Maui living is remarkably different than mainland living. It took a bit of adjustment to get settled— a purposeful effort to slow our roll and breathe. We found island life to be casual and come as you are.
I’d never considered walking barefoot into a bank or grocery store, but it plays out daily. It’s common to find a shirtless, multi-tattooed guy standing before a bank teller as if he walked directly from the surf.
I noticed a similar shirtless, barefoot guy perusing the tool section of the hardware store. A beach towel was tightly wrapped around his waist as if he had stepped from the shower. I thought inwardly, what could this guy be in desperate need of that he would abandon all unwritten dress code for a tool? Da shower bust up (island lingo).
At the Grocery Store:
· It will become a quest to find powdered buttermilk, and good luck with the tartar sauce hunt.
· Watch for the freshest produce shipment stock and shop accordingly. After traversing the Pacific Ocean in a ship, the produce is not as fresh as the mainland.
· If the shelves are empty, don’t panic. Find something else to make for dinner. The shipment is on its way.
· Bagels remain half again as much on the island, and no one can explain why.
· The time to avoid Costco crowds: Mid-afternoons any day (the bulk of visitors arrive on-island). The best time to shop at Costco: Friday evenings.
Maui Notes to Self and Anyone:
· Do not run for the hills in a panic or look wild-eyed to bystanders when the tsunami test alarm blares at noon on the first workday every month.
· If you plant it, it will grow. Even if you don’t plant it, it will grow.
· Plug in the slow cooker and rice cooker outdoors. Indoor cooking heats the house in a hurry.
· Avert your eyes upon the sight of a string bikini or the Spandex tighties. The opportune time to build a sandcastle or umbrella adjustment until that specific beachwear is waist-deep in the ocean waves.
· Use bug killer— and lots of it on your property. Similarly, weed killer.
· Scooters are fantastic inventions. A basket at the back becomes helpful for hauling groceries or the beach bag. We’ve seen surfboards mounted to the side of mopeds.
· Banana trees will take over the yard. After harvesting a bunch of bananas, the entire bearing trunk gets cut off near the ground. You will sweat- it’s a tough job, and you may buy bananas at the store instead of tending the colossal tree. A plumeria tree, likewise.
· You can grow your pineapple from the leafed top of the one you just ate, but it takes a year or two.
· “Maui Midnight” happens around 9 pm. The residential streets grow quiet at dark o’clock.
· Don’t be alarmed at the massive pile of assorted flip-flops outside your door.
· There’s a vast community of residents from the mainland that haven’t yet built friendships on-island and have become socially starved.
· Share from your bounty or bake bread and share. Neighbors will reciprocate. I’ve been gifted avocados, limes, lemons, green onions, mangoes, bananas, oranges, sourdough bread, and for Easter Sunday, hot-crossed buns. One neighbor gave us plumeria trees that have grown huge.
By Diana Warren
