I love Kona. I was just driving through the district of South Kona and it is so green and so very beautiful. When you drive south from Waikoloa Beach, driving through the lunar landscape which is the lava fields, you eventually pass Kona International Airport (KOA) to your right. The airport looks over the water as it is situated next to the ocean on the west side of The Island of Hawaii.

Driving into Kona you have all the joys and trappings of a smaller fishing town, population 11,900 at last census.  As you drive south through Kona you see the paths which lead toward the water. Many are marked “Shoreline Access.” You feel that internal yearning to go play in the water recalling days long past of childhood summers spent at the beach. You recall your best days with not a care in the world, laying on the beach, playing volleyball or frisbee, or just walking along the edge of the water, calmed by the rhythmic motion of the waves.

Heading further south as you transition from North Kona to South Kona the road turns from 2 lanes each way at 55 mph to 1 lane each and 25 mph as you enter the town of Kealakekua. You feel your car slow as you see the houses right on the road and businesses as well. There is no break. There is no set back. The plants have turned from grasses to bushes to trees encroaching near the road. Banana, coffee, and many other tropical trees you have never seen before.  Mesmerized, you sense by the size and feel of this road that it has been here for more years than you can count.  You can see in your mind’s eye what it looked like before it was paved.  You watch the street signs disappear.  The pavement gone and a wet, muddy, dirt jungle road appears in your mind as your heart delights in the beauty of the flowering plant life that adorns every corner of your vision.

You feel the temperature drop with a cool tropical breeze. Then comes the rain.  It’s a light rain. A gentle rain. A warm and comforting rain. You feel the trees’ gratitude for the rain… and you feel grateful. Grateful to the flowers for sharing their blissful scent and aroma. Grateful to all the trees for baring the flowers and for their rich green color and for simply being here. Grateful for the water which allowed the trees to produce the flowers which shared their magnificence. Most of all grateful to Akua, the creator, for creating all that is Hawaii.  Mahalo pu’u wai (thank you from my heart).

Mahalo

James Christopher

ThruJimsEyes.com