Kauai is home

  Our family of five has lived here for 16 years.  The kids were ages 7, 4, and 18 months when my husband and I left everything we had ever known and loved in Oregon and moved to an island 3,000 miles away where we knew no one.  Some people have told me how they think that is so brave.  I wouldn’t say I was brave because I was so scared, really.  We were just desperate for change, for healing, and we wanted to leave dark winters for a tropical place to grow avocados, papayas, and I somehow envisioned growing my own coffee.  Well, I haven’t gotten to the coffee plants yet but papayas galore and pomegranates oh my, yes we have!  We have hit some valleys in our time here in Kauai and it has definitely made our roots grow deeper in faith and some of those valleys turned acquaintances into full blown family.  We were accepted and loved on so well by our friends here, in a time that should have been a dark, I saw so much beauty on the horizon.

  Kauai is a healing place.  It is profound how at peace you can feel here just listening to the mourning dove coo, the Shama sings to his wife Shama mama, and the cardinal’s pip squeak chirps. The ocean sounds of course give you the negative ions that I’m told are converted into “posi vibes only” plus being immersed in salt water calms the body. 

The thing that I am really starting to observe and love about Kauai is the contrast.  Oh, the contrast is rich here.  The dirty asphalt gathers a puddle of rainwater but when you peek into that gross puddle you see the amazing clouds above your head and the dancing palms.  This lava rock wall on our 90 year old house is very dark but life is bursting out as this tiny fern creates it’s home in a crevice.  No rain, no rainbows!  So true.  Often the brightest skies are contrasted with the dark grey clouds that seem to cover the entire center of the island when storms roll through.  Kauai has a desert and a rainforest.  We have redwood trees in the mountains and then plumeria trees that lose it’s leaves to let you know it is winter.  I cannot wait for our retreat in January 2026 with Jeanne Oliver because there are so many beautiful things to see and I love seeing it through your fresh eyes. I’m hoping you can see the beauty in ashes, joy instead of mourning, a spirit of heaviness swapped with praise. 

Thanks for being on this journey with me,