Mahalo Hawaii #2: I saw the sign

Today's pictures were taken on the go. In the rain. From the car. I will pause for a moment to let all the mothers out there get the inner-lecture out of their system.

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Better? Ok. Normally, I don't have the phone out while driving (unless on Bluetooth). And I think it's not very responsible. But, in my defense, there as NObody else on this not-at-all main road, and I was alllmost at a stop. Try to ignore the crack in the windshield of the car (thanks a bunch, lava rocks). You can click on either picture to see a larger version.

Without further ado, today I am thankful for slightly unexpected street signs in my neighborhood. They provide a little something to smile at and wonder about. The first confuses me. Is it a joke? Does someone think their neighbor is a "donkey" who needs to get back to the mainland? On the other hand, wild donkeys DO roam these parts, and similar signs are seen on the highway. I have heard donkeys hee-hawing at night a few times, but have yet to see one in my neighborhood. So, hmm...

The second one is particularly difficult to see because of that darned windshield crack. Under the lower gear sign is a "Surf's Up" sign. Most definitely a joke, but I love it. It reminds me daily that the nearest beach is 15 minutes away, and I live amongst a people who get so much out of the ocean! Not just food, but exercise, leisure, and play as well. I'm also thankful that the legal people responsible for making sure these things don't stay up have never taken it down. It's been there at least as long as we've lived here. It's my first indication when I start driving down the volcanic hill to our house that I am almost home.

Mahalo, Hawaii - The first of my Thanksgiving series

As suggested in a previous post, I will be using this month to express my gratitude for things Hawaii has that I can enjoy, that Hawaii has provided for me, changed within me, or just made me feel thankful for.

It's something I like to do every November-ish in mental preparation for Thanksgiving. I've never done it this specifically before.

I am hoping to have pictures in every post. I hope I stick with that. Picture-of-the-day sorta thing.

Pictures will probably come exclusively from my camera phone. Don't forgive the low quality photos --- embrace them! This will be fun! I like seeing what kinds of pictures I can take on the fly when there wouldn't be time to dig out a normal camera.

Without further ado...

Today, I am thankful for coconuts.

Let it be known that I used to hate coconuts. Just the smell could make my stomach turn. I don't know what the turning point was. I don't need to delve into what my turning-point was, because this is all about what I am thankful for right now.

Last night for supper I had Coconut chicken soup with Jasmine rice. As we speak, my lunch of coconut brown rice and spiced chicken is a-cookin'.

[May I pause for a second? I know that this is NOT a food blog, but I really am thankful for coconuts and all their popularity on this island; especially since I can no longer enjoy dairy without embarrassing repercussions].

In Hawai'i, coconut food is everywhere. The Hawaiian people love it, and so do I. For pictures today I went into my front yard (to capture our coconut tree) and my kitchen:

Some of my favorite snacks above and below. The mother-in-law opened my eyes to coconut water during marathon training. You can find it just about anywhere out here! Coconut products abound in Hawaii (which isn't surprising).

Behold, the ingredients for lunch today. Delicious! The rice recipe was courtesy of the Gluten Free Girl. A gluten-free friend told me about this blog a long time ago. I think I was hooked on her blog and recipes not because I needed to be gluten free, but because her writing was brimming with so much wit and positivity, I was drawn in. And the food was blissful, so that kept me coming back.

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Mahalo!

And Then It Hit Us

Hawaii is home now. We decided this recently. Chalk it up to the economy, the job market, and the need to finally start settling down. Living in paradise sort of helps the decision to start getting rooted as well.

For the foreseeable future, we will be bunkering down here.

Although it is sad that the location of our home makes it difficult to see family and friends often enough, no happy life comes without some sort of sacrifice. Perhaps, though, those few times we spend with family each year will feel a little sweeter because they'll be just a little more precious than before.

There will always be a list of things I will miss and love about my mainland home (hey, I'm a typical human. Look to one of those very evolved Nirvana-esque monks if you want inner perfection). But recently, I have been working on focusing on the things I am comforted by and am delighted by in our Hawaiian home:

• Geckos. Splendid, rainbow-colored, cute-as-buttons geckos. 
• Poi dogs.
• Beaches, beaches, beaches, as far as the eye can see.
• Sunshine.
• Variety in languages.
• Aloha.
• Mangoes (and mango salsa, mango smoothies, mango in everything. I never get tired of mangoes!)
• Fresh fish.
• Wonderful Asian food. (Pretty sure the world's best bowl of Thom Kah Kai exists in this little town).
• Healthy people.
• My continually tan skin.
• Wearing slippers every day.
• Hitch hikers (they can be annoying, too. But I love that I live somewhere that is so safe and friendly that hitch hiking is legal and common practice).
• That locals kiss each other on the cheek when greeting hello or goodbye. (And all this time, I thought that was a purely European thing!)
• Women of every age who love to shake their hips.
• A husband who looks like a kid in a candy store every time he goes diving or snorkeling.
• Guessing the weight of the honu every time we see one on a beach.
• The ocean-view sunset from our lanai.
• A people who know exactly how gorgeous their home is; and who, as a result, are quite particular about keeping it clean and well-loved.

The list goes on and on. I think, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I will be posting pictures of things for which I am thankful in this green, sunny home of ours. Mahalo, Hawai'i!

Aloha.

Oh, Hawai'i

Hawai'i can be a confusing place. I think the most confusing thing is the seasons. The changes between seasons are so subtle, only true locals (no donkeys or haoles) seem to notice. This can be confusing, in terms of the inner clock.

For instance, I just realized a few days ago that Halloween is nigh (as in, tomorrow). Costume? Candy? Holiday? Whaaaat? Last year Christmas snuck up on us, and we sort of forgot about what was happening until we ended up in a crew house eating leftover Chinese food and watching re-runs of CSI We may have gone surfing earlier that day, too. Business as usual.

It almost makes one consider being a Jehovah's Witness simply to have a valid excuse to forget and forego all the Fall and Winter season holidays. But then there's the having to do the door-to-door salesperson thing that JW folks do, and sales isn't something that appeals to me in my free time.

This year I am going to try to be more ambitious with holiday preparations. I won't be taking queues from the weather...but I am gung-ho about getting this house into the holiday spirit this year. No take-out.

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In other news, we are finally picking up on Pidgin, local languages, and the local dialect. Sometimes we get little reminders not to say one haole word or another. For instance, the other day my yoga instructor was at our house with her five-year-old daughter. They were feeling a little nervous around the dog (some folks just aren't natural dog people) so I said I would put her on the porch for a few minutes until they were more comfortable. The little girl said, "Mama, what is a PORCH!?" Her mom said, "She means lana'i, sweetheart." Suddenly it all made sense to the little girl, and her eyes lit up when she realized she just learned a new word. 

Here are some words that have worked into our daily vernacular (and don't even sound too ridiculous coming from us anymore):

• [Mainland] Trash/Garbage = [Hawai'i] Rubbish 
• "It's your turn to take out the rubbish."
• Caucasian/tourist = Haole (Not used derogatorily as often as some think)
• "Was the guy in the news haole or local?"
• Unwanted transplant who thinks he is local but isn't = Donkey
• "He thinks those waves are his territory, but he's not even from here, just a donkey."
• Ample/lots/plenty/many = Choke
• "Do you want something to drink? We have choke beers in the fridge."
• Love/courtesy/hospitality = Aloha
• "What a nice lady, she has a lot of aloha."
• How are you?/What's up? = Howzit?
• "Hey, Ike, been a while, howzit?"
• Child/kid/baby = Keiki
• "What a cute little keiki! How old is he?"
• Porch/deck/patio = Lana'i 
• "Let's eat on the lana'i tonight so we don't miss the sunset."
• Flip flops/sandals = Slippers
• "I wear my slippers to the beach, but take them off before I swim I don't ruin them."
• Snacks/starters/appetizers = Pupus
• "Should we order some pupus first?"
• Pee = Shishi
• "Whose turn is it to take the dog out to shishi?"

Sticking With It

There is this really intense yoga class at the gym Isaac and I are members of. Isaac never had much interest in yoga before. I liked yoga...the very easy, simple yoga I did mostly by myself.

But one day, Isaac peeked into the yoga studio at our gym while a class was taking place, and saw the yoga instructor causing people to sweat and breathe hard. She's got this intensely strong energy about her...and she loves pushing people through challenges.

He was intrigued. He finished his own workout then talked to her at the end of class. He then proceeded to beg me to attend this class. I sort of shut him out after "and she has people doing all these push-ups..."

Push ups? Me? Ok, I could hardly open a jar of pickles by myself at this point, or carry more than a few bags of groceries at a time. Push-ups? Not my thing. I've always been an endurance runner. I've always been comfortable with that accomplishment. My upper body was weak and lazy and I was OK keeping it that way.

But Isaac REALLY wanted to go to this class, and he really did not want to go alone. So I caved. And I suffered. Forget the push-ups, she wanted me to hold a downward dog pose for how long?!

Not to mention she had the class bending and twisting and binding in ways I never thought a human body capable of. She and half the class seemed like they were cast members of Cirque du Soleil. I was not fitting in well.

I didn't want to go back, but Isaac pushed me to go a few more times. And soon I was going to classes of three different instructors at least once a day, pushing myself until I gained some upper body strength and a new level of endurance. I started off not being able to touch my toes, now I can rest my forehead on my shin. Some of the poses that hurt and challenged me two months ago feel like resting poses now.

Certain poses that required major upper body strength were out of the question for me when I began. Now, I'm one of the few people in some of these classes who can do some of these things. And I love that. My slightly competitive side is benefiting me in what is supposed to be a very non-competitive environment. [I guess I was destined to be a Schaefer].

Running was once the only thing I could stick with. Easy: one foot in front of the other for as long as I want, or as long as I can go. A cinch. Now, after getting over my yoga hump and getting to love the challenge, running has become kind of boring to me. [It's ok running, you were my first love and will always have a place in my heart].

I am lucky to have a husband who pushes me through challenges. I am eager to see what meditative and physical doors pursuing yoga opens up for me. Certain areas of my body have a long way to go, but I'm finally willing to put in the work to meet my goals.

Is my blog a little dog-obsessed?

That would make sense. I love dogs, I have always loved dogs, we got a new dog...and this time I am armed with so much excellent information and so many training tools I didn't have before.

When we were living in Chinle, AZ on the reservation, several of my friends there were buzzing about this book, The Other End of the Leash. I don't know why I didn't buy it then. Most of them had wonderfully trained dogs. Some of them had even adopted dogs with mysterious backgrounds, who came to them with issues that could have spiraled into aggression, or problems like what I think must have been fear or anxiety. Those dogs were lucky; blessed with adoptive parents who cared enough to soak in excellent information and provide a well disciplined home, a loving family, and a healthy exercise regimen. As a result, my friends had well balanced, loving family dogs.

Seeing what excellent dog owners my friends were, I should have listened to that buzz and picked up that book right away. I don't know why I didn't take heed sooner. Perhaps I thought I was good enough a dog owner already? After all, Dax was the apple of my eye. And despite some of his quirks, I had a hard time seeing fault in him (or myself and my own training background for that matter).

What I have learned recently from honing certain skills I have (like yoga, for instance; or cooking) is that pride never made anyone better at anything; and prideful people certainly do not get close to being perfect in whatever they're holding their nose in the air about.

The book made me realize I needed some healthy criticism in my knowledge about dog behavior, dog body language, and my own behavior and body language. Criticism is one of those very wonderful tools that, if taken in and worked with, can mold a fairly decent person in their skill into a nearly perfect [or fully perfect!] person in their skill.

And this book has helped us take a dog with many of the same personality quirks as Dax, and turn out a well trained, extremely friendly, extremely calm, smartly submissive dog who relishes the company of other dogs, people and children. She comes to every command. And, with the exception of an interaction with an unfortunately aggressive dog who wound her up for a good day afterward; she has minded every manner she has been taught!

I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone with a dog. The stories in it are heart-warming. It has such empowering information in it---all scientifically research-based---about dog body language, dog's interpretation of our body language, and general living-in-harmony with dogs by not confusing them anymore with our very human way of thinking inside our very human-shaped box.

If you've ever owned a dog and wondered how it could have been a better dog; if you have one now and just want to understand your best friend a little better; if you think you may adopt a dog in the future: get this book!

Dog Days

It's been so hot here lately! I know, I know. We live in Hawai'i, hot should be expected. (And I can't complain too much; we get perfect beach weather and water every day of the year).

Actually, the temperature is typically between 75-80 ish. The past several days it's been in the 90's. Even up on the volcano, at a higher altitude, the heat sticks in the air at night and makes it difficult to sleep without waking up in sweaty jammies. Whew! I am all for protecting the environment, but having an air conditioner would be a nice luxury on days like these.

Honey has been getting super hot too. She'll pant so hard after a game of catch that she comes in with a purple tongue. She loves these days, though, because it means that her food dish gets constantly replenished with ice cubes for her to enjoy between meals.

What I wouldn't give to enjoy a few cool, crisp Fall days on the mainland.

I also miss Fall foods. And all the Fall recipes I used to enjoy making and eating so much. Baking is not an enjoyable hobby in this heat...I will need to invent some seasonal dishes that use beloved ingredients like Pumpkin and spices without turning on the stove or oven. Hmmm...

Everyone loves a water dog

Right? I love seeing a dog who is confident in the water. Honey seems to know when she's at her limit. She doesn't go in for deep swims when she is already exhausted. But she gets hot easily, and has figured out the easiest way to cool off and enjoy the water without wearing herself out.

(Excuse the low quality of photos in these last few posts. Pictures have been taken with either my or Isaac's phone).

"Pleeeaaaase throw the ball!"

"Awww riiiight. I got ma' ball!"

Life is rough for this dog.

Public

I made the blog public again. Friends kept saying, "Have you updated your blog? I never see it in my feed anymore." They couldn't see it because it was private, and you have to go directly TO a private blog to see it, and that's just too much trouble for some folks.

I figure that since I have left facebook and cut off web communication with anyone at work, it's probably safe to be public again.

--Nat

P.S. That is why you might see like, a thousand blogs in your feed all at one time. I am very sorry. I wish I knew a way around that.

Four stages of of cute

I love both Dax and Honey. Since Dax has been adopted out to my dad (for both their sakes), I focus most of my attention and adoration on Honey these days.

She is a whipper snapper. I love when she sleeps. Not just because I can relax and shower and not have to worry about getting her little puppy bladder out to the yard every hour (just in case), but because she tends to have a few different positions she goes into as a routine when she sleeps, and it's pretty darn cute.

Stage One

After finally giving up on trying to engage everything around her in a game of some sort, she tends to flop down on her tummy, wherever she is, and *harumph* straight into a nap.

Stage Two

By stage two she is starting to wiggle her toes and twitch her nose around; she's getting into a more natural position and dreaming of wonderful things like mongoose poop and tennis balls.

Stage Three

I think she likes us. Soon after she starts to dream she will subconsciously wiggle up to the nearest warm body and stay there. If we're not nearby, she will wake up, get up, and come lie next to us.

Stage Four

The "bask in the comfort of my environment" pose.

Finally, this one isn't a pose, I just think it's really cute when dogs stick out the tip of their tongue while they sleep.