Sun and Sand and All That Gleams

(ed. note: Dee Louis has recently relocated to the Northernmost Shore of Oahu. The day he arrived in this Pacific Isle, it was 3 below zero in his homeland, causing a massive split in his psyche. These images and messages are arriving at what could be called a "trickle")

We face north here, looking on a straight line to Mother Russia, away from the rest of this time zone, and into Oblivion. The darkness comes on like a firecracker in the night, the rise is a flame from the mainland. Everything is saturated, the world can hold no more color, it gives it off in fits. The eyes open wider, the taste of things changes, and our Inner Selves are less and less responsible for our environments.

The cable has been cut. Away we drift.

We landed here a week ago and received a text message from the city of Minneapolis. "SNOW EMERGENCY DECLARED". Well, that's perfect. The sun was blazing right from the get, and now it's a companion. We have yet to eat a meal inside, and sweet god, is that even an option? The constant bake slows everything down and we have to get acclimated to it... else we are likely to end up sucking wind and keeled over like Ma and Pa Horsenhiemer. So we play by the South Island rules: move slower, walk with purpose, don't look up. After a few days, we're in. Skin has been ionized, tires have been summarized. Now, about those sunglasses...

You can look at the Infinite Blue for only so long before her call becomes too strong. It's time to charge in. Hearty waves and things that sting only heighten the excitement, focus the laser. It's not a battle for your life, but in many ways, all problems find a resting place here, 30 feet out. Look back at that land and you are liable to consider the pointlessness of all conflict. Look the other way, and, well, Melville called it "Terra Incognita", saying that Columbus sailed over 500 "new worlds" before arriving at his artificial one. Deep and vast beyond calculation by the human eye, we can only measure by tools, and that removes us from it.

It rings true here, as nowhere else, that life waits for everyone, and that wavelengths of personality all answer to the one True Hymn. Maybe that's the rhythm we are all missing. That drum line sinking and diving underneath all else, emerging only to give depth to the message. If we all hear it, then it's made for us.

Sun and sand, earth and fire, water and sky. Here we are, on the precipice. A blank mind is our reward.