Aloha!

Ray and I flew out of San Francisco on Saturday after a killer 8 mile hill run at Quicksilver with the parents and Sandra. What a blast it is to run free in the mountains! Taylor and Luna both reached their capacity at about 7 miles, so the last one was slow goin, but none the less incredible.

We arrived on Oahu at about 9pm, and headed North. We made it to the North Shore at about 10pm and were greeted by some awesome friends. I had no idea that there were guys in their 30s just hanging around surfing like Ray. These guys were everywhere. We blew up an aero bed and slept like babies. My head cold did not bode well with the plane ride, but a good night of sleep allieviated some of the pressure in my head.

First day on Oahu, we went for a driving tour, up the hill to an ancient temple site to check the view and the surf, down to check Pipeline and Sunset. The surf was huge. It looked just like all those movies we'd watched for so long back in cold watered California. There were surfers everywhere.

The people out here are much different from New Yorkers. It's like night and day. They're relaxed, they breathe, they go with the flow and don't really stress out. These people don't resist... they don't fight against what is, or try to prove what isn't. It's a beautiful thing.

It's good to see Ray... 3 weeks apart is a long time. He's happy here. I know he'd move back in a second if I said now. Ray and John paddled out at Freddy Land and V Land that day--yesterday. I stayed on the beach and read Song of Solomon--the Toni Morrison book I picked up at the airport. The book my mom's been telling me I must read. I'm loving it so far.

I watched them paddle out, but lost sight of them as they joined the sea of about 50 surfers in the line-up. Such good waves, such amazing surfers. They eventually came out, ran down the beach to where I was, and got going.

Amazingly enough, a friend of John's score Jack Johnson tickets. It's a festival he puts on every year, and this year Eddie from Pearl Jam, Matt Costa, and some local Hawaiian artists played. The show was meant to celebrate Earth Day and to teach the kids Kokua or respect for the land and ocean. It was freaking amazing. Warm breeze, warm rain, smiles... the people here are free. They don't trip out. They don't judge. They are so easy going. Anyway, the boys are going to surf and I'm going to hang out on the beach and in mother ocean.

This is paradise. Aloha!