Sunset, Sunrise, Mahalo

"Mahalo" is a word one commonly hears in Hawaii. In the sense in what it is used today, it means "thank you." However, according to Wikipedia:

 "'Mahalo' is a Hawaiian word meaning thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respects. Some sources support that the meanings "thanks" and "gratitude" were appended to the word following contact with Westerners. While the word mahalo is found in Lorrin Andrews' 1865 dictionary, the English-Hawaiian section does not provide any Hawaiian word intended to mean gratitude or thanks. Also, early visitors noted that the Hawaiians were generous and grateful people, but had no word to express gratitude or to say 'thank you'."

Mahalo is what I felt last night watching the sunset over the ocean and what I again felt this morning as we watched the sun rise over Mauna Kea, Hualalai and Kohala. I felt gratitude to be able to witness these scenes of incredible beauty. I felt that I wanted to offer Mahalo to the universe for creating such beauty. And I also wanted to say "Maholo" for Mark, for his presence in my life, for his love, for the fact that he is here with me. Still here, healthy and strong (except for the fact that he has incurable cancer). 

Before I get to the sunrise pictures from this morning, here's one from yesterday, when not one but two turtles were resting on the beach about 20 yards away from us.

Last night's sunset and this morning's sunrise were our going away presents. Tonight, we head home.

So, again, I feel Mahalo for all we have seen and experienced here on the Big Island. But most of all, I feel Mahalo for my beautiful children (and grandchildren) who light up my life and for my beautiful husband Mark, the love of my life.

Flora and Fauna of Hualalai

I'm feeling kind of lazy, so this post simply features photographs of plants we walk by on our way to the beach every day and of a sea turtle that came up onto the beach yesterday. He (she?) finally came to rest about 10 feet away from us and then spent the entire afternoon there, sleeping.

The turtle emerges from the water

He/she was swept a bit further onto the beach with each incoming wave

Once beyond the waves, he used his fins to slowly propel himself 

Ahh ... rest

Kona-Kohala: First Day on the Beach

Our beach experience here in Kona-Kohala is totally different from what we experience on Maui. That experience is like camping. This experience, well, is like a resort experience - an experience I'm sure we'd never have (and likely never will have) but for the generosity of our hosts. No one comes up to us on Little Beach in Maui every 30 minutes or so, for example, and asks us if we'd like more water or a drink. And Little Beach most certainly does not offer chaise lounges and covers.

The foot of a sleeping baby next door, peaking out from under the cover.

Our Salt Lake friends, Kurt and Julia

Mark playing in the sand with Charlie, Kurt and Julia's son

Kona-Kohala Sunsets

Yes, we're traveling again. This time to the Kona-Kohala coast on the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii. This is the first to visit the Big Island for both Mark and me.

Some time ago, we were invited to accompany some friends of ours to spend a little over a week at a resort villa owned by some friends of theirs. Free. Well, we had to pay for the airfare, but our lodging is free. This first post features pictures of the sunsets the past two nights. These first four pictures were taken on Monday night. The lead photo and the others were taken last night.

Water condensation from our drinks. We don't experience condensation in Utah.

I went to get something from our room, which faces east, from the lanai, which faces west, and I saw the above scene out of our window to the northeast. The setting sun had set the top of Kohala* ablaze over the mists that shrouded the slopes. It was pretty amazing.

*According to our guide book, Kohala is the oldest surviving Big Island volcano which last erupted 60,000 years ago.