Ana's Hawai‘ian Adventures 🌺

This week I am focusing on mālama by doing one thing each day simply because it nourishes my spirit rather than my productivity. Every morning I take time to talk with the plants, water them if needed, and admire the diverse flowers that bloom daily. Even when my energy was so low the last two weeks, these plants would nourish me and bring healing to my cells. And I love seeing which flowers surprise me each day, because every day there is a new flower, I just have to look! New flowers blooming each day! As my energy returned this week, I was able to give myself more opportunities for fun and joy. I continue to keep pono  in my heart and balance activity with rest. Sunday: I bookended the day with sweet video chats with Xandar and Nanci. In between, I visited a new store, celebrated International Ice Cream Day with a new (to me) flavor of ... well... gelato. But it's like ice cream, right? And did some grocery shopping for the week. Yummy Ube Cookies & Cream Ube  is a purp...

  Balance isn't about doing more — it's about moving through the day with intention. This week, my focus was: "What would be the pono choice?" Monday I was feeling better and had a day full of appointments: Walgreens for a booster vaccine, Zoom call to get some help with one of my sabbatical projects, library workshop on a new (to me) citation software, and pickleball! It was a full, fun day. Monday pickleball pals chalking lines so we can play! Tuesday, I decided to do some sightseeing! I did a tour of the ʻIolani Palace and then a walking tour of Honolulu. Well, half of the walking tour. I started to feel my energy decline and went home after a couple hours of walking. I took too many pictures, but here are a few: ʻIolani Palace  After the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy (1893), the palace served as the government headquarters and much of the palace furnishings and artifacts were sold or disappeared. It has been fully restored after decades of research an...

I have been thinking a lot about my kuleana  (responsibility and privilege) as a guest of this island, this home, this life.  I spent Monday shadowing Ben as he watered this oasis, learning from him as he pointed out plants that are underwatered, helping him remove leaves with disease, prune leaves that are beginning to wither, and always stopping to notice, admire, and smell the various flowers blooming.  One of the beautiful, fragrant blossoms After climbing a ladder to pick a bushel of avocados from his tree, keeping a few and gifting the rest to his tenants, Ben shared with me a delicious dragon fruit harvested from his garden.  Eating dragon fruit from Ben's yard! He also told me that he actually has a Miracle Berry plant and we were able to harvest a couple of berries for later! Miracle Berries! Sweeping the patios, pruning leaves, and watering potted plants at are missing out from daily rains are some things I can do to earn my keep and say mahalo  (thank...

I have had a wonderful second week here in Mānoa, with so many experiences of pure  aloha.   Monday I explored a little with my classmate, Maddie. We decided to go to Electric Beach for some snorkeling, but the currents were too strong and the water too murky. It was a long bus ride to the west side of the island, so we decided to stay and just relax on the beach. We saw a couple of seals playing in the water and one hefted itself onto the beach to get some sun. We regarded the seal from a respectable distance, and it looked totally chill. Monday evening I did some exploring in my neighborhood and found a park with a community garden and lots of tennis courts. I also saw some folks playing pickleball on an empty volleyball court. I recognized the portable net like we use on Seneca Street! One of their players was nursing an injury on the bench, so we started chatting. Apparently, tennis and volleyball reign here, but you can bring your own net and chalk your own lines on ...