Meet Boots

After a long day of staring at the plants and talking with my selves I decided it was time to leave the cottage and go into town. I live on the West Side of Molokai which is like a Beverly Hills to Los Angeles. Though white people are a minority here on Molokai the west side is full of them. This does not lead to streets seeping with Euro-Caucasians by any means. In fact I can ride my bike for miles and not run into a single soul of any colored flesh. For many reasons, the which I will not go into fully at this moment due to my own lack of understanding, the west side has become more Haole and the east side has been reserved more for those of Hawaiian blood.

(Side Note: Hawaii and especially Molokai has such an interesting history. If you are interested in history or just want a good book try "The Shark Dialogues" by Kiana Davenport.)

The town of Kauanakakai is situated in the middle of the island and in being a town brings all folks together. Going to town is quite a chore. It takes a long time to get there, a good 30 minutes I think and sometimes you will go all the way into town and they won't have what you need, like a light bulb or some bananas. (It's freakin' Hawaii, how can we not have bananas? It's okay.. I am now growing some outside my bedroom window.)

On this said day I went to town to meet a new friend at the bar Hotel Molokai. (There are two bars in Molokai but Hotel Molokai has a transvesite waitress named Yvonne, live music and a wide mix of people- watching available; tourist, haole and local). My new friend, (we will call him Boots cause he wears cowboy boots) sat at the bar and within minutes had me laughing so hard I was crying. After no human contact (imaginary friends aside) the smallest bit of conversation was titillating. My new friend and I have a special bond due to our common interest in western wear. As we chit chatted and bonded above bar it seemed out boots below were having a special bonding moment of their own.

The Hotel Molokai was a happening hot spot but we, Boots and I, were not feeling so "hot" nor "happening" so we mosied (as all real cowboys do) out of the saloon and made our way to an even cooler spot called the Hui, also known at the Retreat Center. Hui in Hawaiian means to come together for something. It is a commune of sorts where people live together and give retreats on Yoga and writing and photography and lovely things of that sort. It was dark by the time that I arrived but I could tell by the sounds and the way the shadows of the palms played with the air that it is a beautiful place. It smelled familiar to me and reminded me of a home I am not sure I ever had. It brought out that feeling of security one has as a child when your main job in life is just to play.

I met several new people who all had iphones and we spent time playing the iflute which is an amazing thing by the way. Did you know you can play flute with people in Czech?

We also gathered in song to listen to Boots and one of the Yoga Instructors play guitar. I lounged on the couch and decided that I was in heaven. On the way home I thought how nice it is to have a new friend, especially one who wears cowboy boots, plays guitar and is so kind and thoughtful.

This island keeps unfolding so many beautiful things for me. It's hard to take it all in. That's why every night we eat three tablespoons of Peanut Butter. It helps things stick. 