It was November 30, 2014 and I was making a final survey of my luggage and cottage to see if there was one more thing I had to pack before leaving Savusavu, Fiji. I was leaving so much behind. Being here for almost four years and having to leave every four months for immigration requirements …
The Fiji Chronicles – Resolutions – An Assessment
If you are to be, you must begin by assuming responsibility. You alone are responsible for every moment of your life, for every one of your acts. — Antoine De Saint-Exupery For the last forty five years or so I have reaffirmed the same two resolution each New Year's Eve: (1) to grow in wisdom …
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The Fiji Chronicles – An Island Perspective
perspective: 1 the art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point [as adj. ] : a perspective drawing. 2 a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a …
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The Fiji Chronicles – Breathing Under Water
When I was three years old, I almost drowned. My parents had taken us to Virginia to visit my father's sisters, Auntie, Baby Sis and Hattie Mae. We had gone to the river for a picnic and as the tide was out, my parents, Uncle John, and Auntie had waded far from the shore. My …
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The Fiji Chronicles – Day One
After a flight delay in Nadi, I safely arrived in Savusavu. I love my new home. It was made for me to continue this life. It is a simple design about 300 square feet with a screened in porch that wraps around the front and right side of the house. I am planning to hang …
The Fiji Chronicles – Time As A Point Of Reference
Time As A Point Of Reference Today I took a walk on the beach outside my home. The tide was just beginning to come in so I walked in the wet part of the sands and made footprints going in different directions. I was a child creating a map of confusion as some of my …
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The Fiji Chronicles – My Dinner With Kamal
Most of the people in Fiji live below what we call the poverty level in the States but they are the happiest people I know. Life just flows here without political or social distractions. My friend Kamal is a big hearted Indian/Fijian who drives a taxi to support himself, his wife and two children. He …
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The Fiji Chronicles – Hope – A Parable
The pumpkin vine slowly crept upwards into the papaya tree. It was unsure if the papaya would accept her but she went anyway. Slowly climbing higher and higher above the safety of the familiar earth the vine put out a flower, a bright yellow one as an offering to the papaya. Then as its courage …
The Fiji Chronicles – Resurrection – Life UnMasked
The moment I let go of whatever it was I held onto, the life flow took over and is preparing me for the journey ahead. I feel a shedding of skins, of all the masks I have worn in my life. Some friends have already noticed the change. In the market a few days ago, …
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The Fiji Chronicles – When Paradise Is No Longer Affordable
What does one do when the home you love is no longer affordable or when you realize your time in paradise is running out? * Get a job so you can afford to live in "Paradise?" * Max out your credit cards to extend "Paradise" a bit longer? * Search for a new "Paradise?" On …
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The Fiji Chronicles – Letting Go
I am taking the words of my meditation on my sixty-third birthday to the letter. “Be sure not to leave anything behind which will cause you to have to come back.” I am not leaving anything in storage this time. I am leaving the friends who have become my family, the family of my blood …
Attention
Attention I have learned from living that activities of any importance eventually become ritual. This morning I am siting on my verandah. The sun is lazily rising to my left. The morning breeze gently carries the scent of peace, the songs of singing birds, and the soft swirling of the incoming tide. Before my eyes …
Being And Nothingness
Being And Nothingness When I left the corporate world over twenty-five years ago, I stopped wearing a watch. I decided then that I no longer wanted to watch my life ticking away on the face of a clock. I no longer wanted to be time's slave. I also made the decision to do only those …
The Fiji Chronicles – There Are No Niggers Here!
It goes a long way back, some twenty years. All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone …
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The Fiji Chronicles – It’s Fiji Time
Believe in hunches, not opinion polls. You are not your name or your telephone number. At boarding time don't miss the boat that has your name on it. It sails only once. Head for the deep. Hold your course, even if your vision shipwrecks you. — James Broughton My arrival in Fiji will be exactly …
The Fiji Chronicles – Free To Be Me
If we were to take the Tao symbol, put a pin at its center and spin it. We would have neither yin nor yang, but a whole, a new image as a result of the blending of the two. When you blend the good and the bad you learn to dance and flow with both …
The Fiji Chronicles – Room With A View
I woke up early this morning because a procession of church school students were carrying a cross down the road singing hymns in Fijian. I have no idea what the words are but the voices are beautiful island gospel. They are carrying a large cross to their village church seven miles away. It is Good …
How Did I Get Here?
How Did I Get Here? When my Passport expired two years ago, I decided not to renew the costly item as I had no intention of traveling after my retirement. I did all my traveling during my youth and early adulthood because I didn't want to travel with an old body. The parts of the …
Home Coming
Home Coming It is said that one can spend an entire lifetime searching for home and never find it. If that is true, I am very fortunate for I have known many places I have called home. From a two person tent traveling the world to my Green House in Fiji where Kula once lived. …
A Cup Of Tea
A Cup Of Tea Some time ago while standing at the bus stop, I watched two Fijian men walking toward me on each side of the road. The were painting the milage markers. A rather thankless job not filled with much enrichment, I thought, as they moved from one marker to the next almost in …
In the Midst Of Amazement
In the Midst Of Amazement I don't remember amazement being a large part of my early life. I do remember certain events which I deemed amazing. The Northern Lights, a lunar eclipse, my first earthquake, and those Amazing Mets of 1969. Now my life is one of constant amazement or perhaps my perspective has changed …
Gratitude II
Gratitude II It's morning and I am sitting on my veranda having a cup of strong Ceylon tea and listening to the roar of the ocean as the tide comes in. My swim trunks are on and I am just waiting for me to finish those last swallows, so I can go for a morning …
Inside The Rainbow
Inside The Rainbow A few days ago on my return trip from town I saw a rainbow stretching over the South Pacific. This is a regularly occurring spectacular event following afternoon showers but as I got closer to my home, I saw the rainbow ending in my front yard. I didn't wait for the taxi …
Foibles Of Fiji
Foibles Of Fiji foible |ˈfoibəl| noun A minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character: they have to tolerate each other's little foibles. Geckos and Sea Snakes: Geckos are not harmful. The look like regular lizards and not like the gecko selling Geico insurance. They are actually useful in as much as they eat small insects and …
Abundance
Abundance Fruits Of The Garden: There is such an abundance of food on the property that each day I learn of another plant, healing herb, fruit or useful weed. Today I was given a green pumpkin (an important food product for the Fijians) by Anna, the caretaker's wife, from the empty lot next to Chaldea …
The Fiji Chronicles – A Pharmacy In My Front Yard
A Pharmacy In My Front Yard An elderly gentleman and his granddaughter walked into my front yard this afternoon and asked if he might pick some leaves. Because it was raining, I assumed he was looking for large leaves to cover their heads but he was looking for a particular plant. He spoke in Fijian …
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A Busy Week For Savusavu
A Busy Week For Savusavu Since my arrival, I have seen Savusavu as a small town hidden in the quiet, picturesque beauty of the bay but this week the town came alive with activity. An Australian cruse ship arrived in port on Thursday initiating a great deal of excitement around town. The craftsmen and women …
Christmas Time in Fiji
Christmas Time in Fiji Christmas time in Fiji is different from Christmas in the States. It is a commercial venture, for sure, but not as much so as in the Western World. The first sign, a Santa Clause above Courts Appliance store, appeared early on in December. The second, a painted Santa Clause on a …