The Big Island

Today, I swam with dolphins. There are not many days in my life that I anticipate being able to write that sentence, so I figured if there was ever a day to dust off my blog, it is today. I blame law school for the dormancy in my writing. It's hard not to blame law school for all things gone wrong in life. I think it is part of the 1L experience. Develop a healthy resentment for law school while continuing to almost completely buy into it. Oh, there is so much I could write about law school, but this post is about Hawaii, so that is where I'll spend my words.

Last Thursday, my 1L finals ended (no small feat), I sufficiently chillaxed for 24 hours, I then packed up for both Hawaii and a summer in Cincinnati, slept three hours, put on my best "I'm going to the islands" outfit, boarded US Airways flight 570 and 12 hours later met most of my family on the Big Island of Hawaii. I write the Big Island like I knew that was the official name before arriving here. And yes, you can travel 12 hours and still be in the United States. We'll chalk that one up to imperialism.

Whatever part of me was still digesting and coming down from the intensity that is finals fell into the Pacific soon after arriving. Maybe because this was the view from my bedroom.

And this is where we ate dinner...

 And because this was day two...

And this was day three...

There are few things that could be better after a year of reading 2,000 pages you never actually wanted to read than a Hawaii vacation. Let me take a minute right now to be grateful. It is not everyday, month, year, decade that one gets to go to Hawaii. I met a woman on my flight down here that had never been on a plane. She and her husband were celebrating his graduation from business school and their 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii. Hawaii is special. It is creme brulee. It is dark chocolate covered strawberries. It is bacon-wrapped dates. It is prosciutto and melon. It is a delicacy to be appreciated. And, oh am I appreciating this.

One surprising feature of the Big Island (pardon me for not doing a ton of research before arriving, I was learning Property) has been the vast fields of volcanic rock. There is no doubt that volcanoes are here. They leave their mark everywhere. The third day in Hawaii we went to Volcanoes National Park and hiked atop a petrified lava lake (pictured above). Hardened lava is not the most beautiful landscape. The beauty in it lies in the cracks and crevices. In the vegetation sprouting up. In the trees that have rooted. If the apocalypse comes, life will continue. I have no doubt.

After four nights on the rainy side of the island which really only meant light showers a couple of times during the day and magnificent thunderstorms at night, we drove around the perimeter to the west side. On our way we stopped in Ka lae or South Point--the southern most point of the United States. My family has thing for going to the end of the world, or the closest we can come to it. This place was one of those places. You know, the ones that Buzzfeed features in their "50 places you must visit before you die" or "25 ways to almost die and love it." Here, take a look.

Yea, that's a ladder coming out of the bluest water you've ever seen. And, yes, you jump 50 feet into that cove. My big brother, rock climber, lover of danger was the first to jump in. Naturally.

But, Katy and I weren't far behind. Well maybe a little far behind. Katy boldly approached the top.

And hemmed and hawed for about ten minutes. Ben patiently waited below. I, then, courageously offered to take her place. Upon looking over the edge, I announced confidently, "Nope, I'm not going to do that." With that, Katy and I surrendered. That is until we saw three guys come and easily jump off the cliff. Seeing that none of them died, Katy calmly walked up to the edge and without announcing her intention threw herself off into the water below. Perfect form. I had no choice. 15 seconds later I joined them. It was the best thing ever.


Our first full day on the Kona side of the island was spent celebrating Katy's birthday on a remote beach that required hiking a mile and a half over a lava field to an oasis of heavenly bliss, Makalaewena beach.

The pictures speak for themselves.

You may have noticed adorable children sprinkled throughout this post. One of the bigger joys of this first week in paradise (I don't use the word paradise lightly--this really is it), has been spending time with my three-month old niece, Justine, and two-year-old nephew, Oliver. Justine really just spends her days being cute and sleeping. I'm convinced she is going to be mad as hell at us when she is thirteen and has no memory of her trip to Hawaii. I can hear it now, "Why did you bring me to Hawaii before I could enjoy it?!" Oliver, who may also not remember this trip in the future, is thoroughly enjoying it nonetheless. His favorite things are throwing rocks, digging in sand, all things wa-wa (water) and kitchen appliances. He also has a strong affinity for tackling me. He has been working on his speech lately. His biggest accomplishment this week--replacing "deech" with "ba-ba-beach."

Now, back to those dolphins. This afternoon, my mom and I drove down to the "Two-step" snorkeling area. So-called because there is a natural volcanic ledge that allows for snorklers to easily take two steps and launch themselves into an underworld nirvana. There are not words that can begin to describe the coral caves and sea-urchin filled crevices, the bright yellow and striped fish, the baby sea turtles. It was the stuff Disney-pixar movies are made of. That would have been enough, but then the dolphins showed up. Or rather, they jumped up. They did 360 spins and flaunted all they had. Show-offs. They were a ways off from the shore, but other swimmers had gone out to meet them, so my mom and I decided to join. Soon, we were literally surrounded. Dolphins swimming below us, jumping above us. It was the kind of experience that makes you squeal in delight, no matter your age. At one point I literally shoved my mom's face in the water because I was afraid she would miss the sight. It was unbelievable.

This is just a taste of what has been a solidly good week. One of the best. The only thing missing--brother Adam and his wife Meredith. Adam couldn't get two weeks off of work (*cough, my dad is his boss, cough*). But they will be joining us in Kauai tomorrow for week two of this Hawaiian adventure. And now, a sunset.