Recent Work in Blue and Green

I finally got my mojo back in the studio and I'm on a roll!!  I'm buzzing with new ideas and ready to buckle down for some serious hammering this week.  It's a lovely feeling to get pumped up about and idea and then manifest it into metal. To see something tangible, and wearable that turned out just as I saw it in my head. Believe me, it doesn't always happen that way, so when it does I call it out and soak it up!!!! 

Wandering Mountains and Valleys

This morning we set out with a few friends to hike a trail we'd never been on before.  Just off of the main road heading up and over the mountains, we parked off to the side and set off through the path of tall ginger plants.  A few moments on the trail and we were cruising through a thicket of vibrant green bamboo with bright yellow stalks and then the view opened up in front of us.  The lush green valley and wide open space was a surprise to me, which I LOVE.  I never expected this to be there, from the main road it looks like it's all dense jungle/forest.  From here we continued up, up, up the mountain under the shade of Eucalyptus trees, which are among my favorites and incredibly beautiful, despite being extremely invasive and choking out the native and deeply loved indigenous trees including Koa among other species.  It got a little bit steep, very very muddy and kind of sketchy at point.  There was a stream crossing or two and some very old stone steps and rock formations that used to comprise an ancient fish pond.  When I come upon things like that while hiking, I always wonder about who built them, how long ago it was, and what the area looked like in pre-contact Hawaii, which really wasn't all that long ago.  This place, it stirred something in me...There are a million beautiful places on this island, and for some reason I really connected with this spot.  Bare with me, but I felt like it's energy was something to be taken in and recognized.  I'm already plotting for this to be my new regular spot.  I can see myself taking Max there frequently as it was almost totally deserted,  the wide open valley with it's semi-flat trail will be great for me as I embark on a personal challenge of upping my running game.  All in all it was an amazing morning, I feel fueled up and high on nature love...

Wandering

We woke up before the light, made the last bits of coffee I brought back from Seattle, and loaded Max in the car and headed up to the North Shore with one of our best friends and her dog Frankie...No plans other than taking our time, and having a getaway day on the island.  Spending all day up on the North Shore always feels like a vacation, by the time we got back home at 8pm, we were tired, and full, and so grateful for the days adventuring.  

One of my all time favorite activities is to take the dog, drive to a neighborhood I've never been to, and just walk...Checking out all the houses, doing a bit of what I like to call "garden stalking", and seeing a new view of the mountains and the ocean.  We saw some amazing plants, a few dream houses, and got to see a piece of the island that we had never been to before...and on a rock this small that's a big deal!!!

By the side of the road we noticed a bunch of Lilikoi (passionfruit) on the ground...fallen from a rouge vine that made its way through the trunks of a stand of Ironwood trees, and up, up, up to the top where it no doubt was grasping for as much sun as it could get.  What's better than free fruit?  Nothin'.  Free fruit that you can also harvest the seeds from and plant in your garden?!!!! Priceless.  We've been wanting to get some Lilikoi growing here so it was perfect timing.  Also, their slimy, juice, sour, sweet, tart insides are SO DELICIOUS!

These two cuties were just lounging in the sun having a little grass snack...

Then we rounded a corner and the view opened up the the valley below, and the ocean beyond that,
and I spied this RAD house...I've been obsessed with shingled houses since I was a kid.  When we were in Mendocino on our road trip last summer they were everywhere, and I remember saying to Jo that I never see them here in Hawaii...Something about all that gray-brown weathered texture looks so lovely against the blue sky and greenery.  So, I've found my new favorite neighborhood on the North Shore, and I intend to bring Max back for many dog walks/neighborhood hikes in the future.

We finished off the day with a trip to our favorite windy beach, swam and floated with some turtles, took a mini nap on the beach, and topped it all off with iced coffee and coconut cookies from the bakery in Hale'iwa.  

Another Saturday in paradise is in the books...Be well friends, and soak up the small moments, don't forget to appreciate the little things, like a really good looking house, and a sunny walk with friends.

Aloha

S