re-committing

Friends, friends, friends!
I thought my first post was really late and lazy, but that was about 5 months ago so I'm definitely miserable at this. I'm going to give it another shot because I have a lot more to add. Life is incredibly busy since I took on a new job working for a general. I joke that Aide-de-camp means "carrier of things" in French, but really I think that my job is mostly problem solving. I'm getting to travel a lot more than being an exec would have allowed and learning a lot by observing the bird's eye perspective for the first (and only) point in my career!
I got back a few hours ago from Hawaii. It was a really beautiful but very busy week. When I managed to find a few free hours, I took myself hiking, learned stand-up paddle boarding, and watched the sunset up on the North Shore! Of course, I also took myself to the local Whole Foods as well.
Whenever I go somewhere new, I like to see the area on foot as much as possible. Especially in places as beautiful as Hawaii, skipping the scenery would be really unfortunate. However, I don't usually like to go to the very tourist-heavy hiking trails. For one, I prefer not to enjoy nature with lots of busy, loud tourists. Also, I find that hikes which appeal to the masses aren't very challenging and don't get too deep into nature. I made my way out to the Mt. Olympus trailhead and started hiking up. I went over and down a few different hills, walking along the ridge. On the way back, rain started falling and just as I was lamenting the rare change in Hawaii sunshine, a huge rainbow spread across the valley in front of me. The rain quickly let up until it was just about a mist that was falling instead of hanging in the air. The next day, I made it out to the beach in time for a paddle board lesson. An important fact is that I'm not a huge fan of open water, particularly when I can't see the bottom. I'm also less than fond of sharks and jellyfish and believe there are lots of both lurking in the ocean. So, I started out with my guide Kuahai, mohawked and Hawaii-tan, ending every sentence with "yo?" For example: "so you're in the department of defense, yo?" He showed me the basics (stand in the middle and row just like every other paddling sport - front to back with the paddle straight down). We paddled around the bay, went through some baby waves on the way back, it was fun and easy. I asked all about living in Hawaii, all the water sports, wildlife, etc. He pointed out a turtle (which I reacted too slowly to see) which lead to a discussion about sharks. Yes, there are sharks, but Kuahai prefers not to think about them, there's a big tiger shark that sometimes hangs out further into the surf outside the reef, and finally "Just don't fall off!" That last comment made me a little more nervous.
Alas, now it's time to get some rest so I'll have to finish later - but not 5 months later...Cheers!