Hitching

My first weekend on the island and I decided I would go to the beach. One thing about Hawaii is that transportation proves to be a bit tough. Biking is kind of out of the question because the roads are highways and people drive fast and recklessly. Not to mention the bike on the farm needs new brakes and I'm not sure I want to be the one to test it before a tune up...at least not my first week here. So my choices were to hitch or walk. I walked. On my 4 mile walk I listened to the island. A wonderful thing about this place is that the sounds of Hawaii are as captivating as the sights. As I walked I heard the chirp of so many birds; cardinals, doves, saffron finches, as well as the whisper of the trees, and the faint call of the ocean. There is always this music underlying life here, this constant noise. And so what I began to notice was the silence, how the absence of sound was so loud. I arrived at my destination and was happy to relax on the sand...oh wait there is no sand, I meant relax on the lava. Which in case you were wondering, does not invoke feelings of relaxation in the way of comfort. But it was nice to be amidst the energy of the ocean. I set out on my journey home and immediatley noticed my feet beckoning me to stop. Chaco's by the way, not a shoe for walking long distances. I continued even as my toes cursed me and now I ask you, in such a situation what would you do? You're 4 miles away from home and not only do the cuts the lava gave you hurt but you have new blisters to go along. Would you swallow the pain and forge ahead? Or would you cast your fears aside and possibly your mind, stick out your thumb, and give your best smile hoping some nice soul will pick you up? I walked. I am a city girl folks and we do not trust random people driving beater pickup trucks who can think of nothing better than picking up a haole in a skirt. Just as I began contemplating laying down next to the rodeo grounds on this road to nowhere I heard a car and I turned to face it. Okay step one of hitching is face the car, step two stick out your thumb but I couldn't and so I turned back around and kept walking. The mongoose that had just darted across the road now stood, faced me, and seemed to be mocking me. So I turned again and the car must have noticed my odd behavior because it had slowed down. All I could think was please let them have all their teeth. The car approached and a nice woman with all visible teeth still present asked if I needed a ride. She seemed nice and so I accepted and got in the car next to another WWOOFer she had picked up on the way. We talked about our travels so far and what we thought of farm life. When I saw my farm wizz past us in the car I found myself wishing there was more time to chat but I kindly asked the woman to pull over and got out of the car. As I walked away I thought, hitching isn't so bad...if you remember where your farm is and don't have to backtrack down the road on your blistered feet to get there.