Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

We have mold.

Our teak dining room table that we got from our dear, dear friend Lois, when she Transitioned, has mold growing on it. This is not the first time the fuzzy stuff has visited the table, but it is the most pronounced growth it has ever had. When we lived in Nu‘uanu, next to a stream, mold would sprout up on the table whenever we would travel and not use the table daily. We would simply wipe the mold off and it would be fine until the next time we traveled away from the house. Right now the table is on the land in Kurtistown and we are staying in Hilo and not using it everyday so the mold spores are having a field day.

It's interesting how Kim and I find ourselves living in these very damp environments. A little over ten years ago, our Honolulu Chiropractor suggested that we live in a dry place. He thought it would be better for our over all health. What do Kim and I do? We move to Puna, one of the wettest areas in the United States. We move back to Honolulu after a couple of years on the Big Island and move to of all places Nu‘uanu, one of the dampest places on O‘ahu. And now we are back on the Windward side of Hawai‘i Island. There is something about lush greenery that is attractive to Kim and I. We have a high regard for our chiropractor's opinion, but on this one he may have been wrong, our health has been really great.

Kim and I have been doing a lot of shopping the last few days. We've been getting stuff we need to start living out on the land full time. We've been getting a real good sense of what's available at the different hardware stores and camping supply stores in Hilo. We spent almost a good hour in the flash light and lantern aisle of one store trying to figure out what lighting options would be best for us. Should we go with propane lanterns or rechargeable LED lanterns? How many flashlights do we need? Should we buy the crank flashlight with the radio feature or stick with the well known Mag flashlights? How much power do you think we'll get from our small solar panel set up?

There were so many questions we asked about the logistics of lighting our living space that we never asked when we could simply plug a lamp into a socket and flip a switch. Will we need all of this light that we bought while we are out on the land? Our friend Josh, who lived without electrical power while he helped build his mom's house in Kona, once advised us that he didn't think we would need most of the stuff we think we need while we lived out on the land. He said that when he was living without electrical power, his body adjusted to the natural rhythms of the environment. When it got dark, he went to sleep. When the sun rose he got out of bed. It seems like a healthier lifestyle.

I'm looking forward to moving away from many of the modern conveniences that I have gotten used to. It will be pleasant to get in touch with the natural rhythms of my body. I bought a tool today called a weed whip. It's a double edged blade attached to a three foot long wooden handle. It kind of looks like a golf club with a long rectangular head. I'm planning on using it to cut the grass around the cabin to make sure the driving paths and the walking paths are clear. So I'll walk around our living area with the weed whip and take whacks at the tall grass. The guy at the hardware store looked at me like I was crazy and tried to lead me to the motorized weed whackers when I asked him questions about the weed whip. There are so many advantages to using the weed whip. I won't be burning any fossil fuels. I'll get a workout every time the grass needs to be trimmed. The weed whip was $18 versus a few hundred for a weed whacker. The weed whip has no mechanical moving parts that may need repairs. And best of all, will be the quiet I'll experience while cutting the grass. I have this beautiful sense of hearing only the weed whip swish through the air as the chore gets done. It'll be so much more calming on my nerves than blazing through the job with a motorized weed whacker, moving at a pace that doesn't give me the time to enjoy the process.

We still have a few more things to shop for in order for us to be ready for the land. Kim and I had been trying, with no success, to find some kind of teak cleaner to get rid of the mold on Lois' table. At Home Depot one of the clerks took us through this whole process of using a chemical cleaner on the table, then sanding the table down, and finally putting a polyurethane finish. It all seemed overwhelming. We were nervous about doing such a major operation on this table, because it is so important to us. When Lois gave us the table, she had visions of us growing as a family around the table and so do we.

Lois was the epitome of simplifying one's life. I remember she had this amazing practice of not allowing anything new in her house until she got rid of something old from the house. So sometimes she would have something new she bought sit in her car for weeks before she found something old in her house to get rid of. Lois has had such a profound impact on our lives. We just love her and miss her so deeply. She was such a calm soul who always made Kim and I feel so safe. To Bodhi she will always be Grandma Lois.

The Home Depot clerk's advice seemed too drastic to us. We followed our intuition and put all the products she handed to us back on the shelves. As I put back the can of polyurethane, a big, burly guy with a really thick goatee leans into me and asks in a whisper, "You know anything about this stuff?" He pointed to a whole array of cans on the shelf. I whispered back to him, "No, but the clerk could give you a good run down on the stuff." Why did we whisper to each other? It's as if we didn't want to jeopardize our manliness by not knowing about something in a hardware store. Why do we complicate life that way? It was pretty funny.

Kim later spoke to a teak dealer here in Hilo and he gave us a much simpler process for cleaning the teak. We will follow his advice. From the ether Lois is probably looking at us and laughing and thinking that the table is just impermanent stuff. She'd be right. It is just stuff, but we love it.

We will nurture the table the way Lois has nutured us.