It’s a quiet morning in Kipahulu. The tropical rainbursts come and go;
looks like it will be a sunny day soon. Sitting in the hammock chair on the deck
of our Bali House, feeling gratitude for the palm trees waving in the breeze,
the clouds drifting by, and the many gifts I am receiving here and now.
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Campfire in a lava tube at Venus Pools;
awesome day with DanceHer, Jasmine,
the Easleys and rock star Donny Pike
from The Lettermen
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We are gently moving through the last weeks of our six-month journey
around the earth. This last month on Maui is technically back in the United
States, yet does not feel like or resemble the mainland much. Our dear friend
Glenn is joining us this month and we were also blessed with the company of his
wife and son, our beloveds Jenny and Hart. We are near the end of three wonderful
weeks at Whispering Winds Bamboo farm in Kipahulu.
We are here as guests of our
dear friend Niayh who so sweetly embodies his name, Now Is All You Have.
Whispering Winds has 20 acres of bamboo farm that exists to support both the 5
permanent residents and the 160 acres that is an inspiring forest restoration
project. Much of the unique native trees of Maui have been replaced by invasive
non-native species such as guava. Here at Whispering Winds, the crew of seven
apprentices and the permanent residents do strong work to restore the healthier
native forest. Our primary work here as volunteer guests is with this project.
The guava and other invasive trees and shrubs are cleared from slopes followed
by the digging of many holes for planting. Yesterday, we enjoyed the climactic
step of putting compost in the holes, planting trees, watering, scattering IMO
(Indigenous MicroOrganisms) on the area around the sapling and covering it all
with woodchip mulch. We are camped out in three tents and have a beautiful
small house (Bali House) to hang out in and cook in. Up the hill is the
Farmhouse where several apprentices live and where we often hang out and play
Farkel (a rousing dice game). We have learned from and enjoyed so much from the
permanent residents here, Rich and Virginia, Seth and Synda, and Ryan, along
with the apprentices who are a very colorful and fun group.
Kipahulu is a peaceful, spectacularly beautiful, small and remote area
of Maui. There are perhaps 300 residents in Kipahulu and a number of small
farms and retreat centers. One place we love is Laulima Farm, which is a
picture perfect, impeccable, permaculture-informed, organic farm with
breathtaking ocean views from the gentle slope of Haleakalah volcano. Our
friend Josh has created inspired treehouses there, designed to be eaten by the
banyan trees with which they co-exist and evolve. Laulima has about 10
apprentices who spend a year working and learning on the farm.
A big favorite is Jean Angelheart’s place, Lokahi, where every week
there are two awesome gatherings for the community. Wednesdays we go to Pizza
Night where about thirty people bring and share toppings, create their own
pizza, which is then baked in a righteous brick pizza oven. Every time we enjoy
and learn from the free-thinking and free-living people hanging out and making
music in the kitchen and outside under the pizza oven shelter. On Sunday nights
at Café Attitude, we are blown away by the talent and spirit flowing from the
open mic stage and from our host Jean. Lokahi has perhaps eight people who
live, learn and work there.
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| The beautiful Red Sand Beach in Hana with Niayh and the Easleys |
Kipahulu also has incomparable beaches with lava rock tidepools and
cliffs to jump off of such as Venus Pools, Red Sand Beach in Hana and Black
Sand Beach (Wai'anapanapa). Kipahulu is definitely somewhere we could spend part
of our year happily, although there are too few teens here…
We are quickly approaching our re-entry to Home on April Fools Day (the
meaning of that has yet to be revealed!).
How different will our life be? One big change: I won’t be returning to
my old job at Country Doctor. I’m so looking forward to the freedom to pick and
choose when I work!
How have we changed? For Isaac and Avi, I believe that their perceptual
frame has grown; their paradigm of how our culture and world operate has
shifted. I joked that Isaac should wear some foreign clothing when he shows up
back at McMurray Middle School so they can tell he just returned from a big
journey; he commented “they will see it in my eyes.” May it be so!
After
waking up, an announcement sounded and my family got off the ship. We waited
for our hosts to pick us up, and eventually a boat came for us. The village we
stayed in was a small one of 170 called Navotu; it was on the water so there was
an abundance of fish to go around.
With a roar of “OH MY
GAWD!” that would have impressed the Spartans of 300, I leaned forward and
began plummeting 150 feet towards the water. It was five days before my
birthday, and because we were travelling almost the entirety of my birthday, we
decided to celebrate beforehand. Out of a handful of options I was given, I
chose bungee-jumping. The next morning we drove to Taupō Bungee, and my dad and
I walked to the office; I was weighed in at about 55 KG, or roughly 120 pounds.
I was given a fancy card on a lanyard that had my name and weight on it. As we
watched other people jump I tried my hardest to swallow the lump in my throat,
calm my machine-gun nerves, and to overcome my fear. That didn’t work at all,
so I decided to use the often-employed Plan B: throw myself into it, and hope to
goodness I don’t get hurt.
I was told to walk over to a part of this hut
that didn’t have a railing, and so I waddled over (remember, my ankles were
attached by a six-inch strap). The experienced guy told me he was going to say
“Three! Two! One! Bungee!” and then I was supposed to jump. I knew at this
point there was no going back, and so when he said “BUNGEE!” I screamed to the
heavens, and as I plummeted down I let the whole valley know just how damn
terrified I was. As I got closer to the water, I put my hands in a diving
position, and got neatly dunked up to my neck in the water. Because the bungee
cord was elastic, I bounced up about half as high as I had fallen. On the way
up, and the inevitable way back down, I was laughing like a maniac. This was,
by far, the most memorable, and exciting birthday present I had ever had, as
well as an amazing exercise in releasing fear.
