HAWAII

Last night I celebrated my son Mateo’s 40th birthday two days early. In the semi-chaos of our lives I was able to meet him and my daughter-in-law at the Sushi Den on South Pearl St. I have heard wonderful things about it for years but this was the first time for all of us. We were not disappointed. One comment about having my youngest turn 40…YIKES!!! After the dinner we went outside to stand on the curb and enjoy the afterglow in the evening light and cool air. We had noted two moms herding five little kids out of the restaurant and commented on how great the kids were. They were seated just behind us and were never a distraction. I started interacting with a six year old in a Rockies baseball cap. I said, “I love the Rockies” and he said “My dad is a Rocky”. His mom smiled and said, “It’s true”. “Oh, so your dad is in Pittsburgh right now”? “Yep.” The mom told us she loved it when their former team (Texas Rangers) would play in Colorado because they would make a family vacation out of it. “Now that he is with the Rockies this is home and we love it”! So I headed across the street to fire up my app.
I had no more than turned the app on and the ‘ping’ came, and then it said, “You have arrived”. Heck, I had not even left. I could see the couple waving at me from where I had just had dinner. They hopped in and I said, “Well, that was the easiest pick up I have ever had… I arrived before I left”. They laughed and we headed out to take them home. Without prompting He said, “We are from Hawaii, we are here for a few months checking out graduate schools”. I asked, “What island”? She replied, “Oahu, have you been to Hawaii”? I proudly said, “Nine times, we were there in February for two weeks”. He asked, “What is your favorite island”? “I don’t have one. I like each island for different reasons. We were in Kauai for this last trip.” “What’s it like? I have never been there”. “Really, wow! Well, it has changed a lot over the last 20 years since I was first there. It is incredibly beautiful. There is really only one main road that takes you around most of the island”. “Tell us about the other Islands, I have only been to Maui”. So I began to tell them about how I love the Big Island because, well, “It’s big, and has amazing diversity; mountains, desert, snow, waterfalls, ranches, rain forests, volcanoes, coffee plantations, and green sand beaches. Oh yea, and my friend Kathleen and her husband Bill”. “So you have been to all of the islands”? “Yes, all of the main ones including Molokai and Lanai”. I then talked of people who live in Colorado who have never been to the top of Pike’s Peak, the Great Sand Dunes or Mesa Verde. Or in my case I have never been to the Denver Mint. There are many folk who live in Denver who never leave I-25 below Colorado Springs or think that the only beauty we have, can be seen from I-70. We talked some more about Hawaii and Colorado and then She said, “I guess to appreciate home you have to see it through somebody else’s eyes. We sure love Colorado and we think this is where we will be for a while”.  
This morning I got my daily review for yesterday. The first thing I saw was a ***** review and a “He really knows Hawaii!!!”.
Sunday is Father’s Day. My dad Bill flew supplies in a C-47 up to the Front Lines nearly every day during WWII in France. On his days when he wasn’t getting shot at, he would go into Abbeville, France 🇫🇷 and explore. I know I was blessed to have a dad that said to me, “There is wonder and beauty wherever you are, go find it”.  

Onward and Upward,
Mark