There's a Reason They Call it Paradise

On this day last week, I woke up to this:




The mornings look like this:



The nights looked like this:



And pretty much all the time, we looked like this:



We were so happy to be there. So blissfully happy.

Oahu is so beautiful, at times I felt like crying. The sun, and the sand, and the waves rolling in, were almost too much. I've never really been to a tropical place, certainly no place like this, and it didn't take long for Chad and I to completely fall in love with Oahu. Suddenly, terms like "aquamarine ocean," and "lush vegetation," took on all new meanings; The vast expanse of ocean is an other- wordly blue green (aquamarine), the plants and flowers and other growing things, full and green and verdant and so exquisitely beautiful. Pictures don't even quite do it all justice.





Surrounding myself with these, I couldn't help but feel beautiful too. And happy.



There is a spirit in Hawaii, which is hard to explain precisely, but that I feel encompasses happiness, warmth, relaxed contentment. True carefree-ness. The spirit of aloha. Oahu as a location is so far removed from our real lives, that it was easy to leave all our worries behind. I didn't worry about anything that daily, constantly, relentlessly occupies my mind- children, laundry, food shopping and preparation, etc. etc. etc. We had no deadlines and no obligations. I didn't worry about anything. And the biggest decision we had to make was where we were going to eat our next delicious meal. And we were "we". I loved being with Chad so much. We were together all day long- there were no children or jobs or obligations to keep us apart. And he didn't ever get annoying to me- I loved every minute, I couldn't get enough. The sheer amount of time I spent with Chad was a vacation in itself. It was a delight in every way.

It was truly a vacation in paradise.

To be honest, I almost cried when we had to come back. Yes, of course, I wanted to see my children and friends again, and there is a different kind of comfort in the predictable routine of daily living, but... I had had such a good time. We both had. We were so relaxed and happy and carefree. And it was hard to leave that behind. I'm not ashamed to say that I've been listening to Hawaiian music almost every day since I returned, because it takes me back to Oahu in my mind. So many sweet memories. I don't want to forget. And I want to go back.