Pure Bliss and Other Thoughts on a Train...

Pure Bliss.


This is what I use to describe my son, Ike. He is always (well, usually) in a state of it. He sits alone in his own little world. Ike-World must be a magical place - I'd really like to go visit one day - I say this because it is a place that makes him sing. Sing... sing... sing...

It's a sweet, simple song, not usually taking any specific form and is more akin to casual humming than real singing. From time to time, the song does take shape, and has various specific forms in the repertoire. From Queen's "We Will Rock You," to the Star Wars and Darth Vader themes, to a menagerie of explosions and semi-automatic gun noises... but I like the formless humming songs the best. I like to think that at those times, his mind is guiding itself through new creative territories instead of through pre-packaged, pre-conceived, commercial ideas.

And the singing is what cheifly leads me to describe him as "Pure Bliss". His face is relaxed and at peace, his body in control of itself, his mind flying freely. I know he won't always be "Pure Bliss," but for now he is, and at seven-years-old, I'm happy to soak in it beside him for as long as he will allow.



Marvelment.

Not sure if this is a word or not, but I want it to mean that feeling of a child looking at something amazin, with wonder and awe... my daughter Zooey is a marvel, and I look on her with marvelment. You never get over your first love - it's when you innocently fall the deepest in love - I believe, it's the same with my first child.

Zooey astounded me the first time I met her. Stubborn to the core, she refused to turn head-down in-utero and decided she would stay. We scheduled a C-section to let her know who was boss. In a first defiant act, she appeared, butt-first, and pooped on the Doc, unhappy about being removed from her safe, cozy place. She fussed and fussed until I asked her what was wrong and then she stopped, completely, and gazed at me.

I was undone by her beauty, her instant knowledge of who I was to her, and her age - her old soul - old and wisened well beyond being only 5 minutes old. Today at 10-years, she continues to impress and amaze.

And she continues to be old and wise beyond her years. She is, without doubt, a special person. Logical and analytical, she loves Broadway musicals and creative writing. But reading is the verb used most often to describe what she is doing. She reads as she breathes - effortlessly and silently. Her salvation, books, stand no chance against her voracious appetite for what's inside them. I just hope there are enough books in the world to sustain her through life!

She is a marvel. Compassionate to a fault (sobbing and growing angry with the characters in her books), she is intent on saving abused animals, saving humanity, and indeed, saving the world. I'm convinced she's the one for the job.



and finally... Love.

Warm, blanketing love.

The man I love is still the 18-year-old I first met. Crazy, considering we've both aged 20 (or so) years since that day, but he's still him, but MORE.

Just... MORE.

He's smarter than I ever conceived, sweeter than I ever dreamed, and more and more imprinted on my soul than I ever imagined anyone could be. (and more round, more gray, more mature, more old... but who isn't).

My love and joy at witnessing this boy I met those many years ago become this man I admire, this fun Dad, this force to be reckoned with... it's... it's just vast and never-ending.

And yet I see, as he tugs at his hair, grown long to look more European on this train trip, that he - like me - is still full of small doubts, nerves, and somewhat unsure of how we EVER got to this place - this train bound from Paris to London with our two incredible children... he's still 18, and so am I, and we hold hands silently across the aisle as the train continues its journey.

Daily Dose of... Paradise

Volcano National Park is a unique and wonderous place.  It truly varies from being a normal mountainside national park to a completely alien landscape.  Located on the big island of Hawaii (an island which houses the two biggest volcanos and another, the most active, volcano on the planet... FYI) - this park is truly a gem in the national park system.

Our guided tour began at the steam vents.  These are fissures in the earth which produce - you guessed it - steam!  The steam is really steam - its hot and makes you sweat.  It is slightly stinkier than regular steam, however.

You can see that they have the vents railed off so no one falls in.  This didn't stop at least all of us from sticking limbs and whatnot right into the steam and remembering that yes, steam is, in fact, hot.  This whole area was surrounded by similar steam vents.  It was kind of cool, and yet very weird all at the same time.

The next stop on our tour was to go see the caldera at the top of Mount Kilauea.  This is the "most active" volcano I was speaking of, and the star of the national park.  The caldera is the fancy word for the crater... although within this giant crater are other craters, which I guess is why they call the giant crater a caldera instead.  Kilauea has exhibited some sort of volcanic activity non-stop since January of 1983, and has had some sort of activity occuring frequently since 1952, including 34 eruptions.

It's also the home of Pele, the volcano Goddess, just so you know.

In March of 2008, the large crater in the caldera re-opened in an explosive manner and blew the observation overlook to smitherines.  The park had to close the road which drove around the caldera, and evacuate a section of the island, due to poison gases.  Today, the poison gasses (sulfur dioxide) continue to spout from the crater and a rate of 80 tons per day.  Obviously, the road is still closed, and geologists who have flown over the fissure say there is a large lava lake flowing under the crater!

Needless to say, all we saw was a plume of toxic gas.  Impressive, but not the lava show we were hoping for.  I guess its the safest thing to see on the volcano!  Tomorrow we explore more alien landscapes from Volcano National Park.

Daily Dose of... Paradise

It's like I always say, "Why not get into a teeny tiny plane and fly from Maui to the Big Island?"  The flight was low, bumpy, a little bit nausiating, and did I mention the plane was teeny tiny?  But the views were remarkable!  We hugged the northern coast of Maui and then I'm not sure which coast of Hawaii.  Our headsets shown above served two purposes - to help eliminate some of the propeller noise, and they were also attached to iPods which spouted facts about the islands (and some really bad music).  I'm not sure what the photos I'm posting show, but I know they are of the Big Island of Hawaii from the air.  I suspect there are waterfalls and Macadamia Nut farms, in addition to many many other beautiful oddities.  Enjoy!

Daily Dose of... Paradise

Our Own Private Hawaii

On our first full day in Maui, we set out to go hiking.  We had a Hidden Maui book which told us of an isolated tidal pool, not too far north of the hotel encampment.  With hiking being the main activity we wanted to accomplish, we set out to find this "private hawaii" for ourselves.  And find it we did (see the tidal pool above)!  Hiking from the highway to the coast got a little steep and somewhat tricky,.  At first, we found ourselves on a windy ridge about a quarter mile north of where we wanted to be.  The rolling rocks and high winds made me want to fly!  A steep drop off told us to retrace our steps a bit, which we did and headed south a bit.

Eventually, we found our way down to a spot with no beach, where there were two tidal pools, one above the sea level, and one below.

The ocean here was angry, and the impossibly blue water seemed even more beautiful against the black lava rocks which formed the walls of the pool.  It was amazing, and gorgeous, and looking around in all directions, we found it completely and utterly isolated.  So we did what any self-respecting Austinites would do, we stripped down naked and went for a swim! 

The water was much warmer than the ocean and the sealife was abundant.  We saw black crabs and too many tropical fish to even count.  The ocean fed into this pool, so at one end, we had fun riding the tide as it pushed and pulled its way in and out of the pool.

The ocean just on the other side of the peaceful, tranquil, and amazingly clear tidal pool raged and thundered. At times, the waves went over the wall, creating a waterfall show. It was truly amazing. The photo below shows the ocean-side of the tidal pool.

All in all, a good day... actually - one of the best days I've ever had.

Daily Dose of... Paradise

Oh my goodness, has it been that long since I've blogged?  Okay, I've learned two things - I don't blog daily when I'm on deadline for the magazine, and I don't blog daily when I'm travelling.  I need to figure out how to hook my camera into my phone (it takes better photos than the phone - sorry Steve Jobs, but Kodak is still king) and then how to get my phone to post my blog... if anyone has any pointers for me on this, just let me know - I AM over 30 after all (really almost VERY over 30) so these things aren't just innate knowledge to me...  back to paradise:

Our first day in Maui was exciting.  We flew from Houston and had good seats on the plane (not the best, but really not bad).  Then we got our car and drove from Kahului to Ka'anapali, where the Hyatt Regency anchors the south end of the posh hotels on the West, sunny side of the island.  The drive was fun - seeing all this really tropical and alien landscaping, and listening to NPR, just like we were in any normal American city.

The hotel lobby is open-air - which amazed us, being Texans... but the air actually felt air-conditioned, a perfect 72 degrees and a breeze.  Our balcony over-looked the pool, one of the terraced restaurants, and more importantly, the sunset.  We hung out and got our bearings - then headed down for sushi, an umbrella drink, sunset, and a dark stroll down the beach... we hit bed slightly early, as the jet lag mildly kicked our asses.

Here is the view from our balcony the next morning, when we awoke at 6:30 am, Maui time (11:30 am Austin time) - enjoy:

Daily Dose of... Green

I was thinking about the California Academy of Sciences today.  We visited there in June with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Shauna.  Within are wonders of both land and sea - including but not limited to: a working rainforest FILLED with butterflies and its river, teeming with fish; a more vast aquarium with interactive exhibits and - yes - penguins; and an amazing rooftop, blooming with life.

Shauna was most excited about showing me the rooftop - she knew I'd love it - and what's not to love?  Grass-filled and sloping to showcase the city beyond, I could have spent the day just on the roof.  Two-acres of pleasant beauty - this green wonderland also gives great views of the De Young museum nearby.

So this is your daily dose today - the roof of the California Academy of Sciences.  You tell me, does it remind you even a little bit of the Telly Tubbies?

Daily Dose of... Zooey

I've now been a Mom for ten years... but Zooey has made it easy.

In the first hour of her life, she screamed and cried, until once again, I could embrace her and soothe her.  Seems that did the trick and, knock on wood, got all the anxiety and stress out of her. 

Zooey's been easy, a silly old soul who makes our lives worth living.

So today, on her tenth birthday (my gosh that's weird to say!), I confess that I'm a good mom only because I have good kids - starting with the first one: Zooey, who sets the tone and pace for the boy (who doesn't always follow).

So here is your daily dose of my ten-year-old...