Today, as we were walking to school, a man drove by in a small pickup. "Toyota," Matt said. "I like Toyotas."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they are a toy for Yoda. That's so cool."

Of course.

Not one minute later, we passed a larger pickup in a drive way. "Ford." Then, "For-D."

"Hmmm?"

"For-D. That one's for Dad, because he's 40."

I wish, I wish, I wish I could see the world the way I did as a child again.

Coming Home

When I graduated from high school at 17, I was absolutely certain of one thing: I would not live in that same small town as an adult. I had nothing against the town or the people. I suppose it was fear which followed this logic: 1) my parents were there, 2) my parents were old and ready to die (in retrospect I realize that my mother was younger than I am now), ergo 3) if I lived there, I would be old and almost dead. What would be left of life?

I remember clearly my young perception of age. People in their teens were the "right" age, and people in their 20's were getting old. During my first year of college, I met a young man who was living in the dorm at the ripe age of 23. His hairline was receding, and I let my gaze linger when I looked at him. He probably thought I had a crush. The truth was I was having trouble imagining ever being that old.

As a kid, one of my favorite movies was Logan's Run. If you don't remember, when a member of the society turned thirty, they were cast out and allowed to run away from the group, only to be hunted down and killed. This was how the society dealt with the burden of the elderly. I thought it was practical. What do people really do after 30 anyway?

There's nothing like the passage of time to set one straight--that and knowing that I would have been dead over a decade if those Logan's Run people got a hold of me. I can't help but wonder if we aren't doing our kids a disservice by allowing them to think this way. How can a child plan for her future when she can't see past 30? Still, maybe there is nothing we can do. Kids will be kids.

This kid is tasting humble pie. I've eaten my words and moved back to the small town where I grew up. And you know what? I'm not here to die; I'm here to live.

A Playground for All Ages

This is where we jumped off the waterfall....so fun!

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A Day of Rest

Yesterday, we rested mostly... spent a little time at the beach, then went over to the mall for lunch. A local recommended this little place called Sone's, and we tried it the other day. It was SO good that we went back. It was really hot here mid-day (for the first time since we got here), so after lunch, we went to the new Terminator movie. When we came out, it had rained and cooled off. We went back over to the mall where they were having a farmer's market in the parking lot. We picked up all kinds of interesting vegetables (some of them weren't what we thought they were!) and brought them back to our hotel for a stir fry. It was delicious!

On the way home, we stopped at Wialua Falls (which up until this moment we thought was Opaeka'a Falls again, just from the other side of the canyon). They were very pretty and the lookout was quite close. I think it's hard to tell how much water was moving over the waterfall.

Another Day of Hiking

What a hike! We took the Kalalau Trail on the North Shore today. This is the part of the island that you can't get to by car. If you want to see it, you have to hike or pay for a helicopter ride ($250 per person). We opted to do the damage to our bodies. Even so, the trail is a whopping 11 miles long, so we didn't see all there was to see. In fact, if you want to go past a certain point on the trail, you have to have a permit to camp...it's that far (and difficult).

Two miles in, we arrived at Hanakapi'ai Beach, and all along the trail just before the beach are signs saying "Don't swim!" and "Dangerous Undercurrents!" Another sign said, "Be careful! This many people have died on this beach!" followed by dozens of slash marks and room for more. You get the point...

Of course, Ryan went swimming. I stood on the edge of the surf and still got knocked on my butt.

After a rest at the beach, we headed up to the Hanakapi'ai Waterfalls, which was a gruelling hike over boulders and sliding along the side of cliffs (well, maybe not quite that bad), but it was worth it. It started to rain about a quarter of the way up, which made the trail and the rocks super slick.

We ate lunch right next to the falls, then headed back to the beach for a swim in the rain. (That's the beautiful thing about the weather here: even if it's raining, it's so warm that the rain is more of an annoyance than anything. Sometimes it comes at just the right moment, when you're sweating and just need to cool off.)

6 hours later, we were back at the car and didn't even have the energy to go out to dinner like we had planned. Still, so worth it.

I know it looks like Daddy drowned, but he's just fine, I promise. :0)