At the End of the World on Re-Election Day
On the way to the southernmost point in the US (Ka Le on Hawaii's Big Island), you travel roads that seem to go to nowhere and yet the beauty leaves you gasping. Such is the road past Pahoa on the southeastern peninsula of Hawaii's Big Island. Kapoho is one of many places on the island that vibrate with the power of surf immediately in front of you. You can study tide pools and the movements of little black crabs while standing just a few feet away from roaring, huge waves. and filled with power the ocean can be, while letting you be safely just feet away, protected by volcanic flow hardened into sharp rocks.
In this case, the setting sun cast a very special glow over the eastern seashore. I'd never seen anything like it and I'm not sure my camera had either.
It was a journey to the end of the world because after 1990 lava flows overtook the town of Kalapana. So for some who used to live in the area, the lava brought an ending. But now, over 2 decades later, I am happy to report there is instead a wonderful cafe at this "end of the world." It's called
It was a special moment in time to be present at the end of the world. As we walked up to the cafe, the radio echoed the events of the day happening on the mainland. The mass of continental states so terribly far away- off to the east. President Obama was being re-elected but it was as if the sun, the clouds, the sea--nothing cared. Even the humidity was shrugging its shoulders with a big, "ennnhh." For our increasingly globally connected world, Hawaii is one place that is still so distant it still has the ability to leave us with the feeling that what's happening over there still truly is a world away. I can't imagine how anyone really gets any work done here.
Eating here was like paradise for the simple foods. A burger with a flavor so rich you could taste how well the cow lived as it munched Hawaii grasses all its life.
Ice cream: creamy mint chip and mango. The employees were lazily singing along to a totally irrelevant pop song while the radio chirped out the national news of Obama's re-election.
There's another post I wrote about Obama's re-election and the powerful bond dance creates. You can read it here.
In this case, the setting sun cast a very special glow over the eastern seashore. I'd never seen anything like it and I'm not sure my camera had either.
It was a special moment in time to be present at the end of the world. As we walked up to the cafe, the radio echoed the events of the day happening on the mainland. The mass of continental states so terribly far away- off to the east. President Obama was being re-elected but it was as if the sun, the clouds, the sea--nothing cared. Even the humidity was shrugging its shoulders with a big, "ennnhh." For our increasingly globally connected world, Hawaii is one place that is still so distant it still has the ability to leave us with the feeling that what's happening over there still truly is a world away. I can't imagine how anyone really gets any work done here.
Cafe at the End of the World
Eating here was like paradise for the simple foods. A burger with a flavor so rich you could taste how well the cow lived as it munched Hawaii grasses all its life.
Ice cream: creamy mint chip and mango. The employees were lazily singing along to a totally irrelevant pop song while the radio chirped out the national news of Obama's re-election.
There's another post I wrote about Obama's re-election and the powerful bond dance creates. You can read it here.
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