Today

My Seal

I received a ring from my friend James a month ago and not just any ring: a gorgeous stamp ring with an ancient sun on it from a coin. I remembered somewhere in some drawer there was sealing wax.
I found fire - I melted - and here we are, the sweetest gift for a letter writer such as myself -

Could you have ever guessed that would happen, James dear?

I also got out and Barack-ed the Vote this morning:


Promptly afterward the hubby (!) and I went to Starbucks and I got my free tall coffee, which is my usual drink anyways. Today Anthony has a second interview with a company in Seattle. That makes me very excited/nervous as I don't quite feel ready to leave Los Angeles for a bevy of reasons. Hmmmmm... more on that soon.

So scattered: off to tool!

Sleep Came Easy Last Night

First Treasure

This necklace is full of goodness, and it's in the metal shop right now. The coral ( I must add ) had to be pricked with a pin-vise, and it took quite a while to get the hole drilled. Coral is turning out to be mighty tough to string!!

I feel voracious to work right now, so back in I go :)
Happy Sunday to you all!!!

Tropical Schooling

What I have discovered over the past ten days in Kauai:

1. Love does grow every day, but in different areas and ways - there is no linear path. I think love growing surely must look like the roots of a tree or a nerve ending.


2. When we were on the way back from our kayaking trip I 'bonked' (thanks, Julie)- a state where you've exercised away all your energy and are kinda crashing - Anthony instructed me to be a good passenger while he rowed: every leaf we passed in the water was a temptation for me to eat, all my strength had escaped me. He took up my slack and even hauled in the kayak from the river so that I could go eat with my shaking hands and noodle legs. He loves me. Carrying extra weight is a form of love in this case.

4. When you go snorkling and you put on your masks, you are going to look like simple turtles. You will also drool. Should you look at each other like this it is more than OK to laugh until you have to remove your mouthpiece AND unsteam your goggles. The fact that you still want to kiss with your masks on is a serious testament to love in all her mysteries.


5. It feels really, really neat to say "Husband" when referring to the one you love.

6. After all those times I have joked (at most every single restaurant we've ever gone to) that I'd have the filet mignon and lobster tail when my Schmilly told me to 'get whatever you want' I FINALLY read a menu on which it was an option. Anthony ate the beef (would you believe I don't eat beef - ironic?) and I ate the lobster tail. Delish!!! Even joke-y dreams can come true!

7. Dragon fruit tastes like mild kiwi, longans taste like sweet mushrooms and rambutans taste like rambutans.

8. If you go somewhere and the culture is different than what you experience every day, be CURIOUS about it: seek out knowledge, taste the Saimin, smile at people you pass, learn the history of the land - you will be richer for being an excellent tourist.

9. Kauai will steal a piece of your heart and give it back to you tenfold with the understanding that you must return in order to retrieve it. While you are away surely it will be tended to with the utmost care and tremendous aloha spirit.

Intrudaire!!!!!

Man the gates, there's an invasion of cute in our hideaway!!!!!

Opening and Rewrapping and reopening...

Today was an unphotographable day: Anthony and I went kayaking for five miles up the river in our front yard ( literally ) and we couldn't trust that our coveted Nikon D60 would survive the water we dump on ourselves with our un-suave rowing 'techniques'.
Suffice it to say it was beautiful.
I keep re-living the moments of breeze and shade just as I have been unwrapping and re-wrapping my beautiful gems: each reexamination provides some other detail I had almost forgotten: so THIS is what happens when something is unphotographable - you capture it differently.
Tonight I bought gifts for the women in my life from a store that supported local artisans: I finally found pieces that captured what Kauai has been to me so that I could pass some of it on to them in meaningful ways they'd understand. I ache to put up pictures of what I got them, but it'll have to wait until after they are received.
After a second dinner at The Blossoming Lotus, an out-of-this-world vegetarian and mostly Live restaurant I am sleepy from the daily exertions and excited to see Akua tomorrow night when we snorkel on Anini Beach.
Here is a close-up of his dear, dear face. No animal outside of the ones who have graced mine or my parents' homes has ever meant quite what this old gentleman means to me. I cannot explain it: I will just let the mystery of these strong feelings live on.

Treasures from Hawaii

Kauai itself is a treasure, so the fact that I found amazing things that I can TAKE with me is just unreal.
To feel embraced and healed by a place is so spectacular, and now I will knit the fabric ( literally ) and gems I was blessed to find into my jewelry and leathercraft. The coral I found will remain unphotographed: I will be making glorious little necklaces out of it and I want it to be a surprise until then.
First up: Gloriously thick cotton fabric which will line the little pouches I will be making when I get home.

A gemmy and deep piece of Chrysocolla, the nicest I have ever seen. These stones were all very pricey, which means the pieces they go into will be luxe deluxe. I cannot wait!!!

Cuprite in the most unreal shade of crimson, with bits of Chrysocolla in it:

Rhodochrosite:

Fossilized Coral:

And... a little something for me that I found in a store called "Antiques and Assorted Junque" where the cheekiest southern dame and I had amazing conversations over my purchases ( and my self-wedding ring whose opal she coveted ) - this is black coral, made in the fifties before it was illegal to use - a little whale with an inlaid eye which I strung on my grandma's shuffleboard championship necklace until I can put it on something delicious once I get home.

The most amazing thing in my whole collection of beauty is that I get to spread the spirit of 'aloha' to my dearest friends and beloved customers: this is true happiness, when an amazing experience spreads in circles, ever-widening and pure.

Sky Waii

As my sadness abates and our sightseeing covers more miles, I wanted to share the Kauai skies with you - they are amazing.
So are you - have I ever said 'thank you' for coming by and becoming a part of my life?
Well, consider the words spoken :)

Tonight

Akua and the Inevitable Sadness

It turns out my darling feline friend's name is Akua, and he was born during the hurricane of 1992 that devastated Kauai, along with two other kittens, one of whom still lives with the Nurock family here.
Last night the beach looked like this:

And Akua ( aka Beach Kitteh ) looked like this:

Around and around he went, nudging my back with his cheek, drooling and kneading the sand by my toes over and over again as the sky got pink and the clouds got fat, when finally he climbed on to my lap and we sat, two beings on the beach appreciating each other.
I cried.
I woke up this morning and cried some more: I am having post-wedding letdown.
If Anthony was well and we were tearing around doing exciting things all day until we fell exhausted into sleep each night perhaps this could be avoided. We would then go home, work our asses off releasing the album and Anthony would resume the job search, and I would throw my all into my little shops, etc....... Here in the quiet of Anini Beach there is no where else to focus attention but on the inner workings of your soul and self.
So I am working. I am grieving the wonder and excitement of our amazing wedding and the wondrous people who came to celebrate with us. I am crying for the memories and the speed with which those moments were transformed into mental movies, golden and glowing.
I have my compassionate and lovely husband to guide me through the days and for one last evening I have Akua:

There are crabs and shells to observe and collect ( very different meanings for Akua and me ) and a few goodbyes to make before I head in for one last night at our beach cottage.

Akua Boy, I feel so lucky to have shared sunsets with you on our short beach walks, to have been the one on whose shorts your happy drool puddled and your sharp paws kneaded. It is likely that when all is said and done you will be my finest memory of Kauai outside of living so happily with Anthony in the cottage your humans built. Now that I know your name means 'Spirit' I will not fret that I won't see your face again: you will be summoned by my thoughts and we will have an unseen eternity to walk Anini Beach side by side at sunset.

Wilder Kauai

Today we explored, mainly from the car or lookout points: Anthony is still really having a hard time: the throat stuff has turned into a cough that is keeping him up at night. I am taking Echinacea and Goldenseal tincture like it's going out of business!!!
We still found and saw some amazing things: trust me when I say I was not always sitting like this:

I did a whole lot of standing and walking as well :) I have realized that in forgetting my actual physical journal I have been encouraging myself to blog just so I could make sure I documented everything. I wish I could record the mockingbird outside my window or the hilarity of the beach crabs and their sideways turf wars.
Last night we were hunting for delicate branches of found coral on the beach ( white and lovely, to be used in the metal shop as little necklaces ) with beach kitteh, and the air was just so balmy, and the light was so delicate that I had that powerful realization we so often have as humans: this moment is golden. I will remember that beach scene my whole life.
Here are some more pictures of the wilder side of Kauai:




On a tangent: I purchased a delightful parcel of opals today: I cannot wait to pair them with silver and make them available: they are amazing!!!!

From my Girlfriend Danielle's Camera

A Little Cock

To brighten your day :)

In Kauai the beasts are everywhere: the island is actually overrun with them and they crow through the night and day, unaware of the way their barnyard cousins behave.
I think they're beautiful.

Beach Kitteh

With Anthony being laid up today I had plenty of time to get introspective and blog, and I couldn't let the day pass without sharing my new friend with you:
I present - Beach Kitteh.
He is warm and kind and I feel privileged not only to share his beach, but also to bask in his companionable purr as he drools and oozes a rather unwell goo from his nose. He is old and has obviously been in a doozy of an accident, with his feet turning in very different directions and his face that's a little smushed complete with a giant fur-less scar over one eye... he is amazing and I am in love with him, ailments and all.

As I draw and write and read he sits at my back, kneading the sand with his paws.
If Jones was darker and much older and more consistent in his amorous moods, he would be much like my dear Beach Kitteh.