HEALING IN HAWAII

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HEALING IN HAWAII

KONA APRIL 2022

In early 2022 I began thinking about my next trip and I started reading tours offered on a travel site called Rosie’s Responsible Travel. A 21-day camping trip on the African continent caught my imagination. I began working on the required visas and immunizations. Africa is so diverse and so big and I felt a little shaky about organizing my own trip, but an ordinary packaged tour felt too tame. I backpack so I have tenting experience and guests on this journey are expected to contribute and help prepare meals, and set up and tear down our own tents. The tour company changed my proposed trip to one that starts on my birthday. It is a big one…my 80^th. So the company announced my age on the paperwork, not that I am ashamed of my age. But they haven’t shared the ages of any of the other participants.

Then a month-long trip to Kona with a couple of my dance buddies came up. It sounded like fun. I don’t know the ladies well, but I am sure to know them much better by the time we get back. One of the ladies owns a condo there and wanted some company. I love to take underwater photos, so I was already dreaming about diving every day and taking all those photos.

And then real life happened. A week before Hawaii I went skiing with my son. We were on the final run of the day, around four o’clock. The light was changing and made it difficult to see the surface conditions. The run was very icy and I hit a small hummock, went flying through the air like a football tackler, and landed on the tip of my right shoulder. Hard. My son was urging me to get back up on my skis and I am freaking out thinking something is wrong. Have I dislocated my shoulder? I was terrified, imagining some big muscular guy jerking my arm back into the socket. People stopped to see if I needed help while I rolled around on the slope trying to find a way to get up.

Holding my right shoulder, with some outside help I managed to remove my skies and stand up. I turned the skis down the hill and stepped back into them. Someone had called Ski Patrol and they flew past us to a snowboarder a little farther down the mountain. So I carefully skied down to the end of the slope still supporting my right arm. My son helped carry my skis back to the car. After we got back to Monroe, I didn’t want to have him take me to the walk-in clinic, but when I got in my jeep it was clear I couldn’t drive with only one arm, so there was no choice.

X-rays. The doctor came out and said he was sorry to say I broke my clavicle, my first broken bone ever. It didn’t seem too serious. There wasn’t a lot of pain. Yet. He sent me home with a small soft sling. My Africa trip was four months away so I thought that should be time enough to heal. I continued going forward with those plans. But obviously putting on a scuba tank will not be possible next week. Oh, shucks! No scuba diving in Hawaii for me. And especially disappointing, no unlimited underwater photography.

The ladies were very kind and still allowed me to go on the trip to Kona. I minimized the injury, but it didn’t take me long to discover how many simple things are daunting when you have only one working arm. My daughter Lauren drove us to the airport, so she helped me load and unload my luggage. Clearly, I needed help after she left us. I got on and off the plane with my right arm tensely pasted to my chest.

We rented an SUV in Hawaii, so every car ride I had to struggle to pull myself up into the back seat. The condo was on the third floor and moving luggage, groceries, and beach accessories like towels, picnics, and beach chairs was a challenge at first, even with an elevator. My friends were so accommodating.

Once we were securely ensconced in our residence we developed a daily routine. Louise had her master bedroom, and Lou kindly gave me the spare bedroom, while she slept on the couch. It still feels unfair because it was a whole month, but Lou was happy because she took a long walk every morning and didn’t have to wake anyone when she left. I also walk daily for my exercise but initially started out as she arrived back at the apartment. After a couple of days, I woke earlier to coordinate our exercise and breakfast. Sometimes Lou and I met at a coffee bar on the beach right across the street after our walks. Louise would take a muffin and go down to the pool if she rose before we returned. After our walks, we all worked together to make a superb sit-down breakfast on the balcony and visit for a while.

Lou is an intrepid year-round water skier in the northwest. I am a scuba diver. Clearly, we are both water people. We quickly concluded that we would snorkel…every beach within an hour-and-a-half radius. Sometimes Louise would join us, but usually, Lou would make an easy lunch and we were off to another beach to snorkel for the early afternoon. Louise loved just baking in the sun by the pool. I just couldn’t give up the idea of underwater photos, so I carried my bulky, heavy camera to Hawaii. It remained in my room until our last beach day. In fact, I made fast friends with a green swim noodle which I hugged under my right armpit, to support my upper arm and assist my snorkeling.

Entries at almost every beach in Kona were treacherous with crashing, foaming waves at the water line, and areas of large jumbled rocks that had to be avoided. We had to inch sideways into the water until we were out past the wave zone. That wasn’t a problem for me. However, many children and some adults enthusiastically entered the water with a boogie board and often lost their grip on the board; it would fly erratically high into the air and drop on unsuspecting swimmers. The idea of one of those boards hitting my shoulder unexpectedly almost froze me with fear. (It never happened, thank goodness.)

When I reread my journal notes, I was astonished to see how many references I made about the pain I was in. I had completely forgotten the pain. I couldn’t understand why I needed a nap every afternoon and my friends did not. But of course, rest is a big part of healing. I just was embarrassed that I couldn’t keep up with Lou who is vibrant with energy, always. Besides my walk, I began to incorporate Tai Chi into my morning. I would walk until I needed a break and then find a quiet area looking out at the ocean and do two sets of Tai Chi. At first, I could hardly use my right arm at all so I improvised, just barely moving it. Slowly I improved so that by the time we went back to Seattle I was able to carefully lift my arm straight overhead, and out straight sideways as well. At home, I practically live in my car. Not driving for a month was the best thing I could have done to heal my shoulder.

After our afternoon snorkel, we sometimes shopped, We especially enjoyed the many thrift stores that Louise knew about. She purchased her condo 36 years ago and spends two months there every year so she took us sightseeing, too. Mostly, though we were homebodies. Lou was a good cook and we enjoyed planning our evening meals. After dinner, Louise and I would top off our meal with a small ice cream sundae with a splash of kaluah for dessert. Then Lou would read or text family and friends while Louise and I played a couple of games of cribbage or farkle. Louise enjoyed puzzles, and there was always one on the puzzleboard, waiting to be completed.

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Photos

YARD ART
I enjoyed taking photos of the clever and colorful designs gracing our neighbors' homes.

OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Thanks, Louise, for sharing your wonderful home with us.

THE POOL, VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY
We spent part of every day lounging, sunbathing and swimming here.

BEAUTIFUL KONA BLOOMS
Each morning, returning from my walk, I searched for the perfect bloom, blown off in the early morning. I took some back to the apartment to grace the breakfast table.

BOTANICAL GARDENS
We enjoyed driving here before or after trips for groceries...trees, shrubs, statues and flowers. Peace and tranquility.

OUR EXERCISE ROUTE
We passed many other walkers and joggers.

FANCIFUL GATES
Homeowners creativity makes me smile.

GYM WITH A VIEW
I often did my Tai Chi here.

GATE TO NOWHERE, OR ANYWHERE
Use your imagination. The condo is under new construction, perhaps adding another building. Clever to leave the gate, I think.