Back from paradise, and now it is New Year's Eve. I have an inner feeling that 2012 will be a good year for me, and I hope that it will bring all of us serenity and happiness.

We had been invited to go to Matt and Emillia's home for Christmas Dinner and what a great dinner it was. Most everything was grown or raised in Molokai - the huge standing rib roast, the salad, the potatoes, the leeks. Emillia even made rolls. These two people could easily open up a catering business or serve meals on their lanai.

The next day we went to the "Post a Nut" Post Office and Marty mailed her decorated coconut...

Then we drove back out to the west end and Marty walked on the beach - the sand is too deep to walk on for me - while she did was walking, I watched a committee of red-crested cardinals standing by the water "fountain" gossiping about their friends...

We then drove to Artie's. She had asked us to come over and slice and bake gingerbread cookies that she had stirred up and put in rolls and frozen. They were for Kat and the team that was going to be working on Sustainable Molokai projects. Marty and I had those babies done in a couple of hours, and we also had a good talk with Artie and John. Artie has been very sick, and she doesn't have the stamina to stand for any length of time, so we were very happy to do this for her and to catch up on all the news.

A friend, Stephanie, whom I had met last year, had told me that we mustn't miss walking to the pyramid. She told me where it was, and said that it is very special to be there when the sun was going down into the ocean. We found the street and parked and walked up the path, which was rocky and uneven. Fortunately I had my Leki with me, which steadied me. Steph said that while we are walking towards the pyramid, we should chant "May the unseen, be seen" until we reach it. This I did. I must say it was awesome to see this pyramid right in the middle of agricultural land...

This pyramid is one of eight around the world - all in line with each other on vertices. To find out more about the project, GOOGLE 'Soul of the World.' This particular pyramid was built by a Molokai artist, who was well known for his wood working artistry. It is a very spiritual place and actually has been there for some time. It was the first time I had heard of it. I was blessed to have done so. Coming and going from the pyramid, we passed a volcanic rock with a round white stone with a hole in the middle...

And then the sunset was upon us...

Kat was flying in on the 27th, but in the evening, so Marty and I drove down to Halava Valley to see the beaches, which are wonderful and walkable and small. To get there is a winding twisting drive down a paved one lane road. Those coming up have the right of way, and there are many places where you cannot see if anyone is coming, so I would honk the horn to let people know we were coming. Also these signs were posted periodically along the road...

Here is another picture through the barbed wire of Turtle Rock with it head showing...

The Hawaiian Goose or Nene is Hawaii's state bird...

And along the side of the road, a little Christmas in the tree...

We stopped at the overlook...what a beautiful view...

From here we could see both waterfalls deep into the valley, but my pictures really weren't very good.

We reached the bottom, and as we were driving to the parking lot we came upon a very sweet little church...

There is a sign which welcomes everyone, and says that the church is open all the time and anyone may use it to pray, to rest, to sleep. Aloha spirit is all over this island. We needed to use the facilities before walking to the beach, and when I came out Marty called to me to come look at something...this is what she wanted me to see...

It was placed there on the table deliberately and no one touched it. We just took pictures. What a beautiful creation. Another Aloha spirit at work.

There was also a sign on the wall, telling about the water in Halawa Valley...

One beach was across a couple of streams, from a river flowing to the sea. Little kids "keiki" were playing in them, moms sitting watching them. A couple of older teenagers took boogie boards out to ride the wonderful waves coming in. We didn't go there because we actually couldn't find the road to get there, and Marty didn't want to cross in the water. So we went to the other beach close by...

As I walked to the beach I came to a fire pit where obviously there had been a party for Christmas, as this beer bottle was nicely placed next to it wishing everyone Mele Kalikimaka...

The beach was sandy and easy to walk and bordered on both sides with lava rocks washed by the sea and pocked marked so images pop out at you...

This image is real, complete with teeth. We wondered what it was when alive. Anyone have any ideas?...

I did get a fairly decent picture of one of the waterfalls, albeit a distant photo...

A glimpse through the trees at the rivers flowing out to the ocean...

I loved these flowers but have no idea what they are. The purple ones look like a cross between violets and morning glories. The red ones are on a tree or a large bush, and look kind of like the lipstick plants...

This wonderful tree stump is one where I saw many things - faces, animals, etc...

We drove out of the valley and stopped at our condo to regroup, and then drove to the airport to pick up Kat, who was already there to our surprise! In Honolulu, a plane to Molokai was leaving, and they told her to get on it...not an uncommon thing. We grabbed something to eat and drove back to the condo.

The entire time we had been on island, we passed a wonderful goat by the side of the road. I told Marty that at some point I was going to stop and take a picture of him. So on our last day we drove down to that Billy Goat and took pictures...not only of him, but of Nanny, who was about a house lot from him, also on the road. She got up and got on her rock and posed for us. Billy just posed and posed and talked to us the entire time.

On our side of the road, were more goats in pens, and this very interesting plant with its flowers gone and the seed pods...anybody know what this is?...

The 29th came, and with it our departure from Molokai. We took our car to the rental place at the airport, checked our bags, and waited for our plane to Honolulu. When the flight was called, we walked out to a tiny prop plane, with eight seats - eight people filled the seats, and our pilot, a woman, talked to us about safety and asked if anyone had any questions, and then off we went. Into the clear blue sky...thirty minutes later we were in Honolulu, and walking to Alaska Airlines, and our next plane. At 11:30 PM Will and Jill picked us up in San Diego. Back to traffic, noise, lots of people, stores, freeways...it is always a jolt coming home from a vacation, but coming from Molokai with no stop lights, one main highway across the island, two grocery stores, two gas stations, cars that are used until their last gasp, and friendly smiling people with warm hugs and Aloha in their hearts, it is a major jolt. But here we were back on the mainland. The question I asked myself was "Why?"

For reasons I cannot explain, I am finishing this on Monday, January 9th, 2012! I am going to close this blog, and write another one about our adventures with Phil at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which now has a new name, but I can't remember it.

A hui hou,
I love you all,
Sally