It’s another warm Saturday.
Today is all about the foxtail palm in a wheelbarrow. We tread our graveled journey with continual second-guessing and sweat-invoking details.
But now, peering upon Our Messy but Perfect Move to Maui progress through my scratched prescription sunglasses, our shoulders carry one less stressor—a neck-tall hurdle.
Hurdle News: We are one week strong as O’hana landlords. A completed space for the tenant to abide. Forward movement for our Maui project. We draw an easier breath, that labor now exhausted and freely discarded— at this seven-year-plan high-water mark.
I maintain a white-knuckled grip on my lukewarm coffee and will the dog-paddling— chin above the water on this newest phase.
Vigilant at the sliding glass door, I smile at the bushy palm plopped in a wheelbarrow by our unfinished pool. An interested gecko hesitates at the shade cast from the fronds.
Before lunch, in the backyard are two concrete form workers— one walks with a crutch and limp. The man wipes his brow and leans on his metal support. He precariously balances to reach a shovel as his partner piles gravel. They are hard workers, the lot. To infer this hobbler needs to sit would be a deep offense. A watchful eye at the pane— I’m a quick hand with ice water for the thirsty.
Inside the house? A young, tall sound system guy and a gentleman that works alongside Sam on interior trim. Each incremental task chisels at the wrinkled perpetual To-Do List.
Today this property is flush with hammers, saws, and rebar.
And the feisty palm in the wheelbarrow waves Hello at every warm gust— expectant roots to be buried deep in rich red dirt.
The foxtail nods reassurance and calms this weathered brain.
Breathe. Our plan is coming together— it’s messy. It’s perfect. It is Maui.
By Diana Warren
