth and the humidity and the smells and the sounds. Now we have Longs Drugs and Times Supermarkets shopping bags in our house, cookies, macadamia nut treats, and gifts. I so wish I could have brought everything else too.

I’ve slept, finished unpacking, checked my mail and checked in with work, started some laundry and still I have a feeling tugging at my heart. I miss all of the `Ohana there, most of all Jaime and Jonah who are there until the end of February (luck and planning should have it that she’s on mat. leave until the end of June).

We arrived at night on December 20th, picked up the car then Puna and Papa lead the we to our first vacation hale, Schrader’s Windward Country Inn. If they have the space and you are there for either a short or long stay you should check this place out. It has decent sized beach house like units very close to the water, ours was actually on the water and the lani was situated so we could sit and have our breakfast and morning coffee looking out over the waves.

Our second hale was equally as beautiful with a view each morning of the mountains and a great quiet run right outside our door. Auntie Nancy’s Plantation Hale was just down the street from Puna and Papa’s house and is in a quiet neighborhood which is still close to the main highways and Temple Valley Mall.

On `Ohana, I have to say thank you to all of them. They have welcomed this socially awkward white guy (who miss pronounces most of the words in their language) and one of his sons with such open arms and kindness it is too wonderful for words. I love you all and will miss you all so much. The spirit of giving and love is so strong in all of your family, it is my privilege to be a part of it. Mahalo to all of you.

I won’t even pretend to remember all off the things we did but the ones I can remember are the most notable. We spent Christmas Day with Jaime’s family, New years eve at here grandparents for fireworks, New years day at her parents again with all of her family, and on the sixth of January Jonah was Baptized and we went out to celebrate that and Jaime’s birthday (25th I think she said).

We went to Diamond Head where Jaime hiked all the way up with Jonah in the sling, we saw Byodo In, Punchbowl, the lighthouse at Makapu`u (which we almost got to just after the light came on but had to turn back to prevent our car from possibly being held hostage by the state overnight), the USS Arizona Memorial, `Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, The Polynesian Cultural Centre (PCC), Pali Lookout, Ala Moana (Shopping Centre), Hawaiian Waters water park, Sand Island Park, the Dole Plantation, North Shore (including Matsumoto’s for a shave ice of course), Haunama Bay, Swap Meet, and snorkeling on more than one occasion with Papa and Kimo.

That’s a big list. The snorkeling was the second last thing we did (last thing was a good bye dinner in Kaneohe) where Papa did catch a muhe`e (squid, but really an octopus) so that Connor could see what it was all about.

I think of all the things we did the most fun ones for me personally were spending time with family and friends. I know right now that it’s only a matter of time and I won’t be able to resist the want to never return.

For now we will live in a place where for about 3 months of the year it’s nice, 2 months it’s cool but pretty, and the rest of the year is frozen tundra. But at least we have snowboarding and mountains to make up for it.