Where Are the Birds?

12/6/05 – 5:50 AM

Heaven is…a cup of strong, hot coffee, a Hawaiian Most Caramac and the roar of the ocean through the opened window. I’m the only one up in the cottage. I woke up at 4:40 and couldn’t go back to sleep. I’m up even before the birds. But they should be waking up any minute now.

Our first full day in Hawaii was bliss. Frank and I took a walk on the beach and ended up all the way down at the jetty where the sea turtles nest. We looked, but didn’t see any. Maybe today. We found the cottage we stayed in that year when Mom and Kathy came to visit. Every time I especially miss my mother, I get out the video of that visit and play it, and it’s almost like having her here with me again. Leah and Stephen look so cute; Leah was 14 and Steve was 12. Maybe it’s because of the video that that visit is so fresh in my mind. I can still remember that last morning before we checked out. I was in the cottage, cleaning up, and was pissed off at Kathy because she was still in the ocean having fun. Walking down, and finding that cottage really brought those memories back. Hard to believe that was 15 years ago, and Mom has been gone for almost seven years. God, I miss her! Thinking back on that visit and how vibrant and alive she was, I would never have believed she only had eight years to live.

Must be something about the early hour that makes me philosophical. Okay…back to yesterday. Frank & I stopped at the shoppette on the way back to the cottage to get a couple of beach towels, and came out with $68 worth of goods—Hawaiian dresses, lip balm, hats, Christmas ornaments, flip-flops and yes, the beach towels. After dropping off everything at the cottage, we changed into our swimsuits and took our first swim. It was awesome! The water was the most gorgeous sea-green I’ve ever seen, and the sandy bottom was as smooth as velvet. And there wasn’t a jellyfish to be seen anywhere. (From our previous experience at Bellows, stinging jellyfish were always a problem here; Stephen got stung several times when he was boogie-boarding, but of course, that didn’t stop my little seal from going back in.) It just couldn’t have been more perfect yesterday.

All that frolicking in the ocean made us hungry and even though it was only 11:00, we headed off to the rec center for lunch. I had a mahi mahi sandwich; it wasn’t all that good, but the French fries were great. After lunch we went swimming again, then we showered and went out to Kaneohe Marine Base to the commissary and loaded up on groceries for the week. We stopped at KFC on the way back to Bellows, brought the food back to the cottage and watched “The Notebook” on DVD. Went to bed about 10:30, and here I am, starting Day # 2.

Diana & Jim are having their marriage vows renewed at Hickam this morning, and Frank & I are their attendants. Afterwards, we’re all going to lunch at the O-Club. Then Diana & Jim are checking into the Hale Koa, and Frank & I are coming back to Bellows. (We called the Hale Koa yesterday and ordered a bottle of champagne to be waiting for them in their room.) And I intend to go swimming as soon as we get back.

It’s still dark out, and it’s 6:16. Still no birdsong either. What’s going on? I’m wide awake and ready for the day to begin!