Front Porch `Aha Update #1: A Blurrr, Breeze and Whistle

Pay attention to what you long for and what you fear to lose. Those conditions are uncomfortable, but they have a great deal to tell us about what will ultimately serve our best fortunes. Venus trine Jupiter is too much sweet excellence to waste. Figure out what is worth keeping and what stands in the way of full enjoyment. And for Venus-sake, lay off the latter.- Satori

A bit of Mokihana Ramble: It's been one week since our first Front Porch `Aha out at the South Whidbey Tilth. Wow! What can happen when you blast, launch new rockets from old places of settlement, and "dare to split your pants learning to skate (at 70, or whatever age/stage)." In this seven day stretch of time the `Aha -- the gathering of people, ancestors, intentions/dreams/wishes and place, is teaching us what it wants of us. The "Hinged Question" is truly a theme that connects.

First, there is that uncomfortable blur: no focus, what?, those colors don't look right; my fixed nature resists. Pete told me on our Sunday road trip yesterday, "I'm gonna but my meter on you?"

I snapped, I was a real snapping turtle yesterday. "What meter?"

He said from behind the wheel, "The one that tells me whether the mice have chewed through the wiring, or not. Is there a close loop of electrical current?"

The whole picture of that metering wasn't clear to me, but, I got it anyway. I was overwhelmed, and undergrateful (you won't find that word in a dictionary). I was stuck.

Somehow we both knew we needed to take this Sunday road trip though I had few spoons to spare, we did it. We needed to continue seeing and being with others, others who are are supporters our 'aha (the rope the measures). At West Beach we stopped to return the nutcrackers subbing as crab crackers that our friends Terri and Martin brought to the `Aha. Along with those nutcrackers they brought our first red envelope filled with currency ... greenbacks and heartfelt good wishes and faith in our dream.
We sat and chatted, I drank a cup of minty tea with honey, and we talked of dreams, scheming, and the quality of a loving community that is the essential ingredient.

We stayed just long enough to share time and space and more thoughts about solutions to our questions about getting us home to Hawaii. Before we left their deck we spotted the beauty of a setting olepau, the waning half-half moon leading up to the New Moon later this week. Reminder: no new projects or activities during the 'ole phases. Aw, yes. Giving thanks though, there is time for that, anytime yeah?!

Our road trip was not yet complete. One more stop a few miles further north to visit and support another pair of friends with a dream to pack up and move across those eight seas of Hawaii. Our friends Maurine and SR were having a vintage yard sale. We drove the distance to be their `aha, and Pete brought a fresh unopened jar of coconut oil. "You can never have enough coconut," SR said when she saw the jar.

"How do you guys use it?" She wondered.
"We eat it, cook with it. Use it in place of butter." And there is more ... Moki thought.
"Okay I'll put it on my toast." SR decided, smart lady.

By the time we headed south, before the grinding machines began their highway road work, we were tapped out and overwhelmed. The futon and covers in the vardo called my name, I took a shower and climbed in for a restoring nap. While I did that, Pete was struck -- a transformative Plan C ... a simpler version of Plan A and Plan B. It's a Plan California sort of plan that involves us becoming more and more mobile and driving south to Oakland where we drive our new to us truck hinged/hitched to Vardo for Two onto a barge headed for Hilo. There are details to come, but the hope of something we can manage (with help from our `aha) gave us new `ikaika strength and `ike understanding.

We are trying out this new Plan C and like the feel of it, and this morning a sweet and gentle breeze came through the woods as I sat on the front porch. Another Front Porch `Aha. The whistle is mine, the tune is George Kahamoku's the lyrics Larry Kimura's E Ku'u Morning Dew. Link here to hear Uncle George Kahamoku and Uncle Led Kaapana playing slack key and singing E Ku'u Morning Dew.

Mahalo nui to all our `aha, and our front porch. xoxo

Committing to our greatest good

"The full moon in Sagittarius takes place in the morning on June 9th, 2017.  Deep down, you probably know what you want (and need) for your future in order to manifest your greatest good..." - Elsa P.

The winter just passed has been one of those harsh, and necessary, experiences for whittling down what is no longer working. Our chosen lifestyle that counts on the safety of a cozy and mobile nest of a bedroom has worked long enough to show us the benefits and limits of sharing space in an environment that includes (increasingly) cold and damp winters.  Vardo for Two is definitely built to accommodate us because she is made with materials that are non-toxic and tolerable; the windows and door are stout and seal out smoke and chemicals; our small Austin Air Filter cleans the air of pollen and pollutants; the electric heater we use is efficient and dependable; our ten year old organic cotton futon and bedding continues to serve us kindly with restorative sleep.

What we know we cannot manage over time is winter where we walk fifty feet to cook and eat and be in a space that expands our quality of life. We've done that and as Elsa P. puts it in her forecast for a Sagittarius Full Moon, "Deep down, we know what we want and need for our future in order to manifest our greatest good." We want and need to head for home -- Hawaii.

Like the kolea who fly back to Hawaii in November from the continental tundra of North America, we want and need to plan that journey ourselves. We have done this ocean crossing more than once in the twenty years Pete and I have been together. This time, we are older, our resources are different, and MCS/Environmental Illness creates limitations that require great agility and informed decision-making to address the blockages and challenges. It's a good sign, this full moon astrology. We know we have to keep doing what we are doing: consolidating what things we need, researching and budgeting getting Vardo for Two and us from Washington to Hawaii, and when we have done our homework we need to modernize our approach for securing funds and support.

FB and email communication with my family back home in Hawaii is one version of this modernizing to keep us flexible and resilient. The younger generation is keeping me updated, oh how I love that they do!! Between the traditional and the innovative we build our flight plans. Wish us good luck!! June is our month for keeping at what we have already begun: sort, separate and down-size (inside and out:) The June 9th Full Moon gives as a glowing target to count on. I'll keep track of our commitment and our progress here.

Down-sized! 

(from the Quonset Hut to a corner in the Hale next to the shower)

Consolidated stuff