The One That Got Away

I shot the best fish I have ever hit with a spear, but it got away. It was a large Mu, the big eye emperor that is coveted by divers because they are very difficult to hunt and they are delicious. At least I have heard they're delicious, I've never actually eaten one because they're so hard to get. I've never even had one in range before. My spear went right through the fish but the flapper must not have opened and the fish slid off the spear before I could get to it. I grabbed the fish tightly once it was off the spear and I wrapped my legs around it. Yes, this was a decent sized fish. I tried to get my finger into the gill so I could grip it better but before I could it wriggled loose and swam into a crevice. By the time I caught my breath, reloaded my gun, and went down to try to recover it, it was gone. My heart is broken! Who knows if I will ever get a chance to shoot another one.

We Found Mud

Living in Kona, I rarely get to play in the mud because the ground is entirely composed of rock and cinders. Recently, Chris took me up to the Kohala forest reserve above Waimea where the ground was completely saturated with water. Walking on the soaked dirt and moss was exactly like stepping on a sopping wet sponge. Hiking with Chris is like having my own nature guide because he knows soils and plants so well I always gain appreciation for the ecosystem.

To get there we drove through ranchland above the Kohala Mountain Road, then hiked to the top of the ridge where the weather changed and the Hilo wind was gusting. The forest was too thick to allow for much of a view, but the view of cinder cones, pastureland and the coastline from the edge of the forest was beautiful.

The view from just inside the forest reserve.

Fun times.

Abundance

My parents joined forces with Chris and I and we had a big garage sale last weekend. The garage is full, our closets are full and we felt it was time to get rid of some of this junk. It's funny because neither Chris or I like to shop- how do we end up with all this stuff in our house? It's a funny problem to have too much. It seems strange to complain about having abundance.

Chris has a theory that time and possessions are inversely proportional. Po sessions take time. Time to use, time to store, time to fix. When we go camping all we have is a little camp stove and some food, and the amount of free time we have is astounding. Meaningful conversation, listening to crickets, finding God's beauty in shimmering cottonwood leaves...that sure beats spending the evening sorting out plastic junk from Walmart. So, we're happy to clear out the closets.

Chris makes excellent garage sale signs.

My dad decided to part with Rudolph and his sleigh.