Baby Colt!

Lunch Break

oh my i cannot believe over 2 months have passed and i really haven't updated, posted a picture, nothin. 

ironically, though the blog is about 'what's next', i have been working this past month on letting go of the future. no more pondering, daydreaming, visioning of what's next. no plotting, planning, or to-listing of what i will do next. no checking flights and airfare prices, no contacting schools and networking to people in places i am thinking of going next. 

no next, just now.

now is on maui. now is working on the goat farm 5 days a week. now is multi-tasking 10 hours a day worth of cheesemaking and goat related tasks. now is going on a run, swimming in the ocean at sundown, doing pushups on my lunch break. now is breathing and doing affirmations. now is finding a way to be comfortable and grounded in the present moment. 

now it's time to get back to work! 

(more thoughts to come as i recommit to the blog experience...)

Keyboard Love

Today I asked Brendan if he knew where I could go play a piano somewhere, and behold a keyboard was produced for me to jam on in the meantime. The meantime being this evening since I am off to my new home tomorrow morning...alas.

Here is the keyboard snuggled up to the rest of my lil setup:

REMIX!!!

Recently I revisited an old blog that I haven't used for a few years now, and was reminded how I have so dropped the ball on this one. 

I have many good excuses for this: 

1. My camera broke.
2. Too much to tell, so little internet time. (note: this is a lie as the place i am currently staying offers very reliable, hi-speed internet)
3. I am shy?

Hmm. 

No matter the excuse, an update is definitely in order.

Behold:

Jan 16 marked my last day at Hale Akua Garden Farm.

Oh, The Hot Tub & Sauna 

(Complete w/ View of Haleakala Crater)

All Packed Up & Ready to Go

For 2.5 months, I worked 30+ hours a week on the farm in both sun and rain, attended weekly NVC meetings/training sessions, took free yoga classes (thank you shiva!), went on epic morning runs up the hana highway (personal best: 7.4 miles! from hale akua to the rainbow eucalyptus and back! thank you matt for being my running mentor!), made new friends that will be with me forever, had some of the funnest, most exciting dream come true moments in my life thus far (swimming with sea turtles, walking home in the dark every night thru a sentinel of toads and frogs, being outdoors working in the soil in the sun everyday, eating fresh avocadoes/oranges/tangelos/grapefruits/pomelos/lemons/limes/apple bananas/starfruit/coconuts/fresh ginger & turmeric from the land-not to mention all the food we grew for the farm)...like I said, too much to tell!

Top three words to describe my time there:

1. Awaken.
2. Burgeon.
3. Transform.

So where have I been since I left the farm?

I had the great fortune to stay with my friend Chris for 2 weeks, from Jan 16 - Feb 2.  He lives about a mile east of Paia, which is my favorite town on Maui. 

Then, just as my dear friend and witch sister Jackie arrived for a weeklong visit, I went to stay at another friend's (Amanda and Devin) house up in Makawao, where I am currently situated.  

The goal has been to find work, and for the first two weeks away from the farm I was doing a bit of landscaping, and a few cleaning jobs (even going back to the farm to get some paid cleaning work, quite ironic as part of the motivation for leaving was to get paid work...), but ultimately I wanted to find paid farm or ranch work. 

With the help of the folks I am staying with, they got me in the loop of job availability at Surfing Goat Farm where I had a job interview tonight! Oh, dear readers, manifestation comes so easy here on Maui, and indeed I have secured paid work that is somewhere between a farm and a ranch, a goat dairy farm! 

I will commit to be an intern for 3 months at $5/hr for 40+ hours a week. Long, hard work days await me, and I CANT WAIT! 

A Recap:

2.5 months at Hale Akua: check

1 month of 'figuring things out': check

Upcoming: 3 months of a paid internship at Surfing Goat Farm

After that: the great unknown. (though of course I have a few notions and ideas of whats to come, but sometimes you gotta keep those dream bubbles under wraps a bit, they are so delicate)

I know I mentioned manifestation comes easy here, but check this: 

You may have noticed in an entry prior that I was feeling homesick for portland and queers.

So, I went & manifested myself a queer from Portland!

Introducing Sam:Sam is my new buddy, comrade and fellow adventurer here on Maui. I met her just after the new year, but have only in the past week and a half begun to fully experience her epicness.  

"Mischievous"

I have slept out of doors the past couple nights and could not sleep properly for the cold. It gets very cold here at night! (cold for me anyways) So now I am off to sleep, warm and sound and satisfied, having caught up the blog and having shared a glimpse into my life here. It is a special one and I give thanks for it alllllll the time. 

Good night to you dear reader. I hope you are well and warm wherever you are. 

Xo,

Jenstar!

the magic of miniature

I finally got my moment tonight to catch the most recent episode of BSG!

Only 6 more to go and then it is OVER forever. 

Each episode so far, in this the final half of Season 4, has packed punch after punch of the best pow i have ever seen a TV show deliver. 

While recovering from yet another powerful, jaw-dropping, tear jerking episode, I geeked out online and came acroos these pictures of handmade cardboard models by Dan McPharlin.

They deeply satisfy, soothe and calm me. 

Analogue Miniature 7

Modular Marimba

What the Frak?!

I can't believe I am missing BSG final episode screenings at the Baghdad.

(Dumbfounded Disbelief)

 

Seriously, I gotta find a pub on Maui that will rock the Bsg...

So say we all!

Holidays

The rains have been torrential all over maui these past couple weeks, but we have found solace on the west side more than once. Xmas was no exception, as Chris, Matt, Jess, Kelsey & Billy and me ventured west for some holiday snorkel action!

Xmas on Maui, Carols on the Beach

(me, Jess, Kelsey)

It was my first time snorkeling, and Chris (see below) was a stellar guide.  We swam with turtles! Have I mentioned that magic abounds on Maui? 

(next on my list is to swim with the dolphins! and we are going on a group campout trip to Lanai next weekend to make this dream a reality!)

Matt, Chris & the Ginger Harvest

A couple weeks ago we dug up 2 big beds of Ginger that had been planted about a year ago. What a gift to dig up something that has been growing for so long, it was like digging up buried treasure! 

Never have I seen more beautiful ginger, it is a buttery lemon color when you grate it, and sooo strong and potent!

Farmer's note:

Ginger has to be planted in trenches dug 2 feet deep as the roots grow skywards, neat huh? 

Jess with Ginger Antlers

Avo Abounds Here at Hale Akua!

You know you are in paradise when you can walk out your back door and reach up with your fruit picker for one of dozens of plump, delicious avocados.  If you're lucky you will find one on the ground already ripe, boom!

The Pool

I wish I had a picture of the new hot tub, but this will do for now.  We live in ridiculous luxury, hot tubbing in our fancy hot tub, sweating it out in the sauna, and following it all up with a plunge in the pool for 'dolphin activation'. 

Two words: Clothing Optional! Freedom!

Still lovin' the Hale Akua lifestyle, it just keeps evolving and presenting me with more and more magical experiences and incredible opportunities for growth, change and transformation. 

2 weeks till BSG Season 4.5 Premiere!

I will definitely be indoors for this one...