Crazy for Coconuts

We have a coconut tree in our backyard. Paul will usually pick up the just dropped coconuts and use a machete to chop one open for coconut water. Today, Paul decided that instead of waiting for one to fall off, he was going to knock one down.

We didn't think it was going to happen for him, but after a good fifteen minutes of teetering on a step ladder and gouging at coconuts with a fruit picker, Paul punched one off the tree and onto the ground.

Paul with his hard earned coconut:

Using a dull machete to get to the coconut water:

Just another afternoon at home in Maui. Don't worry. It's perfectly natural to feel jealous.

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Attack of the Man of War

My roommate Paul and I rolled on over to the beach at 505 today. We set up our towels on the burning sand and headed straight for the water.

There's a big south swell hitting the island, so the waves are big and the current is high. The beach that Paul and I like to go to is typically very quiet and mellow since it's protected by a reef that blocks most of the surf.

With this swell hitting our side of the island; however, the surf is rolling right up the beach and swallowing up most of the sand that people lay out on.

Paul and I bobbed around in the water for only a few moments before we realized that the tide was steadily pulling us further down the shoreline towards the surfers. I snapped on my goggles and kicked away from Paul, eager for a strenuous swim against the current.

Looking down into the water, I could see absolutely nothing. The surf was churning up all the sand. I picked my head back up to look over at Paul, and he was already heading out of the water.

I swam back towards him, and when I was in earshot, he said, "I think I've been stung by a jellyfish."

He was holding his right arm above the water and slowly wading out of the water. I looked around me and could see nothing along the surface. I kept my head out of the water and swam hard towards the beach.

At one point, my fingers hit a piece of floating seaweed. I didn't know my body could react so quickly on reflex alone. I snapped my hand back so fast from that piece of flotsam that I feel like I could hear the snap of my joints under the water.

"My arm is on fire," he said.

We were still both standing waist deep in the ocean.

"Why don't we get out of the water?" I suggested as I stepped out of the surf.

On the beach, Paul asked me to examine his arm. I looked at his right bicep and traced my fingers over his skin, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Paul told me to look again since it felt like his arm was burning.

I remembered that my friend from work, K, had told me last week that Oahu had a box jellyfish warning. K knows a lot about the ocean and Maui's wildlife, so I called him immediately.

When K answered, I told him "Paul's been stung by something, and I'm worried that it's a box jellyfish. How worried should we be?"

K told me that it wasn't quite the season for box jellyfish on Maui yet, and that Paul had most likely been hit by a Portuguese Man of War. He asked me if Paul had any welts. I was about to tell him that I hadn't seen anything when Paul lifted his arm again.

Paul's right bicep was laced in long, thin welts that wrapped under his upper arm and ended in his armpit. The welts weren't made of one long continuous line of raised skin, but consisted of several circular, hive-like bumps all lined up in a row. In quite a few of these bumps there was a black spot like a barb just under the skin.

I really wish I had taken a photograph, but my brain was in panic mode, and even if it wasn't, I don't think it would have been in the best taste to try snapping a photo of Paul's misfortune (now; however, Paul said he would have definitely liked a photo since he was unable to see these welts for himself since most of them were located on the underside of his arm and difficult for him to examine).

I told K what I was looking at, and he told me that it sounded like Paul definitely had been hit by a Portuguese Man of War--not a box jellyfish. Either way, he said that soaking the sting in white vinegar would help relieve some of the sting. K said that under no circumstance should I touch the area myself because it was possible that the stinging cells of the Man of War were still attached to Paul's arm and that I could get hurt myself.

Oh hell.

I didn't tell K that I had touched Paul's arm moments ago when I was first looking it over and saw nothing.

K continued on and said that we should look over the rest of Paul's body to make sure that there still weren't tentacles on his skin. Man of War's have very long tentacles, and it's possible that the piece that stung Paul on his arm was wrapped around another body part. K said that when you get stung, sometimes your brain only registers one sting at a time and won't notice that other parts of your body are getting stung until later.

I looked Paul over and decided that he was fine. K told me that Paul was most likely to be fine and not to worry about calling 911 unless he began to experience any shortness of breath.

Paul works at a restaurant that's located right on the beach where we were at, so without a single hesitation he headed into this fine dining establishment wet, sandy, shirtless and shoeless.

K continued to tell me more about the nature of the sting and told me to keep him informed on how Paul was doing.

Paul's a pretty stoic individual, but I could tell that he was hurting. We managed to make it back to the house, and I ran to the store to get more vinegar for the sting.

While we were soaking his arm in paper towels drenched with white vinegar, Paul told me that he wasn't certain if he actually heard anything, but he said that in his mind he heard the pop and crackle of electricity when he got stung.

"That was probably the sound of your nerves screaming," I said.

Paul said that his entire right arm and right side of his body felt like it was burning. "This is probably the most painful thing I've experienced in my adult life," he said.

The burning sensation lasted for about two hours, but it has now dulled to a general soreness. "It's like I pulled a muscle or something," Paul explained.

Paul said that dinner at Star Noodle would make him feel better, so Paul, Tommy (our newest housemate) and I drove up to eat some of the best food on Maui. There was also some sake involved. I'm sure that helped Paul out even more.

It's been 7 or so hours since the sting, and all of the swelling has gone done. The only real evidence of the Man of War attack are thick red lines lacing the back of Paul's arm.

Paul leaves the island this Friday, and he says that he won't be getting in the ocean again before he leaves. Neither will I, folks, neither will I!

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Back at the Beach

Feels so good to be back home. This is a photo of Lanai, a little island off of Maui.

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Home Again, Home Again

...Jiggity Jig!!

I've been home for a little under a week now, and it feels so great to have returned! I had a wonderful time visiting with my mom, dad and little sister, and it was great to reconnect with my extended family as well.

During my trip, I had some health issues stemming from severe allergies to my family's gorgeous new puppy. I went to the doctor the day after my return, and now I'm pumping myself full of antibiotics to cure the bronchitis I got.

It isn't stopping me from getting back into the full throttle nature of working at Aloha Mixed Plate. As much as it was nice getting such a long break from work, it was great to come back to the restaurant and see all my friends. Of course, I would much rather not be working at all! But until I can find someone to pay me for sitting around the beach all day, I guess I had better keep going...

I have to work today, and then I have two days off. I'm not sure if I'll be having any Maui adventures this week as I am devoted to getting myself all better and lose this lung-combusting cough!

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Last photos from Tahoe

The following photos were snapped in Tahoe City at Fanny Bridge. The whiteboards are posted at the lake dam with information regarding water levels.

It's been a whirlwind of a vacation, and it is astounding how quickly it all went by. It was hard to leave the family, but I will be seeing them in Maui this spring. I can't wait to show them my new home!

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That's All, That's All

While I was taking a mini break from doing laundry and packing up my suitcase, I stumbled upon a new tune from Steven Page (former frontman of Barenaked Ladies):

I'm off to enjoy my last afternoon in Tahoe with the family before taking off early tomorrow morning for home!

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Scheel's

is a gigantic sporting goods store that is two stories tall with huge fish tank archways and a ferris wheel.

The place is filled to the brim with clothing and accessories for every sport and outdoor pursuit. The selections were overwhelming. I ended up buying 3 pairs of socks and called it a day.

I am not a very good shopper.

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Mountain Flowers

I've been able to go out hiking every day while I've been here. Most of my walking has been done on the miles of trails winding through Martis Camp, but no matter where I am the views are gorgeous and the flowers are amazing!

A wooden walkway built over a delicate meadow in Martis Camp:

I don't know what these bright purple flowers are. Do you?

Indian Paintbrush:

When I was little, I remember reading and re-reading a gorgeously illustrated version of the Legend of the Indian Paintbrush done by Tomie dePaola. I've been trying to get a copy for my niece and nephew, but it's only available on Amazon.com. I remember reading so many of his books. I loved his illustrations!

A beautiful lookout from our hike in Martis Camp:

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Shots Around Town

I got out of the woods and into town this morning for a hair cut and a little alone time. It was amazing to cruise around in my college car while blasting older tunes off abandoned mixed CD's that I burned for myself years ago. While out and about in Truckee I made a quick stop at Northstar Stables where I dropped in and said hi to an old coworker. Afterwards, I roamed around the Village at Northstar to check out a few stores before kicking back and loading photos on the blog and Facebook.

I had breakfast at the Squeeze In one of my first mornings in town. The restaurant is as narrow as ever, and the food was delicious! The menu is over 100 items long and includes omelets, potato hashes and sandwiches.

I don't cook at all anymore, but I fell in love with this apron that the downtown Truckee store had displayed right out front. If this apron had a back, I would totally want to wear this around as a dress!

Crossing Truckee River before sunset:

A fantastic hood ornament attached to a car in the Safeway parking lot:

A cowboy sextet serenading the tourists in front of Dragonfly restaurant:

An old-timey car with matching trailer parked in front of the post office:

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Editorial Woes

Most of you who read this blog are actually staying in the same house as me, but for those of you who are not in the same zip code, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates. I packed light on this trip. Really, really light. So light that I may deserve a gold star next to my name, my packing was so impressive.

Because I packed so lightly, I am relying solely on my Smart Phone to document photographs and load posts onto this blog.

Unfortunately, the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous home that my parents own in Truckee has absolutely no Verizon service. So...I can only load and edit posts from my phone when I have managed to find myself outside of the property...which is surprisingly not very often.

Actually, if you were here, you wouldn't be so surprised. The community that my parents' home is part of is absolutely gorgeous with two 5-star resort quality clubhouses with pools, all of which is circled by miles of groomed trails dotted with mountain wild flowers. There's really no reason to leave, unless I get especially insane and feel the itch to use my Smart Phone for making actual phone calls.

I feel like a teenager using my parents' landline to make calls out, but I'm making it work.

Until the next time I get off the hill, you won't be seeing any photos, but I'll do what I can. I'm getting a hair cut tomorrow at 11:30 at a salon I've never been to. Eek! Wish me luck. I'm looking for a long, angled bob like the one Gwyneth Paltrow was sporting last season. I thought I was getting by not cutting my hair at all in Maui, but once my untouched mane hit the cold, dry mountain climate here in Tahoe, I came to realize very, very quickly how damaged my hair really is. I'm looking forward to some very serious TLC tomorrow.

I hope to be able to post photos of some adventures as well as the new 'do tomorrow.

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Shirley Canyon

I arrived in Tahoe late Monday night, grappled with having absolutely no cell reception at my parents' home in Truckee and then fell fast asleep.

Tuesday was a relaxing day spent on my parents' property followed by dinner at an Italian place in Tahoe City.

Today was not so relaxing. We struck out to Shirley Canyon to do our favorite hike in Squaw Valley. We were greeted by this sign:

We should probably have gone home from here. The hike was brutal, and we're all glad that we made it back down alive.

Too tired to really write more. Here are a few snaps from the hike, and I'll keep everyone updated on Tahoe adventures as I go.

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