The 0-cean Beckons

Powerful.




Beauty.




Essential.


These are the first few words that arose from the depths of my personal hard drive when I thought of the 0-cean. It's been one month and counting since our arrival to Hawaii and it's hard to escape the force that the 0-cean has on people here. For some it's a place of recreation and fun while for others it's a place of survival and necessity; although each end of the spectrum does not exist without containing a small portion of the other end.

I'm fortunate to be able to experience both sides of these two extremes. While you can see the "well-off" hitting up the streets of Honolulu and Waikiki with their Louis Vuitton bags, brand-new surf boards and $100 bathing suits you can also see, only 33 miles away, the people spear fishing and shore fishing in Wai'anae for their dinner. And can you guess what I see every morning and evening while going to and from work? Yup, I see the survival and necessity end of the spectrum. I'm O.K. with that though. It's more real. No fluff there. On this end of the spectrum you must pay your dues to the 0-cean; it's not just given to you. And this mantra applies to the residents as well.

The real reason for this post is that surfing has still eluded me here on the island. Every talks about it and I see it on occasion. I'm still waiting to purchase a vehicle and a darn mattress before I can fork over the dough for a long board. It's only a matter of time. Miss all those who are reading.