Settling in

We've been here a few days now and have accomplished a couple of things. Aside from finding wheels we went to the beach and got slightly sunburned, but we played in the ocean and got sandy so it was worth it. While there, I settled even deeper into (one of) my current book(s)-Infinite Jest. If you're not familiar with this book, it's massive. There was no way I could lay on my back and hold it over my head while on my drifting blanket because my hands would have tired and dropped it on my face. Instead I lay on my stomach and burned some really funky patterns into my back. Our initial beaching foray was to gorgeous Kua Bay which is a bunch of miles north of Kona. The water colors range from deep blue to an impossible turquoise and the white sand is nice and soft. When first I lived here, there was no road leading to this beach. You had to walk a mile or 2 across shade-less lava fields after which you landed on the white sand, and still could find no shade. Which made it a hot and sunburn prone beach (at least for pasty folk like me). It was also not very crowded. The first time we went there (4 of us) I think we were the only ones there for much of the time. Since then they've extended a road from the highway down to the beach and installed bathrooms, showers and shaded picnic tables. Which is not bad, but the crowds are a lot bigger.

What else have we done? Hmm. I guess not much. Today was our first day of work, and it was nice and easy. We spent a few hours plucking seeds from their protective casings for planting. We're working at a nursery and a lot of our work will be maintaining the amazing grounds. I'll take pictures eventually, but know that the accommodations are tremendous. For the next week we're house-sitting, so we're in a guest bedroom. One entire wall in the main room is covered with a bookshelf, there is a hot tub and a downstairs lounge area with wi-fi, comfy chairs and screens. Not to mention the lush surroundings. While we're here, we'll also be able to plcuk and eat the foods growing on the grounds which includes: guava, avocados, lilikoi, spinach, lemongrass, bananas, kale, green onions and...I think that's it. Rad.

The nursery is out a ways so it's quiet, but for the birds and bugs and quite serene. The ocean can be spotted through the trees and since we're 2200' up in elevation, the evenings are nice and cool (perfect for a hot tub!).