We mentioned on our first day in Honolulu that we saw our friends Mardy and Jeff. I will post a bit more about them later but I wanted to mention them again because we ran into them again on Kauai at a trail head on the North Shore. We made plans to meet the next day and we picked this cute coffee shop on the side of the road. We have found that we lean towards the locally owned shops because well we are a local shop owner kind ourselves. This coffee shop was an Internet cafe as well. You could see the locals coming in for coffee checking their email or just catching up on the local surf report. The buzz in the small cafe today was about the big bad ferry that is about to start running from the many islands. I could see their point, more cars allowed on the island, more visitors, more chaos to the perfect garden that secretly they do not want any New York investor to develop. As the soft conversations moved around the shop, we could not help but notice the shop owner's daughter fluttering around. She wore a silky kimono that as she danced to her own rhythm got unbuttoned to allow for air conditioning. It was time to prepare for a party, Ruby announced to every person in the shop. She would kindly and not so kindly approach your table and announce, you must move. We have a party to get ready for and your table is in the wrong spot. Table by table people would get up and let Ruby move their table to the "right" spot. (Usually only a few inches from the current placement) As Ruby approached our table we didn't move as fast as the other patrons. In the loudest voice she could muster, she roared, you and you get up NOW! Don't you know that we must get ready for the party! We helped her move our table as Dad kept taking orders and ignoring the imagination show that Ruby had so prepared for our entertainment. Jeff and Mardy met us there and they too got the privilege of having Ruby dance around our table and create drums on our backs to her pretend music. The world was hers to play in and we were brought in just to be a part of her play for the day. With our scratched backs and a few laughs later, we walked out and pondered the joy of freedom to create your own play. Although we wanted to be a little annoyed with Ruby, it was much more a reminder for us to learn to let go of our pretension and use our imagination and begin to create the world as we want it, one act at a time.
