01/01/2020
Hilo Hawaii
Walking off the plane in Hilo after a long flight, the first thing I noticed was that the airport air was very warm and humid....this was mid-November, mind you. And as we made our way down and out the front door, a cacophony of chirping filled the night air. Not quite birds, but intense sounds I'd never heard before....tree frogs, I'd come to learn. And lots of them....loud enough that you had to raise your voice to be heard over them.
And just like that we were AWAY from home and the late fall weather and land we knew.
Here was where windows were kept open without screens, where geckos scurried in, out and around everything, and where the ocean roared all day and night long.
Where all vegetation appeared to be on steroids.
Where surfer's cars would line the road leading down to the surfing beach almost daily.
Where street signs resided with names that seemed a mile long.
And where rains would come with no warning, and would sometimes turn into ferocious storms that hastened the quick closing of those open windows.
And the beauty.
I won't soon forget our innsitting adventure in Hilo. And like so many other places this profession sends us, we savored the culture, the community, and experience of it all.
And we are truly grateful that this path we have chosen leads us to learn and hopefully grow.
