Maui - Day Three

This was a full and fun day. Even though there was a 50% chance of rain, the day turned out sunny and nice. After breakfast we started out with a long walk along the boardwalk. This picture was taken at the Westin which is just South of where we're staying.

One of the things we like about the place we're staying is the thoughtful design of the swimming pools.

First there is a general pool that is used by everyone.

To the right of this pool, behind the restaurant on the right above are the children's pools. There are several including one with a water slide. There is an attendant at the top to make sure the children go down one at a time and to be sure the previous child is clear of the slide. There is even a hot tub.

Finally, on the other side of the children's pool is a winding, adults pool. Kids can use it with their parents, but there are signs asking that this section be a quiet, restful place.

In the afternoon we drove down the West coast of Maui. We discovered that our friends, Tammie and Mark, who have a cattle ranch in Northern California, are also in Maui. We visited with them at a beach close to where they were staying.

While we were there we noticed a whale doing fin slaps on the water where the whale raises it's fluke high up into the air and then slaps it down into the water. We also noticed there was someone on a paddle board who was close by.

We didn't realize how close he was until we saw this picture.

We're going to meet Mark and Tammie again on Sunday morning and go to the local United Methodist Church for their service.

All in all a good day.

 

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Maui - Day Two

Our second full day in Maui will probably be the best - weather-wise. It was sunny and beautiful all day and into the night. More rain is forecast for the remainder of our time here, but that's in God's hands so we're not concerned.

We started our day with a walk around Lahaina, the main city on Maui's West coast. It's the ancient capital of the kings and was a popular whaling center during the 1800's. We encountered some interesting folks during our walk, a dog having fun in the ocean and a tremendous Banyan tree in the main park.

We're not sure what these gentlemen were looking for in the water.

We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants - Aloha Mixed Plate.

We came back to our room at Honua Kai and watched boats and whales in the water.

In the evening we enjoyed walking around the resort.

A good second day.

 

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First Day on Maui

We arrived yesterday, Tuesday, and it was raining when we checked into our hotel, the Honua Kai on Maui. Today it was raining when we first got up. We have a nice studio room on the sixth floor. If you look close you can see Betty waving from our lanai (balcony).

After breakfast we took a walk on the beach. The rain had stopped for the most part.

The flowers in Hawaii are always beautiful all year round.

The sun came out around lunch time and we had lunch at the restaurant on the beach - Duke's.

This is the view from our room.

We closed out our first day with wine (a Reisling) and cheese and crackers while we watched the sunset.

A good first day. There is more rain forecast for the next week while we're here, but we had a decent first day.

 

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Go West Young Man and Woman!

If you read this on Tuesday Betty and I are on US Airways heading West - first to Phoenix then from there to Maui, Hawaii. We'll be there for a little over a week checking out a new place to stay, the Honua Kai, that might be a place we hope to take Wade, Marie, Juliet and Leah in a few years when the girls are old enough to enjoy it.

Along with the Go West theme, here's a video from last Sunday morning when we rode Morgunn and Sugar in the back.

The first half of the video is Betty working with Morgunn on the basics - riding circles, asking for turns, etc. Ice skaters would call this work the Compulsories. During the Winter when it's cold we spend what riding time we have keeping them tuned up on these basics.

The second half of the video is Sugar and Morgunn rolling after the ride. They both have distinct preferences. Morgunn likes to roll in the heavier graveled section whereas Sugar likes to roll in the softer, sandier areas. Also, being a lady, she's always takes more time to get into her roll. I guess she's a little pickier than Morgunn about where she rolls.

Sunday Riding from Dan Cooksey on Vimeo.

I hope to be able to post a few times while we're in Hawaii and share some of our pictures and video.

Be safe, stay warm and it's OK to get into the cookie jar since it's so cold.

 

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Monday Video - Camp Fido

I have no idea what Camp Fido is, but watch this pack of many breed dogs enjoy a fresh two feet of snow.

Enjoy.

 

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Sunday Reflection - Enjoying the Ride

Betty and I rode Morgunn and Sugar in the back this morning (we're going to church on Thursday nights).

During the Winter about all we can do is work them on the basics and our back lot is great for that. We have enough room, about 3/4 acre, to work them on the basics and also to bring them up to a gait for exercise and muscle memory development.

Horses are a great example of the quote above. They live in the present. They don't hold onto the past. Betty and I have made so many mistakes with them in our learning journey yet they don't hold that against us. What we do at the moment is good enough for them.

Horses never worry about the future, unless it's the next time they're supposed to be fed. The idea of tomorrow and what it might bring is not on their radar. They just trust that tomorrow will bring food, rest and companionship.

Horses are also great mirrors. If we look for it, we can see ourselves in them. If we're calm and confident they're calm and confident. If we're stressed and worried, they're stressed and worried. Our present becomes their present.

Right now we're enjoying the ride. We don't know what tomorrow will bring - good or bad. If we worry about what tomorrow might bring we miss the grace and gifts of today, the present.

Have a good day.

 

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Saturday Funny - Go Granny

I found this yesterday and had to share it. Watch closely as this little old lady gives an obnoxious Mercedes driver a what-for.

Go Granny!

 

 

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Friday Funny - Modern Surgery Humor

This speaks for itself. Enjoy.

 

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Monday Video - First Snow Day

No, not here in New Mexico. It's still sunny and about 50 degrees each day.

Here's a great video of two little California girls experiencing their first snow day while visiting family in Vermont.

Enjoy.

 

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Sunday Reflection - Useful vs. Beautiful

I have a lot of tools for working around the house, including most of the tools in the picture to the left. When I use them they are very useful. When I'm finished they get put away and I don't give them any more thought. Have I ever considered them beautiful? No.

I also have several tools I use with my horse, Sugar -- a saddle, a dressage whip (which is used as an extension of my hand and not as a whip in case you're wondering), a halter and lead rope, and a bit and bridle similar to the one in the picture to the left. When I use them they are very useful. When I'm finished they get put away and I don't give them any more thought. Have I ever considered them beautiful? Yes, actually I have. There is a beauty in leather workmanship that's easier to see than in mass produced products like my home tools above.

Yet, if I stopped to think about my home tools i can think there may be beauty there that I have been missing. The beauty is not in the design necessarily, yet each one is perfectly designed for it's use. The beauty is in idea of the designer, the person who first conceived the idea of that particular tool - how it may be safer to use, more efficient to use, more effective to use. There is a creative beauty behind almost everything we use if we stop and think about it.

It's easy for me to think of prayer to Jesus as a tool. Many, if not most, of my prayers to Jesus are requests - requests for safety, requests for healing, requests for someone's life to be changed and on and on.

Jesus be useful to me. I need, I need, I need...

There's nothing wrong with those prayers and we're asked to bring all things to him in prayer.

Yet, am I missing something when I think only of Jesus as someone who is just useful to me?

Is Jesus merely useful to you — or is He ultimately beautiful to you? When Jesus is merely useful to me, I want Him to move my world. When Jesus is ultimately beautiful to me, it’s my heart that is moved – and this begins to change the world. (Ann Voskamp, A Holy Experience Blog)

When I stop and think about the things that are useful to me I can find a beauty in them that has eluded me and I believe my world is slightly expanded by that insight.

When I stop and see, focus on and appreciate Jesus as the ultimate beauty in my life, my world is greatly expanded. My eyes, both human and spiritual, are opened and I see the world in a different way.

I can even begin to see beauty in a hammer - and maybe even a garbage disposal ;)

 

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