hawaii: fire at your feet, seahorse farm, timeshares
° Hawaii ° Kauai ° Maui ° Oahu
The world has 13 climate zones. Hawaii (also referred to as The Big Island in an attempt to avoid confusion over the State of Hawaii) has 11 of those 13 zones in an island smaller than many states. The zones generate everything from lush rain forests to fertile coffee and macadamia nut plantations to arid deserts and snow-capped mountaintops on Mauna Kea (which rises 13,796 above sea level and more than 15,000 feet below sea level, making Mauna Kea higher than any other mountain on earth, including Mount Everest in the Himalayas).
In addition to white, black and green-sand beaches leading into a turquoise ocean, Hawaii includes the active Kilauea volcano, large open fields where cattle graze at Parker Ranch (formerly the largest privately owned ranch in the world), plantations with varying types of fruit-bearing trees. Eleven different climate zones generate everything from lush rain forests to arid deserts, the black sand beaches and snow-capped mountaintops.
Fire at your feet
During a second visit to The Big Island (the former being about 30 years ago), our attention was captured each day by something extraordinary. During the time of our visit . . . which was to research retreat sites for a client . . . we were overwhelmed at the concept of standing on top of Kilauea on the southeast corner of Mauna Loa, a live volcano that has been spewing fire and creating acres of land for Hawaii since 1983. Kīlauea is the home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. The caldera was the site of nearly continuous activity during the 19th century and the early part of this century. Since 1952 there have been 34 eruptions, and since January 1983 activity has been continuous along the east rift zone. Kīlauea ranks among the world's most active volcanoes. It is nothing short of astounding to be standing at the rim of a volcano watching steam rise and new lava flowing into the sea. There is no other place on the planet to witness the magma of new life while being high enough to have your head close to the stars.
It was excellent timing for a visit and an ideal place to research for a self-growth retreat. With L.R. Mordus, we have been researching ways to make life easier in this unusual time in the United States and have come across new interpretations of ages-old philosophies, which are being researched for the "Wisdom to Change" project. Prior to this visit to Hawaii, I'd heard Dr. Wayne Dyer (who lives on Maui) say that you can, in fact, change your DNA. We are not predestined to anything: DNA is constantly in flux, just like tides, which makes sense as we are greatly controlled by the moon in that the human body is about 61% water.
Also, I'd been reading Asara Lovejoy's "One Command," which works with theta states and which includes an exercise wherein you image yourself standing securely on the earth and reach into its core and to the heavens . . . this is much easier to do when one is standing on top of a live volcano and the earth's core is seemingly just below one's feet and the heavens are directly overhead.
The Seahorse Farm (Ocean Rider)
Timeshares
Reading departure signs in some big airport