MUGGED.......and now for the rest of the story....

My apologies to all my Facebook friends for the obscure nature of my most recent series of posts.  I was mugged yesterday, and in the joyfulness of being mugged I forgot to mention that it was a good thing. No,...it was a GREAT thing. You see, here on Maui, being mugged means that Humpback Whales approached you and took an interest in you. Last night at twilight I was mugged by humpback whales for the first time. Words may not be sufficient to express the emotions I was feeling as I was being mugged, but words are my favorite tools, so I will try to explain.

Yesterday afternoon Thomas and I set out on the two person kayak to explore the Alaeloa area, south of Napili Bay. I mentioned to Thomas that I had not seen any whale spouts all day, as I had been indoors for hours. Within moments of saying that, Thomas spotted whale spout and pointed it out to me. When a whale breaths it leaves a distinct mark, like a small geyser, the wind catches it and it morphs into a faint mark, something like smoke. We call this "smoke on the water". So, when looking for whales we look for the spout or the smoke. The pod Thomas spotted looked to be  very large, perhaps six whales. They were at least a mile away. We took our time and paddled out about a mile offshore and shipped our paddles (this means we stopped paddling and rested the paddles on the gunwales of the boat, or in our lap), so that we were just sitting, drifting with the wind and current. For a long time we talked quietly, watching the many whale pods in the distance. Then behind me I heard the sounds of a whale breathing!  We turned to look, but there was no spout. I wondered to myself, "how far away can you hear a whale breath"? It turns out, you must be very close to hear it.

We turned the kayak to face the sound, and soon we saw them, perhaps 200 yards away, and heading towards us. At the angle of travel they were on , it looked like they would pass before us at a range of about 100 yards. By law humans are not allowed to intentionally approach closer than 100 yards, so we felt safe. We once again shipped our paddles, as the whales submerged. It looked to be a mother and baby. When next they surfaced the real action began, for there was a mature male in escort!

Now, let's take a moment to assure that  you know what a mature male is.  A mature humpback male can reach fifty feet in length and weigh in at 50 tons !  Lets say you are a human female and weigh in at 110 pounds, that would mean that you and 908 of your best friends, who all weighed 110 pounds, would be able to balance the scales with a mature male humpback whale, who weighs in at 100,000 pounds (50 tons).  THE ARE MASSIVE !

So, here we sit in our 12 foot canoe, watching as the pod submerges, thinking they will miss us by a safe margin. Thye did not. They changed course underwater and the next thing we saw was first the baby spout, then the Mom, and then....oh yes, you got it, the male. They were headed straight at us and only about 50 feet away !  The male was dead on target to hit us! We could see his nostrils open and close as he took a breath, his spout must have shot up 30 feet. We panicked and began to rapidly back paddle, as he dove under us, fearing his fluke might hit us and send us into the water. He submerged, as the Mom and baby had, and we were left in the smooth water footprint they left behind, it was a huge circle of mirror flat water in the midst of the chop and waves all around.

So try to imagine this. Let's say you are sitting in the park on a nice sunny day, and suddenly a big rig truck rises up out of the grass headed straight at you !  You might be a little scared, you heart starts racing, the adrenaline kicks in, you try to run away as fast as you can. Well, this was something like that!

The whales surfaced again about 100 yards away and stopped to just hang out. It was magical! the Mom and the escort male sank below the surface, but the baby began to frolic about, rolling over on his back, both pectoral fins up in the air, the white of her belly showing. She swam in circles, slapping the water with her pects, she did a headstand and showed us her fluke, she rolled on her side and waved to us. Next the Mom did a spyhop right next to the baby, she was looking at us! She submerged again and after some time the Mom floated to the surface and the baby lay across her head, belly to the sky, a perfect T-bone, the Mom pushing the baby through the water, the baby eventually slid off Moms head and into the water. Thomas and I had never seen or heard of this particular behavior.  Then suddenly the male floated to the surface between us and the Mom and baby, a massive mountain of black skin, water sheening off of him, his huge spout shooting to the heavens!  It was pretty clear what he was communicating to us. Slowly all they submerged, and in a few minutes we spotted the Mom and baby in the distance a good 200 yards off and headed away from us, there was no sign of the male. But then.....there he was!  The escort male had circle around behind us, swam directly under our kayak, and surfaced right in front of us 30 feet away. First we heard and saw his blow, and it was LOUD!  It startled me it was so close! Then his back rose up, as he dipped his head to sound. Then there it was, his fluke, in perfect silhouette against the sky, it rose up out of the water, hung there for a moment and slowly dipped below the surface. My heart was again racing, as his footprint engulfed us.

So, that is what it is like to be mugged by a humpback whale. My heart is racing even as I write this story. I cannot express properly what a thrill this experience was. It is easily in the top five most thrilling things to ever happen in my life.  May you soon come to Maui and allow us to get you mugged too!

Aloha from Kapalua,

Gene

Departure and arrival, new hope, new dreams

Our emotions run high as the drive down the hill from Spring Valley to Lindberg Field draws to a close. The emotions are reminiscent of the departure for Copenhagen, a day that seems so near in memory today. In reality it was autumn 2003, ut it feels so much closer today. Now, as then, the farewell wishes are heartfelt, the emotions deep and broad, the tears are prolific. Then, I wondered if ever I might see her smiling face again. Our attraction and affection were new then; vital, desperate in the intensity of it all. Anguish overcame me as she deposited me upon the massive que at the Oakland Airport. Waves of emotion, affection, desire, loss, hope; all washed over me in moments. The crowds driving us apart, demanding our attention to the moment. My mind frozen in the potential loss of love, happiness and hope that had been found in this woman. My life, my dreams drawing me inextricably to the frozen Baltic, in the hope of discovering my soul, the dream of finally knowing the creative me, the hope of expressing the muse buried deep within me, yet never expressed. Architecture School in Copenhagen, Denmark drew me away from home, and hope, love and happiness, away frmo my sons and my family to a foreign land, with only a flicker of hope that I might at last face my muse. She found me there, grew in  my spirit, allowed my heart to bloom again after the wilting it had so desperately suffered. The distance required us to take up the pen, for there was only a fledgling web then. We each had to learn anew how to write, how to clearly express emotions, deep and shallow, and the daily pineing of our hearts.

We parted ways in the pre-dawn, what feels like a hundred years ago, but it was only 5:30 AM yesterday, only thirty-eight hours ago. It  is different this time, for she will follow soon. This time we have no doubts of reunification as we did then. this time, we are called by the powers that drive our life to a place of paradise. All aspects of this experience have conjoined in perfection to bring me here to Maui, and soon we shall unite again in the course of our life together. Soon we shall welcome our friends and family as they come here to share this magic, this karma, this ohana. Now we have internet, cell phones, facetime and skype. An entire century of communications development has occurred in a few years. Now anyone can see one another face to face anywhere on the planet. Leigh and I shall reap the joys of being distant yet present, and soon she too will be here.

If you are reading this, then you are my friend, my family, my aloha, my ohana, my joy. This step in our lives is as much about you as it is about us. We extend now, as we will each and every day, an invitation for you to come to Maui. Our home is always open to you. Please come.

Aloha nui loa. and a hui hou kakou
Gene

And so it begins....

It is 4:30 AM, my mind awoke me at 2:15, sleep has evaded me since. Leigh will take me to the airport in a few minutes.

The Adventure begins.

Maui awaits......

Thanks RJLab

Been off the blog for a while, working hard to finish projects at the house so that Leigh will not have to hire some one.

THANK YOU RJ and Janet !!!

After coming for Catherine and Barry's Wedding, Dick and Janet extended their stay and Dick worked tirelessly with me on the house projects. The man is a machine! Tireless and always cheerful, we finished more projects in the last two days than I ever thought I could finish alone in a week.

Countdown continues. I fly to Maui Sat Feb 12, and begin the new work at the Ritz Carlton.

Am I still dreaming....or is this all real???

Saying good bye to new friends....but only for a while

I found it hard to sleep last night, for today we return to San Diego. It may be some time after my return to Maui to begin the new job, before I am able to see Leigh again. In addition, the next few weeks will bring my farewells to Rich and Ali, me hearts aches even now at the thought. Cat and Barry will marry next week, and soon there after I return to Maui. How I hope that all those we love will join us soon, even if only for a visit.

Our return flight was postponed due to a big storm on the east coast of the US. So rather than be stressed, we went to the beach. We snorkeled with Tom and Ash. Tom is so focused on his underwater photography! He is an inspiration. Tom can hold his breath for what seems an eternity, he then gets to the bottom, creeps up on his prey like a cat....or perhaps a Ton-Cat-Fish ! We will post some of todays photos when we get home. Time to head to the airport.

Some pictures and videos

We have taken so many pictures and videos, here are a few for your pleasure.

 Napili Bay video

 Kapalua Bay video.

 We think we have found a house close by the property, if we get it, my commute will be a walk around Napili Bay, then around Kapalua Bay, and a beach side arrival at work. CRAZY !

 A video of the property from the mid point of the pools.

 The pools fro mid-point of the falls.

 Lounge in the shallows as sunset approaches.

 Hawaiian WEEDS ! These things grow everywhere, like weeds.

This is a Hawaiian garden snail, I found it on the lawn and thought a child had lost a sea shell, when I turned if over I saw that it is a garden snail. This one is 4 inches long!

A warm aloha reception

We arrived on island Friday Jan 21, at noon. Dave and Kari Loth were here visiting. They love Tom and Ash so very much, it is inspiring to me. We shared a few evenings and are very sad that they have returned home. We hope that they too will soon live here.

We have been welcomed with so much affection and excitement by the ladies and gentlemen of the Ritz Carlton Club and Residences. Each person greeting us with warm aloha and talking story about how very excited Thomas is to have us her. The excitement and welcome by each person is the best feeling. Mahalo to all our new friends here.

We have been staying at the property as we house hunt. What a wonderful, beautiful property this is. Now she is mine to care for. I feel like a doting parent of a new born. I walk around everyday taking pictures and videos, checking on her every aspect, every need, making notes on paper and in my mind. When I see her as we come around the bend in the road my heart starts, as though I were seeing the Love of my Life, Leigh for the first time after a long absence. I best be finding a name for her soon. Like every building I have ever been responsible for, she has a life, a heartbeat, and special needs. She deserves a name. In Hawaii, the boats all have special spirit and are given names. This place will also have a special name. I will ask Silla to help me find her name.