It's Magic!

Driving to Hilo can be such a magical and mesmerizing experience. You can take your time to enjoy the full nuances of colors and details one might miss when rushing. This morning, we drove on saddle road into the sunrise. Even though the sky was bursting with dark grey clouds, pink slowly streaked on the mile high canvas and to my surprise a small feathery white cloud drifted by as the feather did in the “Forrest Gump” movie that represents “Destiny”. Remember that one if you go eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp and you get asked trivia questions!

There is magic at every turn. On the top electrical wire, a beautiful black and brown owl watched us driving by. Knowing how flexible owls are, it was still amazing to see it's head rotating slowly and following us. Then , as we passed the military training camp, a buck ran out in front of us and crossed the road. I never get tired of watching nature's beauty. The grace and ease as it leaped across to the other side. The definition of muscle; the ridges on the thick, rounded horns; the agility; the speed..........simply mesmerizing!

Then shortly after, saw a kid just standing there on the lava rocks. A kid goat, that is, with it's mama watching on. Made for a great photo moment........the silhouette of mommy and baby on jagged lava rocks. I guess you can say I have a thing about goats. When I had my second-hand shop, I would keep an eye on people's kids or hold their babies while they shopped or tried on clothes......and sometimes some people would bring in their pets, mostly purse dogs. There was one that I did ask to be taken back outside for safety reasons.......a mongoose on a leash. And, yes, someone also brought with them a kid goat so we decided to make a sign “We'll watch your kid while you shop!” with a picture of me holding the baby goat.

But, let's get back to the drive. As we get closer to Hilo, the fauna starts to change. First, I start to see more plants growing in the lava fields. I have no idea what they are called but they remind me of stalagmites, big at the bottom and shooting straight up as if reaching for the sky. And driving on, more colors start to appear. The thick flower patches actually made me think of the flower garden at the entrance of Disneyland. Then, the forest starts to grow in and gets more thicker and dense. It's the perfect combination of dark and light greens. I feel like little nature fairies are playing and dancing around while making a few bamboo orchids bloom here and there as it starts to drizzle. The air is cold and crisp. I should have remembered to wear socks! Oh, well. It's Hawaii. I'll warm up!