Well. I had a killer entry written. It was so good. Then, like a moron, I didn't open a new page for a search and I lost everything. I am so pissed at myself right now. I can't believe I am such an idiot. But, I was gonna say something like this:

We went to the big island on Thursday, and it was lovely. I haven't travelled very much in my life, but still, the big island is my favorite place in the world. It is the exact opposite of everything O'ahu is. What do you call three cars at a stoplight in Hilo? A traffic jam.

There was a time, though, when I couldn't get away from there fast enough. I was going to UH-Hilo and Ryan transferred back here to run Ka Leo. I was sad and terrified; I thought a long-distance relationship could never work and I just didn't want to be away from Ryan. He ended up flying me back here at least every other weekend. I would leave after school on Friday afternoon and Ryan would take me to the airport to catch the first flight back on Monday morning, just in time for Physics class.

I would cherish each and every minute here and dread going back. Not only because of Ryan, but also for what I thought I was missing out on in Hilo: the lights, laid out like Christmas trees on the mountainsides, the herds of people and the noise in Waikiki, the endless array of stuff to do. Meanwhile, Hilo was still boring old Hilo. The neighbors were still playing "Gin and Juice" too loud, you could still hear the rooster who lived across the street, and I was still without my boyfriend in the toughest semester of my academic life. I just wanted to get out of there and back to Ryan, so I transferred to Manoa, to be with him.

I didn't really miss Hilo too much until we went back in 1999. When we landed that day, I finally got it. I understood why people seem to fall in love with that place. There's a Hawaiian word: mana. It means spiritual power, mojo, whatever you want to call it. The big island has serious mana. You can feel it everywhere. It sounds corny, but it's true.

Hopefully, we'll get to go every year now, at least once. Ryan's mom's father and grandparents are buried there and since Katie was born, she's been wanting to go and clean their graves (a very traditional Japanese thing).

You know how if you hum and run your finger up and down on your lips you make a "bibble bibble" sound? Zac can do that by himself.

We did that on Friday, when she came over for the day. It was a nice drive, but it was stormy and about halfway there, I was shocked to discover that I was hearing thunder. It cleared up, fortunately. On Thursday, we headed straight for the volcano. We made our customary stops at the visitor's center and the museum and then headed to the shore where the lava flows into the ocean. It was a half hour hike, and we almost made it, but it got very hot, very fast. I heard a ranger say that it was 108 degrees and I believe her.

Ryan says "Avril Lavigne" is pronounced "I'm a fuckin' poser"

We headed straight back to our comfy hotel room for a nap. I wanted to take the scenic drive at Onomea Bay, so we did that, then ate dinner, and for a reason I'm not quite sure of, we went to sleep at 9:30.

Ryan starts his job tomorrow. It was nice having him around for the week. It's kind of like getting to know your spouse again when you're both around.

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