Carol, Oscar, Gracie, and I live on 17 1/2 acres. Middle of nowhere. 7 acres of nowhere is a flattened lava field that contains mostly nothing. When we walk through a small corridor formed by the intersection of two lava rock berms, the landscape reveals herself. Looking to our left, we see a trail of […]
Spectacular clouds and rainbows fill the sky. The ocean is the clearest, bluest miracle of water that you will ever see. The land is drastic, awe-inspiring, and ever-changing. Birds sound like they are singing it all into existence. This is Hawaii. And if it were any other state in the union, we’d create a war […]
Our kitty pal Elvis has left the building. He passed away a few weeks ago. The other two cats are fine. They learned to adapt to Hawaii. They learned not to slap at wasps and carry centipedes around in their mouths. They probably learned it by watching Elvis foolishly think he could conquer the critters […]
When the volcano goes off, do you run from death or run toward life? Do you feel panic or its opposite, exhilaration? Both are modes of the same fear, are they not? It’s just that panic is obvious and exhilaration is clever. Rare is the moment when ash spews and lava flows. Such an occasion […]
My immediate family consists of one human and three cats. Of the three cats, Elvis is the most adventurous. Observing the ways in which he adventures is a real lesson from nature. In this essay, let’s take a look at what happens when Elvis decides to sneak out of the house and Oscar, not so […]
In Hawaii, wild pigs are considered a nuisance more often than not, especially when they dig up farmland, looking for food, and eat mac nuts and fruits from the trees on peoples’ land. The pigs were not in on the land deals, so they don’t know they are trespassing. But they probably wouldn’t have cared […]
When I first walked the streets of New York City, right after moving into an apartment in Chelsea, twenty-something years ago, I felt something I’d never felt before: a wave of collective unconsciousness. It was the people I felt. This was long before any spiritual shenanigans were even on my radar. I felt thunderstruck by […]