Some random observations from our time in paradise:
- Peter from Westchester, discernible accent from one county to the south, golf partner, who commented on the first tee that he couldn't get over how beautiful it is here. Seeing it fresh through his eyes… he's right.
- Mark, larger than life character with physical proportions to match, honeymooner from Atlanta, who tells everyone he meets that he's here on a mission to make a baby. (Told me that on his first night on island, further noting that his bride was in their room exercising to a "Buns of Steel" DVD.)
- An older couple who, during our first chat, explained that they had just joined the Neptune Society, and were trying to decide whether to plan their end-of-life ceremonies in Oregon or Switzerland… and leaning toward the latter (because of the chocolate and red wine offered on the day).
- A younger couple who consumes prodigous quantities of food at each and every available service in the Club Room; skinny as rails, hard edge to them; Meth?
- The blank white screen on my IPhone, after it was swept to a hardwood floor by my gesticulations over some story or other. Related: the look of loss on my face when I confronted the reality that I would be IPhone-less for the next 5 days.
- A pool attendant hawking CDs of his Hawaiian easy listening musi. We bought one. (It's actually not bad.)
- Tears in my wife's eyes, while explaining that she felt badly about not buying an anniversary card for me (with me thinking that hers was an indescribably kind-hearted act, staged when she realized that I, once again, had committed that act of omission myself).
- A sizable gash in my head formed by the abrasive action on my scalp of a sharp-cornered, ceiling-mounted DVD player in the SUV that transported us from the airport to our hotel. Brilliant design, thank you Lincoln.
- Noting the great WiFi coverage throughout the resort, including poolside, while remembering a trade magazine editor in 1993 challenging me with the question, "but will wireless networking ever go mainstream?"
- Resort traffic pretty slow overall, only 20% of lounge chairs around pool occupied… but 100% of cabannas with HD flat panel TVs, refrigerators, etc., booked out.
- A horsedrawn carriage, in the rain, at sunset.
- Erin, the Club room attendant, talking about the adventures she wants to experience before settling in to adult life.
- The beautifuly arc of my Kapalua logo Calloway Tour-i ball as it drew gracefully with the trade winds and found its way to the middle of the third green on the Bay Course; the arc of the same ball as it sliced over the thick hedgerow marking the OTB boundary bordering the right side of the the 9th fairway. Golf.