Almost Magical Miloli`i

We're home! We had a late flight home to Seattle last night from the Big Island. Our little rental house with the big deck was perfect for our needs. The deck was high, overlooking ragged black lava washed and splashed relentlessly with sparkling white foam. A rare black sand beach in the making.

You know those images and longings for a picture perfect vacation? Quantities of quality time? Everything just right like the baby bear's porridge? Then comes the air sucking gulp of reality. The woops part~ we forgot this is real life part? Brita was car sick, for the entire 1 1/2 hour ride from the airport. Tess always has trouble after she flies from ear pressure making her nauseated and dizzy. The landscape was a bit of a shock. It was so bleak! We couldn't stop for groceries first, as the small trunk wouldn't have held much more, even though we all packed lightly. We would have to go back after unloading, which I was dreading! The beds squeaked loudly with each wriggle. There wasn't a beach, even though we were right on the water. I felt so responsible for every one's happiness, as I had chosen this place! The upcoming week didn't appear to have much promise. We have always traveled a bit eccentrically, but now it seemed like I had stepped over the line of strange!

Craig had the only cell phone, for emergencies. No TV. No wi-fi. No a/c. I had forgotten my stuffed book bag at home. The girls had purposely left their ipods at home. Just peace and quiet, here in nothingness and no-wheres-ville with only togetherness. The togetherness had a cranky taste, those first moments of nesting in.

Miloli'i is one of the last old fishing villages on the island. It is surrounded by lava flows old and new. We didn't know lava had so many different textures, colors and layers! It seemed dark, foreboding and destructive.

The first glimpse of really seeing with new eyes and appreciating the hidden glory was when we noticed the crushed lava used for driveways. Up close, we saw it was sprinkled with bits of lovely green glass, shining and winking in the sunshine. The more we looked, the more we saw. I thought; what if I opened my eyes and heart to the secret hidden beauty of this land that looks so bleak? We all decided privately to do so, making the rest of the story amazing, with an ending better than the beginning.