Daily reflections by Ema and Elle.
By Ema ~ Sunny, the cat, was outside my door this morning waiting me when I got up. Elle was still sound asleep, so I tended to Sunny and got her breakfast, as well as prepared a fruit bowl for me. I sat in the bay window and enjoyed my land harvested breakfast while looking out onto the ocean dreaming of the day I can sail away to explore this world.
Sunny and I sat on the lanai being blown by the warm winds. I am grateful for the warmth here and that it is now late September and I do not have to put layer upon layer of clothes on trying to stay warm, like in Michigan. I am always cold there. The doctor actually thinks I have some sort of condition that cold and I do not mix. It is very painful for me and causes my body to lock up and leads to awful coughing fits where I can not get a breath. I thought cold did this to all people, but after several years based in Michigan I have learned once again, I am odd. I guess it is just my body telling me I need to live in warmer places. Like here in Hawaii, it is an average of 80 year round. For me this is not hot, just perfect.
Elle arose and got herself breakfast. My body was feeling weak and not wanting to move with all my illness lately, so I put on my music and began to move. A sort of dance yoga. I think Elle thought I was a little crazy at first, but soon she was pointing out yoga positions that she does all the time naturally. I told her that many of the poses are what children do naturally or animals in nature, and that if we keep doing yoga from our childhood, we will stay flexible and healthy. We had planned to go to town today, but I got a call that some people were coming to look at building a tiny house here, so I decided to give the house some extra love and went on a mission of cleaning ledges and floors of gecko droppings and cleaned the bathrooms. Elle dealt with our collection of sand that was at the door to our room from tails and such and swept the porch. Our room is the most lived in space. Most of the house, besides the kitchen and bathroom, is only used by the geckos.
I decided if we were going to go to town I should feed us first rather than eating out, even though there are so many great options in our little town. Trying to save funding, so I made a rice noddle stir fry with tofu and some sunflower sprouts.
When the people arrived I admit I was kind of sad thinking these were the people that would eventually be my long term replacements as caretakers on the land, so it took me a moment to center myself and go and say hi. I told myself all the more reason to always be aware of how blessed I am to be wherever I am, for that moment. To really appreciate each time and place, because you never know if it is the last moment there. I would like to think she will still need me along the way and I will return here again, as well as travel with her as a companion, as we have dream of a journey to Paris together, but I know that really all we have is each now and so we must appreciate that for all that it is. Turns out the family was here is just looking to sell their tiny home and move it here for the owner, which means maybe who will be living in it is not yet set. I had told myself as I viewed them from the kitchen window that they looked like a beautiful family and whoever ends up here will be blessed, even if this is not the long term position for me. They were indeed a beautiful family with a little boy by their side and the mama ripe with another little one on the way. They actually live in Kona, which is my old hometown, and are photographers. I shared some of our dragon fruit harvest with them, as we had taken 14 ripe ones from the tree just before their arrival. They offered if we ever come to Kona they will stock us up with avocados. The best avocados in the world I do believe come from Kona. When I gave Makayla, the wife, my card, she was very excited as she has been wanting to make reflections of a mermaid. She stated it was meant to be that we met. I felt the same, as usually I am the photographer, and now being the mermaid in front of the camera, is a different world for me and I am in need of finding photographers, as being the one in front of the camera and behind it too is a little difficult. I have done it, but the tail adds a whole other layer of difficulty. I was grateful I got the courage to go and say hello and connect. I was already planning a trip to Kona and am so excited to have made this connection. Maybe we will get to stay there over night and be able to go for a morning dolphin swim. One will hope!
Elle still needed to journal. We are trying to get her focused, but there is so much to do and see here it is difficult to get her to sit still for too long. I did a load of laundry and hung the towels to dry in the line, but the winds were so strong it was not long before they were on the ground. I had to opt for drying them on the porch, which looks a bit messy, but at least kept them from blowing away upon the winds. I told Elle to bring her journal along and we went to town for a few supplies. There was a rainbow as we parted the property.
At the natural food store everyone is always so delightful. A local women suggested we try the breadfruit hummus, which I have been curious about. I have always eaten hummus as a staple in life, but lately my body and beans don’t get along. This has been difficult as beans are a great source of protein and as someone who cannot eat most meat, besides some fish, I have to find ways to get protein. I have missed hummus and love breadfruit, so it has caught my eye before in the shop. We decided to take that home and have it with ulu (breadfruit) chips for our dinner. It was so good, Elle was eating it up so fast! I love seeing her try new things, especially when she loves it! I also got some breadfruit mouse to try. It is always a favorite treat in France, but finding safe vegan options these days for such is a rarity.
We were making our treat for the night of coconut ice cream and a gluten free cake we got at the shop, island made, when I notice the sun was setting. It had rained today all day on and off, so I was not so concerned about watering. We have had lots of rain lately, but I needed to go and collect the hose that goes down to the dragon fruit and papaya trees. I told Elle that the sun was setting and we needed to do that, but she was having issues making her dessert, as the banana bread we got seems to be molded. I set my bowl down and went to get the hose thinking she would come and help but she never appeared. I found her eating when I returned. I was find of frustrated and this was the second time today that I had told her we needed to do something for the land or to caretake and she just went to eat. Mind you the child is getting all her meals, plus snacks, and lots of nourishment. So her needing to go for extras or not be able to pause frustrated me. I am trying to teach her to prioritize, as well as self control. I did some yoga on the porch after sunset, trying to let go of frustrations and find my center and peace. Looking at how to best help Elle grow and learn to take initiative in her schooling and arts. She is so bright and creative, but easily distracted. I think our trip being on the move this summer was great for her. She thrives in change and discovering new things, but sitting still and learning to slow down and accomplish the reflections of journey, or studies, are difficult for her. I am trying to find our routine balanced with that spontaneous adventure. I sorted through what I need to do for me and how I can better communicate with Elle and trust her to do what she needs. I went to bed feeling a little ill, as we had some tofu in our lunch and I had not thought about the bean issue and my body when I made it. I have always had food sensitivities, and it took me years to learn to eat and find what worked for me, but suddenly this is a whole new level and I am not sure what is safe day to day. It is starting to look like fruits and fish are the only thing left. I have been adding spirulina into my smoothies and playing a bit with sprouts, but it is still be be determined whether my body wants to accept such. Thankfully I was able to go to bed without waking in the night.
By Elle ~ Today I woke up and ema was already out and on the poach. I got up and didint make my bed even though I should have. I got up and ema was in her signature spot looking at the sky. I sat with her for a minute she showed me some photos of sunny when she just got up and she was laying on the post waiting for someone to give her food. Soon I went to the kitchen and dicided to have my usual granola, yogurt, fruit , and smoothie I ate and soon was doing my dishes, when I came back out ema was dancing in her underwear, she says she was “doing yoga’’ she made me laugh real hard. After her dance session she was listening to music, so I dicided to take a shower. I only saw 3 millipedes in the shower and ema asked if I was disappointed, I told her yes but when she went in the room to make her bed there was a fourth, she didint see him and she was shaking him around so I got anxious but soon I got a jar and put him in the grass. A few hours later we got the message asking if some people could come, as they would be building a house on the land. I didint know we had to start cleaning but ema was upset when I was in the kitchen eating and doing tik tok but I didint know we were cleaning so I feel bad. We cleaned and I swept and did the frogs bowl filling it with water. Soon the house was clean and ema was getting in the shower she showered and I was working on filling the frogs bowl I came out with the pan and she told me that there was a centipede on her towel and she had to let him crawl on her, we laughed and joked saying its a good thing I was in the kitchen or I would have screamed making her tense up resulting in her getting stung. Ema told me I had to put the pan back and use the hose or else something was going to break. So I got out the hose and filled the water, I was frustrated putting away the hose so I was kind of upset coming back. I journaled before taking a break because my neck hurt, I called mom while Ema cooked food, I talked with mom and was drying the dishes when I found that the birds were bathing in the toad water which is why it was always empty, at this point mom was tired as it was late there so we said our good byes and hung up. I went to tell sissy of the birds and ended up having to get dragon fruit, I tried telling her I haven’t finished the dishes but she didint listen to me and when I came back she was doing the dishes. After washing the dragon fruit I needed to journal so I had to journal until ema said she was running to town I went with her and we went to the natural food store we got some foods and soon we were on our way back. A pig ran right in front of some family’s car which was funny, I was going to say hi to one of the horses but he was gone and in the horse trailer, so I just went with sissy. I unlocked the gate and walked back to the house. We were in the kitchen when ema said we needed to take in the hose I thought she meant later so I made my ice cream as she had just made hers and gone out side I thought she was eating but apparently not she was putting away the hose whops. We ate our ice cream and did our dishes, now I sit here journaling and soon I will be going to bed happy as I am all caught up!
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