Living in Hawaii – The Effects of Time

What does Princeville and Margaritaville have in common?

I’m not in Margaritaville, but I certainly know how Jimmy Buffet felt when he “blew out his flip flop!” This was a fairly expensive pair of sandals that had only been worn one other time, meanwhile, they were safely stored in the “crystal clear” shoe boxes in my custom closet. It was only after I put them on and walked 20 feet that they crumbled into what looked like black cake mix.

This exact thing has happened to me so many times I don’t even think about it anymore. The following day, I got ready for a Realtors Caravan and had on my green silk jacket and matching green silk shoes, which I had also lovingly stored in the same type of “crystal clear” shoe boxes in my custom closet. Was I surprised when half way through the day the bottom of the shoe opened up like a duck bill? No, I just I flapped my way right to the shoe store and bought a new pair of shoes.

After living on Kauai for over 15 years, this isn’t really all that unusual, however, because my sister from the mainland was here and was so thoroughly entertained by this, it got me thinking about all the other crazy stuff that happens here.

If you leave a rubber band anywhere for any amount of time it turns into a ball of goo. If it was holding anything together, forget about that, it’s gone. Paperclips rust in Hawaii, as does all kinds of other rust-proof stuff like stainless steel.

If you haven’t worn your swimsuit since last month (hardly ever happens here), you might feel elated to put it on and think you’ve lost weight because it’s falling off of you. Not so, the elastic has just disappeared. Do you know what a swimsuit looks like without elastic?

If you buy a box of envelopes and keep them for any length of time, you will be surprised to find they are all stuck together as if you have licked and sealed each and everyone of them by hand. These are all the things you have the joy of learning over the course of time as you live here.

The message is:

• Only buy what you need (not a pair of shoes in every color)
• Wear what you have (before it falls apart or disintegrates at an inappropriate time)
• Buy envelopes with the tear-off glue strips (or pay your bills and correspond online)
• Anything with metal of any kind will eventually rust (wood works pretty well here and is biodegradable)
• Anything with rubber will eventually turn to goo (are you sensing a pattern here??)
• Go to the beach more often

Hawaii is a wonderful place to live and play, but be sure you check out your running shoes before you leave the house…they may not carry you safely home. Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, it is my home and I love it!