Promised someone that I would wrap up this evening with a funny post, no more whining or poetry for my male readers!  There are a few different stories that I have in mind to share with this groovy bunch, so here is an oldie but a goodie:  Time to talk SCUBA diving.

As mentioned once before, I was raised in a SCUBA family.  My parents both were avid divers and we used to camp regularly with a large group of SCUBA diving fanatics.  These camping locations varied annually, but the main places were Monterey, Fort Bragg, Eureka and Lake Tahoe.  If you are familiar with the California Coast, you know that in these places the water is extremely cold and rough.  Although my mother was a diver, my father went on to become a Master Diver, completing wreck dives and deep sea water dives.  Thus, I have some incredible memories of riding in Zodiacs (where I stayed alone while they dove,) or being lowered down cliff sides on a rope to reach some obscure location.  My parents were avid Abalone hunters.  By 5 years old, I could skillfully clean a fish with a knife or hammer an Ab.  At one point, we had hundreds of shells in our backyard our family had personally collected. 

My first SCUBA dives I completed in the warm waters of Hawaii, off the coast of Maui, at the age of 11 years old.  I did SCUBA dive several times following this and I am uncertain why I was never formally certified as a child because I was regularly diving.  Bro #1 did his certification at age 12, off of Diver’s Cove in Laguna Beach.  Again, as I previously stated, I jet skied, boogie boarded and surfed.  (All natural extensions of my love of the ocean.)  My hubby and I met surfing at the Pier when I was 17.  He was already a certified SCUBA diver and instantly had this in common with my family, a love of the ocean.

The story.  I read about this SCUBA program in the newspaper, where you could complete your certification with the Marine Corps in one week, versus the 6 week course being offered by a Dive Shop in Dana Point.  Great, one week, plus half the cost of the regular class to attend at the Dive Shop on the base.  I wanted to continue diving and didn’t want to have any issues not having an official license.  Diver beware.  Somehow reading that Ad, I must have missed the fine print.  Oh, how I missed it!!!

The first 3 nights, I showed up in a classroom among 9 Marines to do the bookwork.  (1 Female and 8 Males + Little Me ~ (AKA furthest thing from Marine, big wimp.))  Yes, if you are unfamilar with SCUBA diving, there is bookwork involved and a few math calculations involved.  Next, we were on to the Pool practice, Thursday and Friday.  Great.  Piece of cake.  I did get the highest grade in the book course, a perfect score.  Given that I spent my entire life in the ocean, it would have been terribly pathetic had I not.

The first pool night, the Dive Master makes us swim laps and tread water.  I came in 3rd or 4th in the lap drills, still ahead of 6 Marines.  Treading water, again I came in first place.  We owned a pool as a child and one of our favorite neighborhood challenges was the water tread endurance test.  We jump out and the Dive Master hands us these SCUBA diving suits made of the thickest material which ever existed.  Uh hello, the ’70s called and they want their diving suit back (and this is the mid-1990s!)  I struggle intensly to get this thing on, we are pulling eachother’s hair out to assist in putting the hoodie on.

Under water in a 15-foot pool, I walk through the motions of buddy breathing with my Marine partner.  You have to take your Regulator off and hold your breath so your partner can breath, this is a rescue exercise.  Of course, I am paired with the Marine who has the largest pair of lungs on the planet.  Hello, dude, share the air!  Turning blue here.  Who is rescuing whom?  After 3 hours in the pool, we get out and Dive Master announces a break.  Thank you God!  We are instructed to take our entire suits off and take ”5.”  About 3 minutes later, we are instructed to stand up and put on our soaking wet, ’70s tight suits, back on.  Another, are you serious Rambo moment?  We each struggle to get our suits on and assist each other.  Now recall, entering this course I was 18 years old, in the shape of my life, but no where in the Ad did it say anything about extreme Recon SCUBA training.  The Dive Master must have read the frustration on my face.  He walked over and picked up the largest SCUBA tank in existence, pulled me over and placed it on my back.  We got into a formation to dive in the pool, something which is completed by holding your mask and taking a literal step off the side to avoid hitting anything with 100 pounds of compression on your back.  I step forward on the pool deck to take my turn, the world starts spinning and I mean spinning fast, darkness.  I fainted, standing there on the side of the pool, in the suit with an entire SCUBA tank on my back.  I fell backwards from the weight and luckily (for me, not him) landed on top of a Marine.  When I came to, Dive Master standing over me now highly perturbed by my dramatic interruption informs me I have 5 minutes to stop ’screwing around’ and get in the water with my crew.  Confusion, when exactly did I become a member of “a crew?!?”  OMG, what have I gotten myself into this time.  Mommy?  By some miracle I survive the evening, 6 hours of pool time total.  The 9 Marines felt really bad for me, especially the female, because they all knew that I was not in the military, I just wanted to take a stupid SCUBA diving class.  Give me a break. 

Pool Night two rolls around and now we are completing more survival drills.  Yes, these are important but I am not planning to get severe bends and rescue anyone in 30 foot water off the CA coast, or while visiting Kauai again.  Seriously.  This drill consists of going to the bottom of the pool, taking off your mask, breathing in through your Regulator without drowning through your nose.  You are not allowed to plug your nose.  Dive Master and I go down, he pulls off my mask and I choke in lungs full of water through my nose.  We surface.  He tells me to concentrate, we go down again, he rips off my mask and now I am done with this little exercise in hell, I plug my nose.  We surface, he screams at me, we go down, he rips off my mask, I plug my nose.  Twice more and he is livid with me, totally pissed off.  He says “look at me, we are done coming up, I don’t care if you vomit into that Regulator, you will not come up until we complete this drill, got it?”  Help, I want out now.

We went under the water, Dive Master takes my shoulders, pushes me onto my back, he climbs on top of me (we are in the shallow end of the pool, about 4 feet deep,) puts his knees on my chest, rips my off my mask and grabs my wrists so I cannot plug my nose (which is this inate natural instinct.)  Backing up, the purpose of this exercise is to teach the Diver not to panic if your mask gets ripped off at 100 feet down.  You can survive breathing through your Regulator, as long as you learn not to breath through your nose, only your mouth.  Of course, given the circumstance and the fact that I am only 18, panic is what I did, a lot.  I took in what felt like a gallon of water.  Looking up, I can see my husband on the edge of the pool leaning in the water and he is freaking out.  Literally, this Dive Master Marine Scary Person did not let me up to  surface until I calmed down and was yes, breathing through my mouth, only.  Apparently you can vomit into the Regulator and clear it out the sides while deep in the ocean and still be OKAY.  Nice to know, lesson learned.  

My husband told me that evening that he had never been more freaked out in his life.  He didn’t know how to react or what to do.  He understood that this man was trying to teach me a lesson, but also, understood (like Dive Master dude forgot,) that I was not in the military, a total wimp and had no desire to be drilled like this in a million years!!  I am thinking, friggin false advertising to the max.  Where can I sign up for the normal 15-week SCUBA course with the Senior Citizens, seriously?  ‘Hell Week’ ended and to be honest, I have only been diving a few times since over the years, mainly in Hawaii (where I dove 5 times.)  Nothing like a near death experience to take the enjoyment and pleasure out of an extreme sport you used to love.  But I can now safely attest, if we are stranded in the middle of the ocean together, I have totally got your back!                        

So on Friday night, Jenn and I went with my folks to see the travel agent, and we are now officially going to Kauai, HI, for our honeymoon! A week of fun in the sun, baby! WOO-HOO!

Jenn and I are just beside ourselves now that the plans are set in stone. Reading the brochures and talking about what all we’re going to do on the trip has just made us all sorts of giddy. And the wedding is still a little over six months away! LOL!

s

north shore beach

It’s now November 22nd,  I’ve been here for one month.  I’ve learned that every day is a beach day in Kauai,  there hasn’t been a day since we arrived that we haven’t gone to the beach.  Even when there are storms there seem to always be a few breaks to offer up some sunshine and rainbows.  The place is magical.

Here you experience a real connection with nature, everything feels alive.

living coast

You sit on the beach watching the surf, then you turn your head and see rainbows over mountains.  Looking out on the ocean you watch a storm track across the water, then disappear to reveal an island.  This place enlivens all of the senses, the winds caress and cool, the sun warms and relaxes, the sound of crashing waves soothe.   Fresh scents of citrus and tropical fruit entice and the visual is always spectacular.  It really is hard to take a bad photograph here.

beautiful red hibiscus

I’m so glad that I came here.  Everything is going as planned.  This month has been but a blur, thankfully I have this blog ,hundreds of photographs and a killer tan to help me remember it all.

tropical yellow fish swim at the reef exposed, so incredibly close

Picture a third grade “get to know nature” class at Kapaa elementary school. The teacher asks the students, “What do butterflies really like?” The class enthusiastically shouts out, ” Crown trees!!”
( We learned that yesterday right?). Now the teacher goes for what she thinks is the tough question….” And what do egrets really like?” These kids have grown up here on Kauai and know the score so they don’t miss a beat….”Lawn mowers!!!, ” they cry out in unison.

It’s true. What crown trees are to butterflies, lawn mowers are to egrets. Now I am sure, in the distant past, prior to humans populating all about, if an egret heard a tree branch break in the woods, he or she would go check out the sound, knowing there is a good chance for some bug lunch where the branch turned up the dirt. And when a heavy rain soaked an area, all those tasty insects floated up to the surface and it was an all you can eat bug buffet.

Now the gene pool has been irrevocably altered. If a tree branch breaks the birds get the hell out of the way, if it rains-hey go find a dry place. But let a lawn mower engine rev up and you are number one in the egrets Fine Dining on Kauai Guide. The bigger the lawn mower the better. “Cut a wide swath, Big Boy we be hungry…” I’ve counted up to thirty egrets following Aaron around the Sanctuary as he was mowing, making a great tossed salad of greens and grubs. Yum. I worry about the birds if we permanently run out of gasoline and we have to go back to sheep and goats to keep the lawns down.

They are rather Keystone Cop-like I must say. Elegance in the air rarely translates to the ground. They chase and dart and dodge the lawn tractor and fear not the human operating the food processor. I had just a few friends show up as I mowed the 140 House yard today. Not many, but enough of them to pass on a photo and some trivia you don’t really need to know.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,
Bruce

Maddie woke up in a cold sweat with her mouth open as if she were gasping for air; she heard the ghost of some high-pitched noise echoing in the black silence. It was the deep of night and someone had their arms around her, squeezing her shoulders tightly and rocking her gently whispering, “hush…hush…hush”. Terrified and disoriented, smothering in the sweat-soaked cotton of her nightgown, she sagged against the arms that held her, trying desperately to remember where she was.

“Madeline, are you okay?” a bed-side lamp clicked on and she saw the shoulder and upper arm belonging to the voice of the man who held her so tightly. Only her father had ever called her Madeline. The skin was dappled with freckles and there was a light sprinkling of red-gold hair on his upper arm. Snapping her head back she inhaled sharply with surprise,

“Kirk!” her head whirled around as her hands pressed against his shoulders, pushing him away. She was trying desperately to make out something of the room from the shadows. It was a bedroom, she glanced at the bed, only her side was disturbed, the other pillow was crisp, the blankets still tucked in. Looking down she saw that she was wearing not her nightgown but a man’s white dress shirt. Her eyes darted towards Kirk; he was wearing loose, grey silk pajama pants and a ribbed white tank top, his red-gold hair was tousled from sleep and his amber eyes full of concern. When her eyes met his, she felt her cheeks burning, her eyes full of the question: had they? Maddie tried to will her disordered, darting thoughts into some kind of sequence. Feeling his hand on her shoulder, she involuntarily flinched away.

“Hey, hey, settle down, don’t panic. You look like a deer in the headlights. I’m not going to hurt you, I think you were having some kind of nightmare. I was asleep on the sofa in the other room when I heard you.” He stood up and, with obvious difficulty, refrained from touching her again as he asked solicitously, “Can I get you a glass of water? Maybe they have some tea or something if you’d prefer something warm. Too early for coffee yet.” He smiled gamely, arms hanging nervously helpless at his sides.

“Kirk,” Maddie began nervously, impulsively reaching up and touching the tips of his fingers with her own and just as nervously snatching them back, searching under the collar of what she realized must be his shirt, instinctively reaching for the familiar comfort of the fine steel chain, “where are we?”

Kirk sat down heavily on the side of the bed, his eyes which a moment ago had been filled with quizzical concern now looked a shade darker and flooded with worry, “Maddie, we’re in Kauai. You don’t remember?”

At that moment it all came tumbling back in as if someone standing above her had flicked from their hands all fifty-two cards in the deck onto the top of her head. She grabbed them all, sorted them by suit, finally adding the last two jokers: herself and Kirk. Acutely embarrassed, she struggled to regain her footing; she still couldn’t remember if anything had happened between them. The last image her mind could recover was getting into the back of the taxi cab after dinner.

“I’ll take that tea, if there is some.” Maddie managed to meet his eyes and smile a bit. If he would just leave the room for a minute she’d have some time to think.

“Okay, are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes, I’ll be okay. It was a terrible nightmare; I think that I’m still really disoriented.”

Not looking very convinced, Kirk stood up and headed out the door towards the kitchenette that adjoined the living room of the cottage suite. Maddie looked down at herself, relieved to feel that she still had her panties on and dismayed that the same could not be said for her bra. Of course she hadn’t been wearing one with the deep scoop-backed dress she’d put on to go to dinner. Had she just been so exhausted that she’d fallen asleep in the cab? How could she find out what had happened after that without him knowing that she couldn’t remember. She looked again at the other side of the queen bed and heard the sound of a microwave from the other room. That must mean that he’d found tea; good that meant he’d be out of the room for a little longer.

Maddie started to shiver as the sweat began to evaporate from the shirt and the sheets. Kirk appeared at the door with a grey silk dressing gown.

“The tea is almost ready. I thought you might want something to change into, that shirt seems pretty damp…I didn’t want to go through your things, but this is really warm.” for the first time, Maddie saw Kirk look slightly embarrassed. He cleared his throat and looked down as he laid the dressing gown over a chair by the door, “I’ll go get your tea” he said, backing away and pulling the door closed behind him.

Maddie slipped shivering from between the wet sheets, walking hastily towards the chair and unbuttoning the shirt as she went. She shrugged off the sodden shirt with relief, wrapping the soft cloud of silk eagerly around her. The shirt dangling from her fingers, she thought about his uncomfortable expression; he must have undressed her and put her in the shirt. Looking down at the keystone resting, reassuringly cool on her breastbone, she tried to picture the scene and couldn’t. By his evident embarrassment, she jugged that he hadn’t found the task unpleasant.

Opening the door she stepped out into the living room and headed towards the warm light coming from the kitchenette behind the island that divided the kitchen from the living area. Perching on one of the tall stools that stood in front the island, Maddie smiled shyly at Kirk as he pushed a mug of warm tea towards her. He took a sip from his own cup and then, just as she brought her cup towards her lips enjoying the warmth radiating from the cup, asked, in a calm, companionable tone:

“So, I’m curious…who is Lohiau?”

Before I completely forget, here are the rest of the Hawaii photos I meant to post a few weeks back. Check my flickr page (link is to the left) in a few days for more images taken with the real camera!

Fishing on the reef, behind the rocks, protected from the crashing waves, I didn’t have my memory card in my camera, so this will just be another fish story. I was using my favorite light spinning tackle that I packed in the golf bag. I got some inexpensive jig heads and clear rubber grubs  that look like shrimp from Walmart before the trip, cheap enough to have fun and experiment.

Casting my line, as I started my first retrieve, bam, first fish. Quite a fighter for a small guy 8 inches long, but very pretty with red and green stripes, splotches, yellow and an electric blue on his fins and tail. I was quick to release him and get back to it. Next I caught a still-unidentified silver fish with big eyes, also 8 inches, and a variety of toothy-scary-looking small lizard fish.

Chris, disinterested in fishing, sat in his low-slung beach chair reading his book with his ipod on. When I hooked into a large one on my light tackle, I called Chris, but no response, and the fish leapt from the water, long and slender. I had the drag set so he could run with it a bit, you need to with this 6 lb test or you’ll lose a big one for sure. I reeled him in to the beach, children came, Chris was still oblivious, but the chanting kids got his attention and he finally noticed my catch: a cornet fish, 3 feet long and slender, silvery green with a stripe of blue and a pointed whip coming out from his tail area.

The kids were all excited and I asked them if they knew what kind of fish this was and a boy told be it was a trumpet fish. He told me his family was here for 18 months and hadn’t caught a fish yet, so I was feeling pretty privileged. Unsure about handling this fish I was cautious, he was very slimy, I grasped his long body with my shirt, gently removing the hook, and let the children release him into the water. I thought I had the fish out of the water too long while I assessed the empty camera, so I showed the kids a little fish resuscitation, pulling the fish backward and forcing water though the gills to revive him. I caught 8 fish, and all were returned to their habitat safely.

I now know I can catch fish in Kauai, I just need to research the best table fare.

fishing in sarong

Poke (pronounced POH-kay) is the Hawaiian version of Japanese sashimi (combining the Hawaiian and Japanese taste for raw fish). In Hawaiian, poke means “cut piece” or “small piece.” It’s bite-size pieces of raw fish doused in seasonings. The fish for poke is served raw or sometimes lightly seared or fried. I like poke and it’s an adventure to try all the different kinds. Pictured is ahi poke, or yellow fin tuna.

seaside sushi and poke

Lots of beautiful things live in our backyard, and I keep finding more flowers, fruits, moss, ferns, mushrooms, bamboo, chickens, a blue eyed cat, geckos and dreaded mosquitoes. It’s not a really big yard, maybe half an acre, but it’s jammed full of growing things and it backs up to a hillside that is just like a jungle. We walk on a boardwalk through a jungle garden and past the koi pond to get to our door. Our place is really small, but I love its location and its back yard, so quiet except for the crowing rooster, calling geckos, singing birds, rustling palms and clacking bamboo.

color in our backyard

ferns

orchids

eggplant

white flower

Rain? You want rain? Boy do we have rain. The wettest storm of the year is hammering Kauai right now.
Umbrellas and slickers are your closest friends without a doubt. I take that back. A good roof over your head is a far better ally.

Earlier today I was able to overlook the turbulent, chaotically swollen Wailua River as it came blasting down from Mt. Waialeale. The sheer force and speed was completely electric, ecstatically overwhelming. Now as I sit warmed by the flickering light of the computer screen, listening to thunder and witnessing sheets of rain, I am most happy to have an indoor project for a guilt free, no way I can do anything outside kinda day.

Quan Yin is progressing, the first layers of sky surrounding her. A little atmospheric finessing and I will be into the statue itself today, lost to the world as if I had slipped down the jungle cliffs into one helluva fast moving river. Most fortunately that was not the case, but when you are close to such a magnitude of natural brute force, it sure takes the edge off of supposedly being close to the top of the food chain.

Give me my brush, let sleeping kayaks lie I always say.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,
Bruce

Sid and Momi didn’t speak much on the drive back to the shave ice stand. Eventually it was Momi who broke the silence with on of her typically direct questions that seemed to arrive out of the blue,

“So honey-girl, when was the last time you talked to Lohiau?”

Inside Sid groaned. She imagined that her great aunt must think that this companionable moment signaled the perfect opportunity for a motherly chat about her imaginary love life. How could she answer without ruining the rest of the day? She made her best effort,

“I see him around, it’s a small island.” Sid smiled at her aunt “I don’t really remember exactly the last time; he always reminds me to give his respects to you.” The first part was a bald-faced lie, she did remember it was last Tuesday morning at 10:30 when she’d run into him at the Kauai Coffee Company; she’d felt terribly fat, standing there in cut-off jeans and a red dirt shirt. He’d said that now that it was low season he’d come by, have a shave ice, and say Hi to Momi. That was a week ago. She’d said nothing to her aunti, knowing that she had a soft spot for Lohiau and would be disappointed when he didn’t come.

“That one is the real thing. Not much makes me wish I was younger, younger is too much trouble. But…” the older woman’s voice trailed off into silence for a moment before she picked up the thread again, reaching over the emergency break and patting Sid’s thigh, “…you’re not too old for a little trouble. Little trouble might do you good.” Momi looked at Sid questioningly; Sid looked at the road and spoke with bitter humor in her voice,

“Not too old, just too fat, too short, and too much bad luck.” Lifting her chin, Sid looked over at Momi who sat looking through the windshield with a dreamy expression on her face.

“Oh Honey-girl, men like short, it makes them feel more like men. All the rest of that can change, even luck.”

Turning her attention assiduously back to the highway, Sid thought of the winding two lane black top of Waimea canyon road, the stunning views of layered red rock, the switch-back’s that could leave anyone’s stomach in their throat. The curves like those of livid scar that wrapped it’s way up Lohiau’s leg and around his knee, lasting evidence of the motorcycle accident they’d been in together; she escaping with a few bruises and he with extensive knee injuries that required six surgeries. It was impossible to forget the beautiful landscape blurring, the blue of the sky becoming the floor of her vision while the sky turned to red stone. All of it spinning by in double exposure the image before her eyes an Alice in Wonderland distorted mirror of her dream from that morning.

Sid had kept on going while Lohiau had to give up his dream of becoming a competitive surfer forever. It was still hard for her to look him in the eye. He was still beautiful, perfect. Anyone might say he still did well, teaching surfing to tourists in the high season and going his own way the rest of the year. Perhaps he’d forgiven her by now but she could never forgiver herself. She’d dreamed the wreck, it was before she knew she had the dreaming gift, or the dreaming curse, she thought. Even twelve years later, Sid found it difficult to shake the feeling that her dream had caused it to happen, or that she could have prevented it. Maybe in the end she was worse off than he was, still working at her aunt’s shop, getting fatter every month and still working at the seemingly hopeless task of trying to make sense of her dreams so that nothing like that would ever happen again. Not to anyone she loved, not to anyone at all.

“Malu, it’s never too late. Don’t be so busy untying the strings your dreams that you miss your own life. Even your grandfather found a way to live with the gift.”

“And you?” the words had popped out of Sid’s mouth before she could reel them back in.

Surprisingly, Momi didn’t take up the gantlet and snap back at her; instead she reached up awkwardly from the passenger seat and patted Sid’s cheek:

“A family isn’t everything. I had my trouble Honey-girl, more than you’ll ever know. Now you worry about having yours.”

Well the vacation to the Islands is nearly over. We are waitng for the flight back home to the mainland and wish we were home already. Once we hit the airport we realized all of our family and friends we missed. It’s been just over a week but we are ready to come home. With all of the security we had to pass through and long flight ahead, it would make anyone wish they were home.

So, in the meantime, I snapped a few more pictures to commemorate the airport gate waiting area. Although I might have looked slightly suspicious to airport security, there are plenty of interesting signs, placards and equipment to be photographed. Enjoy our waiting area.

See you soon.

Maddie stepped out of the cab feeling light and confidant. She knew that she looked good, slender in the elegantly draped dress the colour of moonlight on the ocean, the ends of her sleek black hair gently brushing the tops of her shoulders. Surprisingly, the cab driver hadn’t had the meter running and only turned it on when she got in the back; consequently she’d probably over tipped him, making up the difference. She looked down at the fake wedding ring and wished he’d chosen platinum or at least white gold. Oh well, if it ever happened for real, she’d get to choose.

The maître d’ met her at the door and walked her back to a table in the corner where she saw Kirk waiting at the candlelit table with a bucket of champagne on ice. She was pleased to see the surprise register on his face as he saw her weaving from one table to the next. He stood, took her hand and gently pressed his nose and lips against her cheek before pulling out her chair.

“Now I see why you’re late! Last minute appointment at the salon?” The corner of right corner of his mouth eased upward just enough to make the dimple in his cheek show.

“Well, I wanted to look perfect for tonight.” she smiled. Maddie would have to tell him something to explain the lost case, but she would give as little ground as possible. If she told him everything now it would ruin any sense that they had of being equal. She was here but she still didn’t trust him completely nor did she want to give him a reason not to trust her. “It smells fabulous in here. I can’t begin to tell you how hungry I am!”

“I thought you might be so I took the liberty of ordering you some ahi sashimi and a light salad to start with,” then he lowered his voice a bit “I’m sure the dive took a lot out of you.” Kirk reached across the table for her hand; the well-starched olive colored cotton of his shirtsleeve making a light chuffing sound as it brushed the tablecloth. “So, how are you holding up?”

Maddie let her hand lie limp in his and looked at the foot of her champagne flute, working to hide her irritation; did he really think she was so weak? Did he think that a thirty-minute dive was too much for her? She was saved from having to offer an immediate response by the appearance of their water with two matching plates of resplendent white china. Each plate held six perfect squares of raw tuna, exactly the pink of a woman’s lips when she’d just been kissed. Kirk released her hand, brushing his thumb briefly across the pale red line on her wrist. Maddie found it difficult to not snatch the fish off the plate with her hands. Maintaining a veneer of civilization, she reached for her knife and fork and ate all six pieces of sashimi with alarming alacrity. As soon as she was finished she wished she’d gone slower; the fish was perfectly tender with that amazing light, buttery sweetness that only truly fresh ahi tuna could have. Kirk said nothing but raised his eyebrows and moved two of the four squares of glistening pink flesh from his plate to hers.

“Thanks,” she said “it’s perfect. I don’t know that I’ve ever tasted better.” Now that she had something on her stomach, her irritation began to ebb. Maddie looked up into Kirk’s amber eyes and noticed for the first time that they were ringed with a green that matched his shirt.

“I guess you didn’t get lunch,” he said, carefully cutting a bite of his remaining sashimi, “take too long to get the haircut or were you taking a walk on the beach? It looks great by the way, your hair.”

“I have to be honest,” smiled Maddie, swallowing “I had a little trouble with a rip-current that put me off schedule.” She took a deep breath and a sip of champagne; she would dole out the truth one drop at a time and shut-off the tap as soon as she sensed him relax. Hopefully she could close out the discussion before they got to Lohiau.

“I thought you were an experienced diver?” Kirk replied his jaw tensing while his voice stayed low and even.

“Even experienced divers can misjudge the situation in unfamiliar waters. Everything is under control. I’m here aren’t I?”

“And the case?”

“I had to let it go; but I have the stone. That’s what’s important, right?” Maddie saw that he was getting tenser, his jaw rigid as he sat back in his chair and crossed his legs, his eyes turning cool and calculating. Damn, thought Maddie, this is bad body language. She decided it was the moment to appear completely vulnerable by admitting something that was almost true. She put both hands in front of her and then turned her palms up, studying the lines that crossed her palms, she leaned forward, crossing her legs towards him. All of these signals of open intimacy in place Maddie looked up directly into Kirk’s eyes, “I know that you want an explanation and I know that I owe you one. The truth is that I didn’t put the stone inside the bag. I had to have it where I could get to it as quickly as possible. If I’d been able to hold on to the bag, I could have lied and you would have never known. Maybe it’s better this way, you are good at reading people. I think you would have seen through me, that is if you hadn’t already.”

She held her face still and solemn while inside she was pleased to see that his expression had softened and he was sitting forward in his chair, “So, just out of curiosity, where was it?” His voice sounded willing to forgive if she gave the right answer.

“In the pocket.” Biting her lip, Maddie looked down at her open hands, hoping she looked appropriately contrite and that he would let it drop and assume that she’d meant the exterior pocket of the makeup case and not force her into a real lie. To her relief, Kirk leaned forward and with his index finger, brushed her collarbone where the steel chain crossed it.

“That important to you is it?” he said softly, reaching up with his thumb and stroking her cheek. So, she thought, there would have to be this to make everything else work.

“It’s all I have left of my family,” whispered Maddie. “It should have been my mother’s” she finished, surprised as, uncontrollably, honest tears welled hot from the corners of her eyes.

the hideout, monticello, ut
beaver creek, avon, co, r t jones jr
rio grande, south fork, co
las vegas paiute (sun mt), las vegas, nv, p dye

oops, wrong blog. That’s the title of a great old Fleetwood Mac song. But I guess it does go well for these 25 “More Than Honorable Mention” courses that I’ve been lucky enough to play.
4 above
21 below

sedona golf resort, sedona, az, panks
rolling stone ranch, steamboat springs, co, r t jones jr
saddle rock, aurora, co, phelps
the gauntlet, tigerville, s c, p b dye
vistoso, tucson, az, weiskopf
starr pass, tucson, az, cupp-palmer
pa a ko ridge, sandia park, n m, k dye
cantigny, wheaton, il, north-packard
fairway pines, ridgway, co
hobble creek, springville, ut
lawsonia (links), green lake, wi
broadmoor (east), colorado springs, co, ross (1-6, 16-18)-r t jones sr
bandon crossings, bandon, or
river valley ranch, carbondale, co, morrish
arizona national, tucson, az, r t jones jr
red fox, tryon, n c
sonnenalp, edwards, co, cupp-morrish
las sendas, mesa, az, r t jones jr
coral canyon, washington, ut, foster
keystone ranch, keystone, co, r t jones jr
bear dance, larkspur, co

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T H E E N D

Before we knew it, our time in Hawaii came to an end and it was time to pack up our stuff and make the long trek home.  We had one final breakfast at the hotel and took a short walk along the beach in an attempt to take it all in.  So sad!  It was really hard to believe that everything we had spent the last few months preparing and planning for was coming to an end.  You spend soooooo much time counting down the days until the wedding and honeymoon and before you know it, it’s over!  We really had a wonderful time in Kauai and felt it was the perfect place for our honeymoon especially since it was more of a quiet location without all the touristy-stuff you probably find on some of the larger islands.  As we were making our way to the airport we were commenting that although we loved it in Kauai we doubt we’ll be back, or at least not anytime soon.  We were able to hit all of the “big” things on the island so other than some more hikes and snorkeling there wasn’t much else left to do.  I would like to come back to Hawaii at some point though to see Maui and some of the other sites, but I think Europe is next on our list.

Do you ever re-visit places or do you prefer to go someplace new?

I actually have mixed feelings on this one.  There are a few places that I love going – Laguna Beach being one of them – where I could go every year and be perfectly happy, but there are so many other places that I really want to see that I might like even better.  Maybe I’m a creature of habit and that’s why I am always drawn to places where I know and where I have happy memories of.  Come to think of it, there are very few places that I’ve been that I really have no interest in seeing again.  I think the only places that would fall into that category would be Fort Lauderdale and Atlantic City.

Anyway, the honeymoon was fantastic (as expected) and I did not want it to end!  It really took some time to get back into the swing of things, especially after being out of work for a good 3 weeks!

Well that’s it folks!  Hopefully we’ll get our wedding pictures from the photographer in the next few days so I can give you a recap of the festivities and how everything turned out.

Until next time….