Maui Christmas & a Very Happy New Year

It has been quite a while. I think the reason that I haven’t posted in so long is twofold: 1. I have been pretty busy and 2. I usually don’t bring my camera with me when I go places. I mean, who wants to read a post without a few pictures as visual aids?

I have been busy with work, but my new job is more enjoyable than my last one. Being busy is much better than not having anything to do. Also, I now have a 15’ high by 15’ wide bay door right next to my office. The only artificial light I have to see is what radiates from my computer screen. It’s pretty nice.

The holidays have once again come and gone. For Christmas this year I wasn’t able to make it home, but I was able to make it to Maui for 4 days. It was a pretty good trip. I like to look at all short trips as rehearsals for longer trips. On this trip I figured out that I could go camping with only a mid-sized pack. I fit my tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food, and books into my green backpack. It was only 4 days worth of stuff, but I could have attached the sleeping bag and tent to the outside, if I wanted to. I think I could use that pack to camp for up to a week or so. That is something that I have never done, but the possibility is there, especially if I could drink treated water along the way.

Maui was good for a few reasons. For one, I made some decision about what I don’t want to be when I grow up. I picked up some hitchhikers on the road to Hana, on the way to Haleakala National Park. They were friendly enough, but after talking with them for about 2 hours, I decided that being a hippie wasn’t something that I wanted to be. I had considered it before, but the conversation illuminated the fact that I hadn't really thought that through. They lived on a communal farm/ranch and grew organic food (and weed, by the smell of it). They had no plans for what they would be doing in a year and didn’t know what they wanted to do in the future. I suppose there is nothing wrong with living in the here and now, but I didn’t get the impression that they had reached any advanced stages of enlightenment or happiness. At any rate, between meeting them and another group of shirtless beatniks with dreadlocks and bushy beards on a commune with waterfalls, I know that I don’t want to be a hippie.

Haleakala National Park was beautiful. Haleakala is Hawaiian for “House of the Sun.” As the story goes, the mischievous god Maui captured the sun and held it at Haleakala because his mother didn’t have enough time in the day to dry out some sort of cloth. The sun pleaded to be set free. Maui told the sun that he would release him only if the sun agreed to increase the amount of daylight for Maui‘s mother. The two agreed and BAM! the sun was back in the sky. The top of Haleakala (10,030 ft.) has 15 minutes more daylight than at sea level.

While at the park I did some hiking, sleeping outside, a lot of staring, and was even able to catch the sunrise at the peak on Christmas Day. I have some pictures in my Flikr badge (top right of this page). One thing that makes the mountain so interesting is that it is volcanic rock with less and less vegetation as you ascend. At the top, the only plants are something called Silversword, which are literally silver and shiny. Also, the surface looks like Mars. NASA actually tested some rovers there to see how they would fare.

If you ever have the chance to make it to Maui, be sure to catch a sunrise at Haleakala. Mark Twain described it as, “the surrealist thing I have ever seen.” The best part, in my opinion, wasn’t the actual sunrise, but the lead up to it. On Christmas Eve, I staked out where I would go to watch the sunrise. After talking to a park ranger and walking around a bit, I decided on taking a half-mile trail that led to a ridge above the visitor’s center. I arrived the next morning at 5:15 and crawled into my sleeping bag when I got to the top. The sky was bluish-black and the stars were bright and clear. As the sun slowly worked its way to the horizon, shades of red, orange, and yellow turned the black into a deep blue, purple. The clouds below gained features and color until the sun peaked, erased the remaining stars and illuminated the volcanic crater below. See the pictures in the Flikr badge for a visual representation.

That was my Christmas. For New Years, we went to a friend’s place right off of Kailua beach. Get this: the person renting the house next to her was none other than William Shatner. We never actually saw him, but rumor has it he was there. The cost of his rental, by the way was $8,000 per night. Ouch. New Year’s Eve was a lot of fun, but I definitely paid for it the next day. Don’t start with beer if you are going to move onto champagne and liquor. Lesson learned, for the hundredth time.

Other than that, life has been going on like normal. Some sailing, some TV on DVD nights at my place, and a lot of hanging out. Despite the recent cool weather, tonight we are going night snorkeling at Hanama Bay. Hopefully I can get some pictures and post those in the near future.