Noggin Thought

Lahaina is a nice little town. All of the main activity is situated on Front St. There are plenty of shops and restaurants to spend our hard earned cash and relax. It is a beach town, somewhat similar to Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, CA or Venice Beach in Venice, CA (although much cleaner; Venice just feels dirty). In what I think was the center of town is a very large banyan tree. It spans almost the entire block and it’s the oldest living banyan tree on Maui, 150 years old. While not a very large block, it does contain a very large tree. I had never seen banyan trees up close before. They have multiple root locations around the center of the tree. It looks like it would belong in a medieval swamp.

The lahaina shops are funny to me. Almost every shop had a sign that said big sale. Some were “lost our lease” sales and “take another 20% off” sales. I bet those signs are always up and the sales never end, which would mean those are the original prices. How would we know? We’re just tourists anyway. We’re only there for a week at a time. I should have asked a local if the sale signs ever come down.

So we saw the (great) banyan tree and perused the lahaina shops because we needed to waste some time. Being that I always want to arrive early at a destination, we got to the location for the Old Lahaina Luau about an hour earlier than necessary. I misread the start time and thought it started at 1715…it didn’t. When we actually did see the luau, it was quite enjoyable. Lots of food, drinks included in the price, and people performing in, at times, very little clothing is something to be enjoyed. While I enjoyed the performance, Ooh was quite happy during the dinner watching the shirtless waiters walk around in pareos. Now if I did that with the women, I already know what the discussion would have been.

I highly recommend the Old Lahaina Luau. Great performance, lots of food, drinks included, and for the ladies, shirtless waiters in pareos.

Maui is a great place to vacation. In my limited travels, the beaches and scenery are unmatched. The weather is always pleasant. At 0630 it’s supposed to be 66ºF, but given the relative humidity of 94%, it feels like 76ºF. During the day a constant breeze makes the 80ºF (94% humidity) temperature seem like everyday should feel this way. Today we laid out on a somewhat secluded beach for about an hour. I think Ooh has an aversion to people because she really wanted to be on a beach away from the rest of the tourists. They won’t touch her or breath on her. Maybe she thinks they are dirty, I don’t know. Some of the time was spent reading. Some was spent watching my wife. I made my first venture into the Maui ocean. Cold water, but nothing like back home; this is very easy to adjust to. And once you’re in you realize just how unclear our US coastal waters are. I could easily see the sand while floating in 6-7′ deep water.

Next came the snorkeling. At first, I was just doing it because Ooh wanted to do it. I’m not against it, but I think I wasn’t raring to go because of my previous experience. My first time snorkeling was at Catalina Island. I was doing just fine until I tried to be cool and dive down underwater. The problem is you can’t breathe in during the dive. I forgot that little fact. Salt water in the lungs is not pleasant. That mishap has stuck with me for these last 14 years but for Ooh of course I would try it. Breathing through the snorkel takes some adjustment, but I did it! Saw some nice looking fish. They just swim right under you. I could have tried to touch one. Ooh didn’t end up doing it; didn’t feel comfortable with the equipment, and the waves, and the fins. I think the people around us probably made difference as well. There were kids snorkeling, old people snorkeling, fat people snorkeling, skinny people snorkeling. They all looked like pros and we looked like (were) amateurs. She’ll do it at some point. Maybe when we have an instructor that knows how to teach.

It’s been a good first half of the day. I’m glad I said yes to snorkeling. After watching Yes Man on the flight here, I’m trying to say yes to more things. I always try to face my fears, but if I didn’t say yes I wouldn’t even have had the chance.

And there’s this:

Well, I’m married now, and I’m very happy…that it’s over. No, I really am happy. And it’s not just because my wife (it does fell good to say that…my wife) now knows that I occasionally write to this blog, or because I’m on my honeymoon; but because I now can just be happy

And speaking of honeymoon, I chose pretty damn well, if I do say so, and I just did. We are staying at the Sheraton Resort on the beautiful island of Maui. We have a wonderful top floor ocean view room. When I say ocean view, I mean looking out of our sliding glass door is all blue ocean and the island of Lana’i. There is no parking lot, no building, no mountains, nothing to block the extraordinary view.

I’m taking a few minutes out of our absolutely non-busy day to post this and she’s taking a nap. So until next time, I’ll leave you with this image of my wife (that’s so cool) walking out to the water on our way back from dinner yesterday.

16 days from now, at this time, I will be married. It’s been a long road that I don’t want to travel again. Although my road was quite smooth, it was not a road for the impatient. I don’t think I was stressed nearly as much as I could have been. I answered all the questions. I contributed to the decisions. I completed my tasks before the deadlines. I still have my sanity. I guess I’m just built that way. I look out for me.

So what do I have to look forward to? A life of wedded bliss?…Not likely. I think it will be more a feeling of relief. We will be able to just be. Oh wait, no we won’t. Every damn family member in a semi-close radius will want something. “Why don’t you come over for dinner so we can get to know your husband?” “Come by for lunch so we can spend time with your new wife.” It will probably never end. Each family is going to want their time with the new us. What about our time with the new us!?!?

I will do my best to counteract the evil forces of family. They believe that just because we are family, they have a right to do stupid shit. The reality, that none of them seem to understand, is that if we weren’t family we wouldn’t spend time together. So you don’t get free passes. Like adding more people to an RSVP than the number invited…without asking first. That is not acceptable. Close friends wouldn’t do that. But family, they think they have the right to do stupid shit.

So should I look forward to life after the wedding day. I want to, but I’m not sure yet. For now it’s still 16 days and counting.