Hawaii

 

This is Day 2 (full day) of our great Hawaii family vacation. I have several million observations on family dynamics, island culture, October near the equator, the 'off-season' etc... but the two I'd like to share are the things that draw me back to Seattle. That saying about the heart growing fonder always hits home in little moments. You might laugh but here are my moments from today. I have several million (ok, not literally, more like 8 literally) bug bites on my legs from the first night we were here. We bought some anti itch ointment that does do something... but what I've finally admitted to noticing... is that scratching on either side of a bite, rather than scratching the bite itself, is ok, and actually does make the bite itch less... satisfying, you could say. A few friends in Seattle might see where I'm going with this... but it beats the hell out of the x marks the spot/slap method.

The second thing that drew me back is a two parter... back in Seattle, I have millions (again, not literally, but pretty darn close) of spiders in my basement apartment. I think they're mostly house spiders and some sort of relative to the daddy long legs, but sometimes they've been super big (or so I thought) and I have developed a certain relatively tolerant relationship with them. Last night, we noticed a small light colored gecko on the wall of the apartment we're staying in. I will post a picture in the next post, but we all decided he could stay because he eats bugs and mosquitoes... and he's quite cute. No need to trap him and release him and scream because he moves so fast... although I did recognize the same urge to keep him as a pet as I've had with particularly fearsome or large spiders... No, he stayed, and he's 'gone' this morning, so either still in the apartment or out by some unknown route... Point is, today, my sister pointed out, on the OUTSIDE of the apartment, thank god, a HUGE spider. Absolutely the biggest spider I've seen in the 'wild' in person EVER. We googled, of course, and we think he/she's a Huntsmen spider... or a banana spider of some kind... but it was ridiculously huge and therefore FAST. I attempted to harness my fear and take a picture but of course, it moved and I sceamed but didn't drop my camera. Needless to say, the picture doesn't do him justice (hardly, though I will still share it with you of course).

These are small instances, but I'm sure you can relate, something small reminds you of 'home', or people. I'm exhausted, again, lots of doings on vacation. We're all looking forward to some beach time tomorrow, and hopefully the roosters/our inner clocks will let us sleep past 5 am. I apologize if this reads funny as a result. I felt like I hadn't blogged in awhile and my whole family is journaling (what?!) right now before Clair and I go out... so it seemed appropriate.