Dear gods, I'm back. A variety of things kept me away for more than a month; dial-up internet, packing, moving, no internet, etc. But now-- ahhh, now. Now I am in Maui, enjoying the over-the-top hospitality of Mary and Maile, enjoying the scented air and the rattle of palm trees, enjoying the fact that even the weeds that grow up in the cracks of the sidewalks are different from the sidewalk crack weeds back home. And there's no snow here. Ahhhhhhhh. No snow.

This evening we walked down the road a bit as the sun was stalking the lower half of the sky, and met up with Pat, Mary's friend, and a designer of exquisite wedding cakes. The four of us dined at Kihei's best Japanese restaurant, Sansei. Ooh! Rainbow roll! The Yellow Submarine, and the Pink Cadillac! All signature Sansai sushi rolls. Good stuff. Pat was delightful-- one of those people you can have REAL conversation with-- once we were past the "what's your name, where you from, what do you do?" stage, we talked of self-exploration, growth, and yes... the habit of happiness.

Actually, I've met a lot of neat people so far. It's one of those special things about traveling alone-- it's a lot easier to connect with others when you aren't cocooning yourself in an existing relationship. I talked at length about family (both hers and mine) with a Philapina girl in the Crazy Shirts store in Wailea, and about what the culture shock was like for a girl named Janine who moved out here from Portland, Oregon. I talked with a retired NY State couple at the bus stop, and with a local guy walking his pit bull-black lab cross.

*** computer crashed at this point last night... thank you very much, auto-save...

Today was a little less frenetic-- I think a cold that has been stalking me for months has finally taken up residence in my chest. No snorkelling today... just nursing the sunburn I got on my back from the day before, drinking Coors lite, making a pot of chicken curry for Maile and Mary and Randy (Mary's boyfriend), and enjoying the cooler wetter weather from the relative safety of the lanai. Eventually I'll get to the project that brought me here-- I'm to do a set of four calligraphic copies of the Desiderata for a friend of Mary's. I suppose I could have just as easily done them and mailed them from Nanaimo... but then, I wouldn't be in Maui, would I?

Here's the Desiderata, first copyrighted by Max Ehrmann in 1927:

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.