A Long Story Short

Last week was one of the best weeks of my life.

Once I was in the middle of it, the way that it had all come together blew me away; it continues to fascinate me and probably always will. Here I am, two months on Maui, and all of the sudden I find myself staying in a beautiful house on the foothills of the volcano Haleakala for free with a generous young woman from Philadelphia who happens to have designed and organized a public art project that flew Isaiah Zagar and his wife from Philly to work with high school students and artists to beautify a public beach restroom while commemorating the 2008 International Year of the Reef initiative.

WOW !

To be able to witness a group of people come together to love a place, to bring beauty to something that had been long forgotten and neglected, was such a humbling, incredible experience. I'm very thankful to have fallen into the circumstance.

This is the bathroom as it looked January 5th, just before we started:

And five days later:

Part of the fun of the project was talking to people as they passed by: answering their questions and inviting them to join. A few times someone would walk up to me and say, "Hi. Are you the artist?"
Hmmm... interesting question. "Well, I'm an artist."

"...But Isaiah, he is the artist. This is his medium, his style"

"Embedded in many of his works are the words "Art is the Center of the Real World". His murals reflect an appreciation for the imaginative human and sensual element in the potentially bleak urban environment. Beginning his public works in blighted, decrepit neighborhoods, these murals were part of the inspiration that transformed the environment."
-wikipedia

On day three, since we were having such a hard time removing the outside layer of latex paint on one of the walls, we decided to paint a mural. We got a copy of the International Year of the Reef 2008 logo, and two of the students sketched it out and traced it with paint. It's an image of coral with Maui county superimposed over it (Maui county is actually four islands: Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kaho'olawe)

Unfortunately, one of the students that started it couldn't make it to the last two days of the project because of school. It didn't look like anyone wanted to stop working on the mosaics to paint, and I didn't want to see the mural turn out to be a weak link in the project since the five mosaics were looking so outstanding and colorful.


So I took ownership. I spent two days painting that wall, sweating and baking in the hot sun, loving it, and by the time I was done, it looked pretty good !

An email to a friend

Hey,
Thanks for the last couple of emails you sent. They were comforting at a time I needed comfort badly:)

I have a really good story to tell you, but it's a long one, so I think I'm going to start it tonight and send it to you, and then finish the next time I get a chance. I'd write it all now, but it's late and I don't know if I have the lucidity.

I learned to surf Wednesday ! !
Finally.
After seven and a half weeks on one of the primo island surfing destinations of the world, I caught some waves.
We paddled out an hour after sunrise on the unusually overcast morning, on our ten and eleven and twelve-foot boards. The lesson was free for Isaiah and me,
For the show we'd been putting on all week:

[A show about a group of people coming together to love a dying place.A public beach restroom, the kind you fear to see when the only thing that's on your mind is how badly you have to pee.
The kind that reeks.
It stinks, its dirty its cracked its split the plumbing creeks.
We turned it from a dump into a jewelry box encrusted with sparkling light and life:
see for yourself

But I couldn't get over how rad it was to witness Isaiah stand up on that surfboard.
Man's 7O something ! ! !
I watched the wave take him towards the shore and my eyes did see:
He arched his back.
Got on to his knees.
Paused. One foot. The other.
Slowly Up Up Up Up Up
Now he was standing, but his spirit still rising.
It picked up his hands, past his chest,
Past his neck and his beard and his smile and his ears
To the top of their reach,
exploded fingers from fists
and a howl of excitement that cut the air
Isaiah was a seventy something surfer
a skinny santa surfing at seventy something ! !
I laughed with the joy from the center of my being

We got the lessons for free. Some of them were priceless.

To Be Continued...

A Poem or Three

Now and Then
I guess I didn't leave it at home.
Or maybe I did leave it there, but it followed
And took a few weeks to find me.
Not sure.
But it's back.
I accept that part of my identity
Might always be inside, regardless, Lurking,
Waiting in the dark for me to fall asleep to Nature.
I wonder: when I wake up, will I feel awake?
I can't say. I'll dream tonight that tomorrow
Will be a different day, unlike the last
Day after Day I've slept through waking hours.
I'll dream for the fresh strength of new direction:
The crystal clear crispness of sharp focus,
The invigorating charge of clear intention and shear will.
I taste the new day as it comes from around the corner,
Heading to me to sweep me up and spit me out back onto my own two feet,
Armed with the absence of anything worth hiding,
For or From.
I hear my new voice,
Like the howl of the wind and the cackling of Hawaiian geckos,
The sweet almost silent chirping of midnight insects.

Home
I'm far from home,
But that's not where my heart is;
My heart is right here in my chest,
And it beats tonight like it's for the first time.
Home is familiar faces and places
Connected to memories proud and painful,
True.
But I'm home here,
And I'm happy to be;
I'm blessed to be able to see that.

The Ocean's Ode
I can see the sea
Every day there's no rain.
It seems like a vast desert of depth:
A universe of blue,
As big as the sky
And just as infinite.
It beckons and it threatens,
Saying, "Come.
Go.
Come.
Go.
Jump in and feel reborn and don't"
A paradox.
The waves are waving, whether they are inviting and enticing
or just saying hello, keep your distance
Depends on the weather.
It rains often.

Happy New Year!

Today I went for a short hike in Kula with my temporary room mate Rachelle, a Philly native I met at Mantokuji. I've been staying with her the past week or so since she offered me free room and board until her sister returns from adopting in Ethiopia.

Kula is an upcountry region of Maui, a few thousand feet above sea level on the Southwestern slope of Haleakala. It's absolutely gorgeous: lush, green as Ireland, far from the crowds and so high that on a clear day like today you can see the entire valley to which Maui owes its nickname - the Valley Isle.

We just walked and talked a little, said hello to the many others that were hiking the windy road and enjoyed the crisp air, sunshine and sweeping views.
But by far the highlight of our stroll was the time we spent talking to some local equines. Here's the short I put together that really describes how special our encounter was. Enjoy!