The Remains of Today

Aloha !

It was an easy going day.......I spent most of it in Hilo , just wandering at the Farmers' Market , along the waterfront in Downtown Hilo , and then did some shopping afterwards. Kalani has a Van run every Saturday and it takes volunteers into Hilo for the day for free. And that was how I got to Hilo , in Kalani's van.

Just minutes after leaving Kalani in the van , I was enjoying the scenery , sitting in the front seat of the van, loving the wind in my hair from the open van window when out of the corner of my eye , I saw a huge cockroach make a dash for it over the van's dashboard and quickly disappeared.  The cockroach was  about 3 inches long , no lie. Maggie and I screamed . That was the biggest cockroach I have ever seen in my Life !  I said to Charles , " Please tell me that was a really big cricket and not a cockroach ! "  I can tell that Charles was greatly amused as I could see the corner of his lips lift ever so slightly when he replied , "  That was a cockroach, Molly. "  Immediately , both my legs went up . I sat in lotus position all the way to Hilo , with my dress carefully tucked under me , and my flip flops in my hands, ready to swat anything that might come near me.  That was definitely the longest time I have ever sat in lotus position , all 50+ minutes to downtown Hilo.

Hilo is purportedly to be U.S.'s rainiest City. Today was the first day that it did not rain when I was there.

This morning , at breakfast, Elsa was talking about a little girl named Kiki that she was a Nanny to in New York. Kiki was born in China and was abandoned by her parents . She was adopted by an American
Family that lived in New York.  Kiki did not have good use of her arms and walking was extremely challenging for her. She is four years old. Elsa told me that one morning , when Kiki woke up, Kiki said, " Today is the BEST day of my Life ! "   That brought tears to my eyes . Out of the mouth of babes lies the beautiful truthful joyful clarity of Living. If only we can approach every day like this . Whatever challenges we may have/had  , existing or conquered , real or perceived , if only we can approach each day when we rise and say, " Today is the BEST day of my Life ! "  Dearest  little Kiki , may you always be able to feel this way all the rest of your Life !

On another occasion , Elsa was trying to get Kiki to walk a block. Kiki has great difficulty walking . She said to Elsa that she did not think she can do it. " Yes you can ! I will walk with you and we can do it real slow ! :"  Kiki was able to walk the entire block. She was so happy that she said to Elsa , " If I can do this here, I can do this anywhere ! "   I laughed when Elsa told me this. We both laughed as Kiki's  statement was a correlation to a very well know song , " New York, New York ."   " If  I can make it here, I can make it anywhere , its up to you , New York, New York ! "   That was so cute.

As we approached Hilo , Charles was telling me that in Phoenix, Arizona , the malls have walking lanes for people who walk around the Mall for exercise. It is so hot there ( 104 F ) that you cannot exercise outside . Imagine that, walking lanes for people that are walking for exercise inside the Mall. It makes great business sense.  Afterall , after walking , one would go for tea or coffee , maybe breakfast , maybe lunch , and hey, shopping too !

Charles also told me that in Alaska , Walmart encourages people to park their RVs in the parking lot and allow them to spend the night in the parking lot. That apparently happens frequently as campsites get filled up fairly quickly in Alaska .  So, when you wake up, where to you go for breakfast items and other necessities ? Why , Walmart is right there !

Today was Jackie's last day at Kalani .........I will miss her very much.  We all had dinner at the Lower Lanai . I feel so incredibly blessed to have Jackie come into my Life . I will miss her dearly........I am closest to Jackie and Beth.

Aufwiedersehen , my beautiful Jackie, You have such an incredible loving heart and  a beautiful giving healing spirit ........Jackie will be back in Berlin next week after visiting Kauai for a week...........until we meet again......My Heart and Spirit will never forget you .

with much Aloha,
x0x0x0
Molly