A woman who clearly should have been retired by now, <\/p>\n
Her hair blonde and curly, her lips bright red,<\/p>\n
Moves toward us in her blue and white lava lava skirt,<\/p>\n
A warm smile on her face as she prepares to clean our room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Man in Kona<\/font><\/h5>\nA man who is obviously retired<\/p>\n
Stands up at a bar in Kona in his wife-beater t-shirt,<\/p>\n
One tattoo of the Big Island on his ankle and another of a hatchet on his forearm,<\/p>\n
Talking louder now as he orders another beer,<\/p>\n
Then gesticulating wildly as he regales his bar mates <\/p>\n
With tales of his glory days at Engine Company #12.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eric<\/font><\/h5>\nWe were in an outrigger canoe, paddling out of the Kona harbor. Eric was our guide as we cut through the warm, azure waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrust your paddle down into the water,\u201d he said, \u201cthen bring it up with a twist.\u201d He demonstrated \u2013 \u201cLike this.\u201d We kept thrusting our paddles into the water as he told us about the old Hawaiian monarchs. \u201cRight over there is the platform where King Kamehameha died,\u201d he said, \u201cand next to it is a replica of an ancient temple or hieau.\u201d <\/p>\n
Eric knew his history and was a good storyteller, but when he paused for awhile, I threw him a non sequitur I\u2019d been wondering about. \u201cDo you eat breadfruit, Eric?\u201d I asked. <\/p>\n
\u201cBreadfruit\u2019s bland, kind of like a potato,\u201d he said. \u201cMy favorite way to prepare it is to cook it in the oven till it\u2019s tender, then scoop it out, mix it with olive oil and onions, form it into patties and fry those puppies up. Delish!\u201d<\/p>\n
When our sail was over, Eric and my husband, David, began talking about soccer. They\u2019re both huge fans, and, as it turns out, Eric coaches soccer.<\/p>\n
Here was an intelligent, funny, 30-something young man who seemed completely content with his life as a beach boy \u2013 leading boat trips and giving surfing lessons. He didn\u2019t seem to yearn to move on to something else. There was a relaxed peacefulness about him, as if he was where he was supposed to be.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tsunami<\/font><\/h5>\n
We were in an outrigger canoe, paddling out of the Kona harbor. Eric was our guide as we cut through the warm, azure waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrust your paddle down into the water,\u201d he said, \u201cthen bring it up with a twist.\u201d He demonstrated \u2013 \u201cLike this.\u201d We kept thrusting our paddles into the water as he told us about the old Hawaiian monarchs. \u201cRight over there is the platform where King Kamehameha died,\u201d he said, \u201cand next to it is a replica of an ancient temple or hieau.\u201d <\/p>\n
Eric knew his history and was a good storyteller, but when he paused for awhile, I threw him a non sequitur I\u2019d been wondering about. \u201cDo you eat breadfruit, Eric?\u201d I asked. <\/p>\n
\u201cBreadfruit\u2019s bland, kind of like a potato,\u201d he said. \u201cMy favorite way to prepare it is to cook it in the oven till it\u2019s tender, then scoop it out, mix it with olive oil and onions, form it into patties and fry those puppies up. Delish!\u201d<\/p>\n
When our sail was over, Eric and my husband, David, began talking about soccer. They\u2019re both huge fans, and, as it turns out, Eric coaches soccer.<\/p>\n
Here was an intelligent, funny, 30-something young man who seemed completely content with his life as a beach boy \u2013 leading boat trips and giving surfing lessons. He didn\u2019t seem to yearn to move on to something else. There was a relaxed peacefulness about him, as if he was where he was supposed to be.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"IMG_0330\"](\"https:\/\/birdonthewire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/IMG_03301.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0330\\"")
<\/a>We were safely ensconced in our condo in Kona at about 9:00 one night when we heard a knock at the door. We opened it up to find a security guard who calmly told us we\u2019d have to evacuate. <\/p>\n