January 25, 2015 {25/365} Tiki

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Saint Augustine

This tiki is the Hawaiian god of love and happiness. We bought him on our honeymoon nearly ten years ago to guard over our home and remind us to take time to enjoy life. The photos that share his shelf also remind us that every once and while, we need a change of scenery, whether near (Cana Island Light, Door County - center photo) or far (the palms of Waikiki Beach - left or the monuments of Paris - right). It's always around this time of year when the holidays are over, the days are shorter and colder (and this year, bleaker without a cover of fresh, white snow), that I start to feel restless. Time to turn another page.

February 27, 2014 Photo: "Aloha"

Tiny Hawaiians in the Milwaukee Public Market sang to me of their Polynesian homeland

of coconut palms and powdery sand, of salty waves and technicolor sunsets.

Their siren song transported me back...

to the luxurious beaches of Waikiki, where the shadow of Diamond Head

cast just enough shade to shelter me from the tropical sun;

to a cocktail "sailing" cruise...

along the vibrant cliffs of Kauai's Napali Coast...

to the fearful exhilaration of a helicopter without doors...

fluttering amid jagged canyons and cascading waterfalls;

to shark-startled snorklers and lungs filled with saltwater;

to the lush Fern Grotto where natives serenaded us with Elvis' Hawaiian Wedding Song...

As the savage Polar Vortex continues to punish us with vicious sub-zero temperatures, biting winds, and threats of even more snow, I can't decide whether this mini mental holiday provided brief solace from the wicked Wisconsin winter, or exacerbated my need for a change in latitude.

A hui hou kakou, Hawai'i!

("Until we meet again!")