A Beautiful Evening

Some evenings on the beach are more beautiful, both in terms of scenery and atmosphere, than others.  Monday evening was such a time.  Mark described some of the feelings he had that day and evening in an email to a friend:

"Another gorgeous morning on the beach. My Kindle looks like it shit the bed today. The screen is all messed up and it won't shut off. Tonight I'll have to load the books I'm reading onto the iPad. Unfortunately the iPad doesn't read nearly as well as the Kindle outside.  I've had that Kindle for almost 4 years now so can't complain. It's a great tool.

Mark's Kindle Screen

"I've been reading Into the Silence about WW1 and the British attempt on climbing Mt. Everest during that same time period. I had never read much about the war and am flabbergasted by the carnage that occurred and for no good reason. In the end they essentially said, what the hell this isn't worth it and quit - but only after millions of lives were lost. The tie between the war and the assault on Everest makes reading this book at times laborious but also fascinating.

"The days are paddle ball, reading, swimming, scrabble filled. We make it a point to be on the beach at sunset and yesterday I discovered "Poke" in the grocery store. It's marinated seafood sort of like ceviche only more specific to the Hawaians. I got two of them yesterday - one was a spicey ahi and the other was octopus kim chee. The fish is raw and mixed with onions and peppers along with the particular taste like kim chee. That along with the spam sushi are my favorite local chow. Sooooo good especially as an appetizer with the gin.

White-Tipped Reef Shark

"Yesterday while swimming my laps a large turtle swam underneath me going in the opposite direction. Today a white tipped shark came up behind me and then circled back around. I stopped my swim for a moment to make sure he kept on going.

"Last night as I was relaxing into the sunset on the beach I had some John Mayer going and thinking to myself that I was being rejuvenated. Recharging the batteries so to speak. 

"Then I thought that my everyday life should be a rejuvenating time and so I made my Maui resolution to have everyday no matter where I am or what I'm doing to be a recharging event. I went further in my thoughts and understood that a key point or focus is to be mindful of all the miracles that occur constantly around me. Then I realized that I could contribute to the miracles around me by making sure that every one of my actions and every one of my thoughts could be a miracle if done out of love and compassion.

"Anyway I'm going to commandeer Joseph's Kindle and read some more but first a game of scrabble."