March 15, 2020
I had plans, hatched last week, to meet M– and S– for a surf Sunday morning, before the Kona storm made its way over us, wiping out the rest of the week. Instead we have all spent the past few days adjusting and readjusting to current realities of pandemics while dealing with Erinʻs emergency room visit. She woke up early Saturday, maybe 1:00 in the morning, not being able to breathe, her throat swollen shut. She spent the next 36 hours in the hospital getting tests, retests, steroids, Benadryl, and I spent the time trying to keep the kids worry free while they wondered why they were not allowed in the hospital to see mom.
I spent Saturday morning at North Aliomanu with the girls, just playing in the rocks and tide pools while Erin was slowly breathing better in a hospital room. A large NW swell was wrapping around the island, closing out the little surf spot just to the south of us in a break between dry reef. Someone was out there for a while, catching some in-betweeners while dodging the sets. I just enjoyed the sun and clear water and the sights of Evora and Violet getting lost in salt air imagination.
Erin was out of the hospital by Sunday afternoon and we walked slowly on the path, north of Donkeys, to take last advantage of the sun. The field at the end of the path, overlooking the tiny rocky cove, was beyond pleasant and we spent an hour there, just sitting together. And now here we are, self-quarantined from the world, from the virus, from the rain, though that always makes its way into our home.
This is not a day for surfing. Maybe after the storm passes.
*edit – 12 months later and we are still riding out that storm and it is raining again, still.
Jonathon Medeiros, Writer Teacher Learner 