By Jill Steele
Author "Blood on the Orchids
Owner Hawaiian Magic Tropical Flowers
Last week, my daughter said, “Your birthdays are coming up. What have you planned?”
“Nothing yet. I haven’t thought about it,” I replied.
With all that has happened in the past three months, (Has it really been that long?) our birthdays, which fall within three days of each other, had crept up on us. Monday was my husband’s birthday and our daughter surprised us by flying home and appearing in the driveway with our son before 7 a.m. Being together again as a family was something to celebrate! It felt good to show our daughter how we had taken our rental house, termed by locals “the haunted house”, into a home. Besides our daughters visit, my favorite birthday gift was the lomi lomi (massage) stick my husband made from beach driftwood, to replace the one that is under the lava with our home. I cried when I unwrapped it.
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| lomi lomi (massage) stick |
Yesterday morning I realized it was election day and I would have to go to Puna to vote. I am moving forward, but apparently not looking forward because I do things like set reminders in my phone and forget to look at them. As we approached Pahoa, a heaviness came over me. We were so close to Kapoho… I won’t say anything about the voting process except that I hope they get a better system in place by November. Regardless, I am planning to vote absentee at that time. Standing on line to vote I thought, “Am I still a resident of Puna?” Living in a rental in Hilo, I feel so far removed. It is something that requires further thinking.
I don’t feel the urge to travel as I did before we lost our home. This was to be the year we took our first big trip, just the two of us. I’m not emotionally ready to explore an unfamiliar city and sleep on a bed that isn’t my own. I know that will change but for now I am content to being here, enjoying a view of Hilo Bay on daily walks with Luna and watching the surfers and young families on weekend mornings at Honolii.
We are waiting, with all of Puna, to see what the next weeks and months bring, holding our breath that the eruption is winding down, not pausing. Will our dream of walking out on the Kapoho lava flow and seeing the newly formed beaches, surf breaks and warm ponds come true in the next few years?
I am curious to see the new shore line too!
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