These days a blog can be one of a million things. As wild and treacherous a beast the internet may be, how excellent a canvas it is for any and all who choose to use it as such. I start there only to mention the fact that my blog has had no direction, thus I've had little motivation to maintain it, and thus you, the reader, have had nothing to read. What I write about must, of course, matter to me, or I wouldn't write about it. Just as important, it should be of interest to you, or else I should just keep a diary. I don't want to be selfish with my thoughts and experiences by keeping them to myself, nor do I want to be egotistical and vain by overstating the facts of my grand adventure in "paradise".
All this to say: Let this be a restart for all of this blog nonsense. For those of you that are and have been interested in the daily happenings of life here (viz. close friends and family), I will try to give quick overviews of my personal experiences in Hawaii. Beyond that I will try to close with a lessons I've learned or pesky thoughts I've had or lingering questions I've been asking myself so as to include all of you that I love on this adventure -- which, like all adventures, is one of the heart and mind and soul more than anything else.
So let's start from the beginning. First of all, I would strongly advise everyone that hasn't already to spend a few minutes checking out the Big Island on Google Maps in satellite view. The island is just as insane as it looks, and this little diversion can keep you busy for at least a few minutes. Notice the striations created by ancient lava flows, the barren peaks and the lush coastlines. Zoom out a ways and see just how massive a volcano we're really talking about by seeing where it finally reaches the ocean floor. Evidently there are 13 climate zone types in the world, and the Big Island has 11 of them (all but Arctic and Saharan). This place is wild. There is a road that goes around the island, and essentially all development is restricted to that road down to the coast, farms being essentially the only implementations above the road a ways. There is Hilo on the east side and Kailua-Kona on the west, Hilo being a "normal" town and Kona being the tourist hotspot. Aside from that, human existence is predominantly agrarian, and much of the island remains back-country.
With all of that it follows that some parts of the island are paradisaical indeed, while others are straight-up lunar. Dragon's Lair Estate is somewhere in between. It is lush beyond description (or, one anecdote I heard put it this way: You could stick a broom in the ground and it would grow), but it is every bit on the side of a volcano, rocky and harshly graded. The farm is a few acres, only 200 feet wide and the rest long. Bob and Beryl are my hosts, an "elderly" couple hailing from the mainland and Australia, respectively. I put elderly in quotations as it is really just a formality. Bob turned 75 the other day but remains just about as limber and able-bodied as I am in or around my prime. I don't know Beryl's age exactly (and I dare not ask), but it is the same story. Up until last week, I also had two other interns to round out my company here on the farm, Hope and Eliza. They came as friends who graduated from high school this year, and are taking a gap semester of sorts. They were good workers and dear companions. I will miss the social exercise, the free meals, and the energy that community provides. I hope they will remember me fondly and I wish them the very best the rest of the way.
As for daily duties, it's fair for me to simply say that I do what needs to be done. Today, for example, I spent weed whacking (one of my favorite duties as it turns out; very cathartic). The past few months have been harvest time, so in that regard you could say I came at the right time. It is all just now winding down, so most days have been busy with processing. That might be picking, pulping, washing, raking, milling, sorting, roasting, or packaging coffee. We do it all and Bob and Beryl entrust us with the whole deal, so from an educational and hands-on experience standpoint, it is hard to imagine a better situation. Looking ahead, the weeks and months to come will be spent cleaning the trees (picking all of the leftover, unusable beans), pruning, and in essence preparing the ship for next year.
Weekends are still looked forward to, as opportunities to get off the farm during the week are scarce. I did buy a 50cc Honda Gorilla minibike soon after getting here as you all probably know by now, and it has been essential. Bob advised against such a purchase on the grounds of safety concerns, and I hated going against his recommendation. That being said, I am extremely prone to stir-craziness, and my suspicion is that by now had I not purchased the wheels, I would surely be asking myself why I signed up for this. There is no discredit to the farm life or Bob and Beryl there, please don't misunderstand. Rather, I am doomed to the fate of a restless soul. Needless to say, Saturday mornings I hop on and take off. For the most part, I just ride around. I might go down to the beach and hang out for a bit. I might go into town and walk around the tourist shops and watch the people. I might take the upper, windy road and stop at a cafe for the quintessential coffee and a book ritual. Nothing fancy, but the freedom that I experience is beyond description. It is common that an involuntary shout of jubilation will leap from my heart as I zip on by a particularly stunning view of a bay beneath or an awe-inspiring stretch of hardwood forest opens up for me.
So this is a very concise summation of the life of Jonathan here in Hawaii thus far. Going forward, provided I do indeed keep up with posting, I'll try to be a bit more specific. Let this be a Catch Up post of sorts.
As to my take on the whole bit, I should say first of all that I came here with no expectations. Before I came here, the trip would often come up in conversation with acquaintances and whatnot, and the responses were almost universally excitement or questions about my excitement ("OMG THAT'S SO EXCITING!!!" or, "OMG ARE YOU SO EXCITED?!?!"). I never quite knew what to do with that, as the future is such a strange thing to get excited about. That's not to say, of course, that nothing exciting is ahead. Certainly my experience here is exciting to me. But it's exciting to me because it is at hand, because I am experiencing it, because it's a reality and it's inescapable. It's true that I came here first and foremost to work and to learn, and that is exactly what I am doing. Most days are actually quite mundane and pedestrian. There's plenty of room to romanticize the whole thing in my mind or my accounts, but there's no need. At the end of the day, aside from a few cosmetic differences, people are still people, work is still work, and life goes madly on. And that is exciting to me.
It'd be a shame if I diluted it too much though, as not all experiences are created equal. Train of thought time:
A few weeks ago at breakfast, seemingly out of nowhere Bob started talking about way back in the day when he had dreams to sail around the world. Then he said something to the effect of, "When I was your age, you went to college, graduated, got a job, got married, bought a house in the suburbs and had 2.1 kids." I very much doubt that you would ever hear Bob say that he has any regrets, but the incident at the breakfast table struck me as something sad.
I was working construction before I came here, and all things considered it was a pretty good gig. I was working with friends, I was outside, and I was getting paid pretty well to boot. It was also hard as hell most days and I basically gave my life up for it for a few months there.
"Turn to page 112 if you want to keep working construction... OR ...Turn to page 143 if you want to move to Hawaii and work on a coffee farm."
Going back to those conversations with folks during the months leading up to my departure, another common thread was a type of restrained admiration, or at least curiosity. People would find the whole idea interesting, or brave, or original, or strange, or awesome. I don't wholly disagree with any of those sentiments, but am I crazy for thinking that my decision to come here was guided in large part by good ol' Common Sense? Why on earth would I not come to Hawaii? If it's helpful, then yes, life is one big Choose Your Own Adventure book.
And to close us out, some food for thought from our good friend Solomon:
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Don't get stuck. See you around.
