Tag Archives: travel

Hawaiian Sunrise

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6:30 AM in Hawaii.
Birds in a giant tree to the left of the villa sing to greet the rising light …. another one – larger, louder- pipes up just to the east; I think he’s on the jetti below my lanai

but he is invisible to me except for his clear, determined voice.  I wonder if he will do this tomorrow.  If he did this yesterday.

Watching the cool morning light stretching up toward the last star shimmering in a periwinkle sky,

now sinking into a dusty pink, then to a sunrise-to-the-east yellow, like cream on clouds that rest on the horizon …

is healing, full of grace.

In the dark below, a small fishing boat pulls away from its dock, gliding silently along a jetti.

Sipping coffee, I watch as it moves toward the sea.

Jetti locataires- palm trees and flowering bushes – are watching, too.

We watch together.  The little boat reaches the ocean and shrinks away.

Inevitably the light pushes up, drowning the star and it’s periwinkle sky.  Boats appear in lit slips, now visible, and the sun appears, looking more majestic than I remember it.

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I must be in paradise.

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The Forecast

The forecast for Charlottesville was partly cloudy, with showers at noon, when we set off for Monticello.

I’ve wanted to return to the home of Thomas Jefferson for as long as I can remember, having some magical memory of a day spent exploring the estate in my father’s company as a young girl.

And so, ever faithful that providence, together with science, would support me, I set off with my family to visit the fabled estate.

There are times in your life when you must see, when you cannot help but see, your intentions and desires are not going to be satisfied.  That the fates have determined you must pursue a different course, that you must alter your plans, and accept what comes instead of what you expect or plan for.

That day, on the road to Charlottesville the sky blackened.  We drove on, checking the weather again, reassured there would be partly sunny skies and warm weather.   And yet, the skies opened in such a torrent that we couldn’t see the way forward, and the rain continued throughout the day.  In the end, we weren’t able to tour the property, the house was shrouded in a kind of gloom, and we were so soggy we could not bear to visit the museum or shop, because of the air conditioning.

So much for the forecast.

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