The Commute: Maui Style (City Life vs Island Life)

I missed New York today, and I miss H. She said today had the first chill of autumn; she even donned a trench coat to mosey over to a local wine bar for a glass of red. This is when living in the middle of the Pacific poses a challenge. I am just far enough away to not be able to jet back for a weekend, or more specifically, a lazy, Sunday lunch with H., followed by a stroll along lower Fifth, or maybe through Central Park to see whatever is on exhibit at the Met.

But as much as I miss New York, I'm constantly amused by the differences between my two loves, that urban isle and this tropical one. The New Yorker in me truly loves the grit of the city, the taxi drivers swearing profusely, the jockeying for position on a crowded subway car, and - ahem, H. - casually reading over the shoulder of the person in front of me. And make no mistake, I'm a fast walker capable of making solid speed down a city sidewalk with minimal eye contact. A block a minute, no two ways about it. Oddly, however, City Me has little effect on Maui Me.

Here in Maui, I barely last 15 minutes in "downtown" Kahului's rush hour traffic. I make it through two errands before hightailing back to my little town on the grassy slopes of a volcano. Here in Maui, I came home the other day to find a pineapple on my front stoop. And I wasn't afraid to eat it. I didn't even think to be skeptical. And here, no one honks other than the ubiquitous quick toot-toot "Hello!" to a friend one sees driving by. In fact, I so infrequently hear honking that not long ago, as I sat at a light with someone honking gently, albeit persistently, behind me, I just gazed blissfully out my window, all warm and fuzzy with the aloha spirit. Until my patient passenger nudged me and pointed to the traffic light that had apparently turned green a while back. It turns out they were honking at me, after all. Go figure.

There is a slight chill this evening in Makawao, this rodeo town positioned at 1600 ft, which makes me feel a touch closer to fall in Manhattan. I think I'll grab a sweater and meander into town for a margarita.