A great exercise of inner strength is to make the best of every situation…Currently, my darling grandmother is very ill and, as she so eloquently puts it, “waiting for the train to come in.” So I’m spending some time with my family, taking turns entertaining and talking with her, an experience for which I am truly grateful. It just so happens that my family lives in the jungle on the big island of Hawaii, in a gorgeous solar powered house on stilts. So between sits with my lovely mother of grand, and chasing the mongooses and birds off the lanai, here is what I’ve been up to in paradise.
At 5:30 am I take a run through a mango grove. I get a bloody nose, probably from my plane ride the day before. I’ll spare you those photos.
We make orange juice from the trees on the property
Steel cut oats with walnuts, raisins, chia seeds and spirulina
Fresh local fruit
Gecko has breakfast, too
Local cacao!
By cutting a “door” in the cacao you can scoop out and suck on the seeds
Play a little uke, entertain my grandmother with my horrible Elvis renditions
I take a yoga class at Yoga Oasis, the studio next door to our property, run by a couple of ex circus acrobats. Here is a funny video of my teacher, Hayward.
Make a greens smoothie for lunch. Greens from our garden, fruit from our land. Can’t beat that.
I love the wild pigs, but I’m the only one. They eat our sweet potatoes and scratch their backs on our banana trees, which kills the trees over time. Sigh. Couldn’t snag a picture of the piglets, probably because I scare them off with my excited “WILBUR!” yelling. I am the queen of composure.
Making guac with local avos roughly the size of my face. Chef mama shows me new double knife trick.
Chipotle tofu burritos with red pepper, broccoli, fresh guac and greens.
Being here reminds me to be thankful for what I have, and that sad things can still happen in the most beautiful of places. Mahalo.
That place looks like heaven. I think I’d cry from happiness. have an awesome soul- healing trip! I’m sure your Grandma is a wonderful woman, get the most out of your time with her!
I’m sorry about your grandma being so ill. It does sound like she has a good attitude though. The fresh Hawaiian produce looks wonderful.
It’s great that you added spirulina to the mix; that is always in my daily routine:))
Morning run, fresh orange juice and oats, homemade guacamole, music on the deck, chilling in Hawaii? You are living my dream vacation.
So glad you got to spend time with family in such a beautiful place/way.
Yes! The property in Hawaii IS heaven. Uhm…iEG work retreat?!