Living in Hawaii has its Hiccups
It should be no surprise that it’s raining this morning. How apropos when I plan to write a few words about some of the hiccups in paradise. I officially dislike the rainy days because they’re counter to what we’re trying to achieve here — get the kids off the screens. Though, I’m impressed my only girl didn’t bat an eyelash, put on her swim gear, including a hat, and went out to just go about her business. Of my kids, she is the one that has embraced island living the most. Perhaps, she takes after her mama.
There is definitely a difference between living in paradise and vacationing in paradise. Distance learning is the same cluster it is back home. The kids get up with relative ease at 6 a.m. for 8:30 a.m. PST starts, but there are increased distractions with all the new wildlife out in the backyard. I bought a book about native birds and plants, hoping that I might actually learn the names this time. However, what I haven’t learned is that you shouldn’t yell at a six-year-old for not working on coloring his turkey. Breathe, remember that watching the chickens in the yard is more important than any first-grade math lesson. Counting the number of baby chicks is a math skill.
When we decided to make this temporary move, I knew I was signing up to have the kids on my watch from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays. The understanding was that I would take the afternoons to work on She Lives Aloha. Split shifts are tough. After putting eight hours in with the kids, I had to fuel up with Kauai-grown coffee to get stuff done. Plus, having only one car makes it challenging to juggle my errands with getting the kids to the beach. The beginning of the first week started off rocky, but by the end, we were getting in our groove. Only to have to switch into vacation groove as school was temporarily halted for the Thanksgiving break.
Thanksgiving has ultimately tested my ability to remain in a state of aloha. Part of getting away this year was the hope of escaping cooking the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I was exploring various takeout options, but I hadn’t settled on one. My neighbor recommended Keoki’s Paradise, but I couldn’t figure out where to order. On Monday the 23rd, I finally found the Thanksgiving menu, only to learn that orders had closed the night before. Every takeout dinner was sold out on most of the island and reservations were only available for 8 p.m., which isn’t suitable for the six-year-olds. My stress level was reaching a high I haven’t seen since leaving the mainland.
I personally could be happy ordering pizza as I’m more of a ham than turkey gal, but my mom actually loves turkey. It’s one of her favorite foods. She’s already having her first Thanksgiving without my dad, and I wasn’t about to deprive her of turkey. Luckily, we have the best neighbors in the world. Her family gathering blew up as her mainland relatives canceled their trips. She offered me a turkey, so I’m going to be cooking Thanksgiving dinner. However, the microwave will be taking care of all the sides. It might go down as one of the most mediocre Thanksgiving dinners, but we’ll be enjoying it with a mai tai and a Hawaiian sunset, and that is extraordinary.
For the most part, I have been pleasantly surprised that at the availability of food and supplies. One of the most elusive items is lettuce, of all things. I had planned to visit the farmers’ markets twice a week, but most of them are closed. The most devastating closure this week was the Kauai Made fair. I was hoping to discover the next great find for our kits, but the county decided that it was in the best interest of residents to limit exposure to large gatherings. I have mixed feelings. With the increased COVID cases in Kauai, I’m supportive of the new ruling that requires negative test results before boarding the flight. But as a small business owner, I feel the frustration of all the vendors who prepped for the fair and bought inventory, only to have it canceled two days prior. My hiccups are minor in comparison to folks whose businesses are being disrupted. Big retail doesn’t need our business this season, shop local whenever you can, especially this weekend on Small Business Saturday.
But, really, when all is said and done, I have no complaints. Even when I was about to explode, all I had to do was jump in the car and five minutes later, I was swimming on my back staring out on the horizon and watching the sunset. Calm restored. I’m not ready to even think about returning, and I think I might even try to extend our stay a couple more weeks.
