Janus, Fireworks, Pineapples & Coconut

Well, here we are at December 31st 2008. While it�s 3:55am on January 1st (and freezing cold) back at home on the East Coast of the United States, it�s 10:55pm out here in the middle of the Pacific. It�s 70 degrees outside, and there�s a thunderstorm right now here in Honolulu, and as I type this, there is still sand on my feet from walking on the beach late this afternoon. If it weren�t for the Christmas decorations and holiday lights and poinsettias alongside the orchid displays, I could easily be fooled into forgetting that it�s late December (or soon, early January)

Yesterday, I extended 2008 and tacked several hours on to this year by flying west. Way west. Out here to what seems like paradise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. What is there to say, other than that it feels auspicious that I�ll get to (in just a short while) ring in the new year (and say goodbye to an all-in-all good year) by drinking champagne and enjoying looking at the fireworks from a high-rise hotel balcony overlooking Waikiki beach.

Good god. If I found it hard to work on my research project that followed me on my Christmas vacation in Colorado, it�s going to be impossible to get work done while I�m here. But I also think that if I can just buckle down and do work during the downtime I get each evening, I will really have earned all this beach time and perhaps some time to snorkel in the warm, clear turquoise waters off of Maui. Or something like that.

I cannot wait to see (I hope) the green sea turtles! They�re supposed to be a good luck symbol here. Because some turtles supposedly live for up to 200 or 300 years, they symbolize longevity. This being Hawaii, and the Pacific, there is no shortage of Asian influence here, which means great Asian food of all kinds (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.). That means it�ll be easy to go out for a bowl of noodles sometime tomorrow for New Year�s day. Long noodles also mean �long life�, as Asian legends say. I can accept that.

2009 will be a good year. No. Make that FANTASTIC. Happy New Year, and I�ll catch you on the flip side of the calendar�and the other side of the earth!

xoxo,