Hawaii Haiku

We are home tonight. It is green and gray and chilly outside, and although our trip was a whirlwind of tasty food, luscious libations, and amazing adventures, I am happy to be home. I am, in my heart, a northwest girl. The tropics, in all of their jungle-wild lushness, simply cannot take my breath away like the cool crispness of the Pacific Northwest. Plus the weather in the tropics makes my hair frizz.

We spent our last few days on the island continuing to explore Volcanoes National Park, hiking to see ancient petroglyphs carved into the rock and to experience life in a now-dormant crater on the Kilauea Iki hike, alternating between forest, crater moonscape, and forest again. We stayed at the park one night until the sun went down to see the beating red glow of the eruption in the Halema'uma'u crater, which was so magical that everyone started to talk in whispers.

Amidst all of the laundry and grocery shopping that go along with returning home after a long vacation, my mind is a blur, thinking about all of the day-to-day things that I didn't bother to worry about while in Hawaii. I need to get my island zen back (at least, whatever obsessive-compulsive half-panicked version of zen I can muster--still working on it!)...I need to remember what the Hawaiians say when faced with a potentially worrisome event: "No problem, sis." I think writing a few haikus will help me say goodbye to the island and get my head in the right place.

Hawaii Haiku

Hiking through lava
Pretending that we're on Mars
It's not such a stretch

Gas station kitty
Would you like to live with me?
Buddy wouldn't mind



Ancient petroglyphs
Carved into the rock
Like so many dreams



The road here is closed
For no apparent reason
Crazy Hawaiians



Little coqui frog
How does something so small make
Such a cacophony?



Hawaii shave ice
So sweet and so delicious
Then you freeze my brain

(I had a photo to post here, but I decided it was too unflattering. You'll just have to use your imagination to picture what someone might look like eating a shave ice with a brain freeze).