Tsunami Feb 27 2010 - A day to remember

What an event! I have been trying to formulate all the events of the day in my mind so that I can relate our experience to you. The pictures show the beach about 2 hours before the tsunami was to hit - not a soul around. And absolutely beautiful. Hot, sunny, calm waters, whales coming close to shore and waving their pectorals at us.....folks gathering in Unit 504 to view the impending waves...and a tiny bit of fear of the unknown - the what ifs...

The second picture shows the boats from the harbour sitting waiting to ride out the waves.

The sunset picture is that evening.

It was also a day of extra low tides due to the full moon (14th since Gord's stroke).

We were woken up at 5am when Dale called to ask if we needed any help. I replied "what for"? and Dale said they were just told to evacuate at Maalaea Surf due to the tsunami. I knew about the earthquake in Chile but apparently after I went to sleep that night Hawaii decided to activate the tsunami warning system and clear the shorelines. When I got my head clear and listened to the news, they said vertical evacuation was also going on which means that if you are in a concrete building and above the 3rd floor it is ok to stay where you are. This alleviates the pressure on the highways with all the cars moving to high ground etc. OK so that's fine, I filled everything I could with fresh water, assessed our food supply, proceeded to make coffee and toast and get on with the day. Gord was great - very calm - very resigned to our situation - we looked at each other and kind of said if this is IT, it's ok. Great space to be in. Anyway, back to coffee and toast. After turning up the freezer and fridge controls in preparation for a power outage (supposed to get cold as possible to hold if power is out for a few days) I got the cream out to put in the coffee. Guess what -it curdled - I have not had that happen for as long as I can remember. Darn - we love our cream so I decided to walk to Sugar Beach store to see what he had for cream. People were hauling bags of water bottles out etc. and there actually were some cartons of cream available much to my surprise. I checked the date - which I always do- and I could not believe my eyes. Feb 23, 2010....it was now Feb 27th. I left the store empty handed and went home to finish preparations of moving my kayak to the roof. With still about 1.5 hours to wave arrival I thought I would walk down to the ABC store and see if they had cream. In a crisis I really need a good cup of coffee so I was on a mission.

Well, that walk to the store was the most desolate walk I have ever taken. The road had been closed to traffic because we are in "the zone", all the buildings had been evacuated and the parking lots were empty, and of course the store was all closed up. I should have known but I am glad I had the chance to see and feel the emptiness and desolation. I decided to get onto the beach to return home and OMG it was absolutely beautiful. Wide open perfect sandy beach - and HUGE - more sand exposed than I have ever noticed. The thought passed through my head that uhoh maybe the big wave is coming early and the water is sucking back...I walked quickly on a deserted beach excited and yet a little bit scared. When I got back to Kealia, I watched the news and apparently we were experienced an negative tide due to the full moon. It was not the tsunami - yet.

We had visitors coming in and out of our unit on the front of the building to hopefully witness this big event. The most we saw was the water drawing back more than usual and then surging forward more than usual in a most unthreatening way. All in all it was very calming.

While all this was going on on the beach I was fielding phone calls from the KMart parking lot from Dale and Norm who were waiting to get to the Airport to fly out at 3pm. (They eventually successfully got out) and calls from Calgary airport from friends trying to depart on Air Canada for Maui. I will find out today if they made it.

Back to coffee and toast.....after the all clear signal was made about 1:30pm I drove (after Larry brought my truck back from the church parking lot up the hill) to Foodland to see if they had fresh cream. Once again, I found a few cartons and checked the date. I thought I was in a time warp or something because the date on the cream read: Mar 03 2007. I shook it and it seemed good so I asked the cashier if this was a joke....she was surprised too.

Happily I just put some in my coffee this morning while watching the most spectacular rainbow out our front window - and it is just fine. All is good. Back to normal. The NEW normal.

BUT I am still not emptying out my stored water supply - yet. We could hear that siren again.

Gotta get some candles.

And keep the truck filled with gas.

And keep a good supply of water bottles.

These are the things we need to think about. What I did not know was that Maui automatically shuts down the sewage plant in the event of a tsunami warning (because it is in low lying terrain) and the power plant goes to minimal output so we are told not to use water, or power if possible.

We were lucky. We ARE blessed with good luck. We are in a very beautiful place on earth. We are happy. We have amazing friends.

WHAT A RIDE!

Lots of love

Sheila and Gord

For those who could not view the video here are the pictures that were used- taken by Kevin - and the lady on the right standing on her lanai is the author of the Whale Tail - Melva

A Whale Tail

Well, here it is ...finally....the tale told of a beautiful day in Maui when a very brave guy named Gord accepted an offer from his friends to go out in an outrigger canoe for his first paddle since his stroke. His progress has been all uphill since, I am happy to report! Thank you to Melva who was so inspired to write this tale.

A Whale Tail

Iao was becoming very impatient. It seemed he had been traveling for years in this moist red-lined boat. Okay, maybe he should be a little more patient as his mother swam from Alaska to Hawaii.

I know, he thought, I will just do some exercises to pass the time of day. So he began to bounce from right to left. His mother, Lia, began to moan and groan as her baby made the journey miserable.

Down came her pectoral fin against her enormous grey body. Oh, I hope I make it to Ma'alaea Bay. She had been calved there four years earlier.

Lia had a vivid recollection of the human activity in the area. They exhibited such unpredictable behaviour. Some would yell and point from whale watch boats. Others, as in Kealia Resort, were so excited when mother's and calves practiced their breaches, tail slaps and pec slaps. Most of all she knew all humans liked the feeding times of the calves.

The journey came to it's end after thirty hours or so. Lia was happy to be in the warm waters of Ma'alaea Bay. Oh!! Wow, that pain was even more persistent now. Iao was ready for his delivery into the world. The new escort was already at hand. She felt that life was becoming more hectic.

Lia contemplated how she could teach Iao, such a determined calf, to have patience. He always headed for the whale watch boats with great curiousity. His energy was so great she wanted to channel it in the most constructive way. After all it would not be long before he would have to swim to Alaska.

The lesson would soon be learned. It was a beautiful morning in February. The sun had crept over the giant warrior of Mt. Haleakala dressed in his light blueish purple coat. Light pink clouds were floating over Ma'alaea Bay announcing a great day as they slowly moved towards the West Maui Mountains.

There was a commotion occurring on the beach of Kealia Resort. A large blue, white and red canoe was being pulled ashore by a group of very excited men. Some humans were standing nearby with cameras. Others were on their lanais and all were wrought with great anticipation.

All eyes were on a tall dignified man with a halting gait as he walked toward to the canoe.

"What's happening Mom?" asked Iao. "I know this man" Lia said. She would have smiled if she could, instead a large spout broke forth from the ocean. His name is Gordon and he has a great love of the outdoors. He loves the ocean and canoeing with his friends.

Last year he became very ill and was airlifted home. He returned to Hawaii with great determination to relearn some of the life skills he lost. He is a great role model for many humans.

As Gordon and his friends were in the ocean Iao said "Let's go welcome him" and off they went. The energy was great in the water and many whales felt it. They also were close to experiencing a ritual of healing. Many humans watching had tears in their eyes. You see, it was a gift of life shared among mammals.

Iao felt a tear come to his eye and plop into the ocean. "Thanks Mom for all your love and teaching" he said. I think I really like that Gordon, he is brave.

View presentation on Feb 19th post

To see Kevin's presentation please refer to Feb 19th post and click on the paragraph "here" underlined.
Enjoy
Story coming next.
S.

2nd Canoe outing today

The whales came to visit once again as the Maui Canoe Club took Gord out this morning. The picture here is just one of the giants breaching. At times there were 2 and 3 all doing this at the same time. Gord's canoe was just behind the sailboats. Absolutely thrilling for all who were watching this morning. Another picture I am enclosing is showing the canoe in the early morning light as they approached the beach. I thought it looked beautiful framed by the foliage.

I want you to know once again I have the "village" helping me put a beautiful presentation done by Kevin on the blog. You can view it here. That day of the first canoe outing also inspired a wonderful story that was written by Melva who witnessed the whole event from the 6th floor penthouse. I have her permission to write it on the blog. This will be done in the next day or so.

Enjoy. We are.

Love

Sheila

Tennis anyone?

We did it. Another first. On Valentines Day Gord delivered his "kisses" to all the girls at the Kealia and Maalaea Surf Resort AND hit the tennis ball with Norm and Dale and Sheila. It was a full day....so here are the pictures of tennis.

Enjoy

Love

Sheila

The week in review

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Today we are going to try another first .... tennis....I will take pictures ...

The pictures I am sending are showing our visit with Geoff, Kim and grandson Jack. What a great time we had .... and now I am sorry I did not take more pictures. When I downloaded the camera I was shocked to see how few I actually took.

I am also sending a snapshot of how we spend our days, eating, greeting, visiting .... someone has to do it!

The shot of Kevin and Cheryl over at Maalaea Surf where Norm and Dale are staying was taken when Kevin and Cheryl surprised Gord with a vist. It was heartwarming to have our friends from the lake make a special trip to see us and witness the canoe paddle as well. Good timing.

Since today is Valentine's day I have picked up some candy kisses for Gord to give out to all the ladies on the beach. This is a tradition he has had for many years and hopefully he will feel up to it once again. He missed last year and we heard about it!!!

All in all things are going well...progressing very slowly and getting a little frustrating for Gord I think. I am hoping to search out some more help in the therapy area to see if we can get him feeling better about his current situation. I just give thanks every day when that sun comes over the mountain and we can see and feel the beauty that surrounds us. It is very uplifting ..... I cannot imagine what I would have done with day after day of rain - so thank you to the powers that be for giving us such great weather! AND such great friends.

Love to you all......

Sheila and Gord

Feb 5 2010 - Gord paddling a canoe

Who would have believed it! On Feb 5th 2010 Gord's canoe club arranged to come and pick him up on the beach in front of our condo at 7:20am. Gord could hardly sleep the night before - he didn't want to sleep in and miss it...

These pictures tell it all. To our surprise...especially Bob, Gord asked for a paddle as soon as we got him into the canoe. We all kind of looked at each other and went ...well, ok, let's try it and Bob gave him his paddle. Off they went and there was Gord contributing to the team - paddling with one arm. I went out in my kayak behind the canoes but soon realized there was no way I was going to catch up so I just floated around with my hydrophone in the water and lo and behold the whales were so loud it was amazing. I looked up and Gord's canoe was sitting right beside a 42 ton humpback whale. They were about 10 feet from it! And that was not the only one...all around us they were popping up .... quite a greeting for Gord. There were lots of tears ....

And then to top it all off, when they successfully manoeuvered back onto the shore, Carlos came up to me and told me Gord was counting the Hut Ho ....they go about 12-15 strokes on each side and then on command the paddlers change sides. Another great feat.

The pictures may not be in order.....use your imagination. The young man and younger man you see in some pics is our son Geoff and his son Jack - our grandson. They are here for a visit and getting to witness these firsts.

Also notice the help this guy gets from his friends. Awesome.....